Osage Nation is a federally recognized tribe based out of Osage County, Oklahoma. With a population of approximately 8,357 people, their tribal leadership is dedicated to the well-being of its people, focusing on service-oriented initiatives such as housing, childcare, services for women, services for seniors, and counseling. Primarily funded through an average of 90 grants annually, these projects play a crucial role in supporting their mission to make sure no member of their community is left behind.
Challenge: An Unstructured, Risky Grants Process
While Osage Nation was doing the best with the resources they had, their grants process was still loosely structured and prone to gaps, lacking the tools necessary for effective tracking and reporting. Relying heavily on legacy technology—primarily Excel spreadsheets—to track grant activity, the tribe’s Office of Strategic Planning & Grants Management struggled with fractured communication, missing documentation, and human error, leading to difficulties when it came to monitoring grant progress and ensuring transparency.
Additionally, because they did not have a centralized system for storing grants documents, staff had difficulty locating important information quickly, often leading to missed deadlines and compliance issues. With minimal program accountability and inconsistent tracking, Osage Nation struggled to manage the multiple grants they administered each year, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with financial mismanagement and programmatic inefficiencies.
When searching for a more effective grants management solution, Osage Nation sought tools that would assist with planning, provide accurate data for decision-makers, and streamline their reporting and tracking processes.
That’s when they discovered Euna Grants.
Solution: Centralization and Transparent, Collaborative Workflows
By switching to Euna Grants, Osage Nation was able to toss out confusing Excel spreadsheets in favor of a centralized platform that housed all their sensitive grants documentation in a single, secure location. Euna Grants’ cloud-based approach reduced the need for physical files, eliminating the inefficiencies and risks associated with paper-based tracking.
Euna Grants also offered powerful tools for monitoring and reporting, enabling Tribal leadership to track grant activities in real time, providing up-to-date reports to stakeholders. Furthermore, the platform’s user-friendly design made it easier for staff to stay organized and implement systems for program accountability, ensuring that grants were being managed efficiently and in compliance with state and federal guidelines.
And when it came to researching grants for future projects, the extensive Euna Grants Network database came in handy, empowering Osage Nation to search and filter easily through thousands of open grants to find the funding opportunities most relevant to their community’s goals.
Results: Data-Driven Decisions, Worry-Free Compliance, and Greater Accountability
The implementation of Euna Grants led to significant improvements in Osage Nation’s grants management process, allowing the tribe to better organize its grants portfolio and manage the post-award stage of grants with greater efficiency and transparency. Decision-makers now have access to a centralized view of all grant-related activity, resulting in faster and more informed decision-making.
All grant documents are securely filed in one central location, making it easy for staff to access and track important paperwork. The tribe can now tie financial and programmatic reports to specific grants, ensuring that all activities are being properly monitored and reported. The enhanced accountability and improved compliance tracking have reduced the frequency of errors and compliance issues, making it easier for Osage Nation to meet the requirements of the grants they manage.
By leveraging Euna Grants, Osage Nation successfully transformed its grants management process, prioritizing organization, efficiency, and transparency across the board. Now better equipped to manage its many grant-funded programs throughout the year, the tribe is more confident than ever in its ability to provide critical services to the people it represents.