Federal Grant-making agencies are always looking for ways to reduce the administrative burden on the individuals they aim to serve – the grant recipients. Recently, there have been major advances in modernizing grant processes, supported by the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) and the GREAT Act. GrantSolutions is glad to assist its Partners in discovering innovative ways to operationalize these initiatives.
Partner Innovation
GrantSolutions joined the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in operationalizing the agency’s innovative process for Non-Competing Continuations (NCCs), the ACF Grants FasTrack. NCCs make up approximately 66% of the total $60 billion in grants ACF awards each year. The ACF Grants FasTrack Program utilizes business intelligence tools, process automation, and machine learning to streamline the NCC process.
These technologies identify which grants need review and use Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to perform routine compliance checks. Through the Grants FasTrack Program, ACF estimates that they can reduce the time spent processing these grants by up to one-third, so grant managers can redirect their time toward more high value activities, such as supporting recipients after the award is made.
Login.gov Pilot Program
Recipients often have to keep track of multiple usernames and passwords for the different Federal systems they use, which can be frustrating and time-consuming. In June 2020, GrantSolutions launched the Login.gov Pilot Program enabling recipients to use a single username and password across multiple Federal systems, including Grants.gov and SAM.gov.
Recipient View of Grants List and Grant Details
As a part of the larger Grantor Experience initiative, GrantSolutions developed an enhanced Recipient View of Grants List and Grants Details. Recipients will now be guided through an intuitive interface that simplifies and consolidates their task management within the GrantSolutions system. The system will highlight action items specific for each user, track where the award is within the process, and alert users of high priority tasks to help better manage their responsibilities. These enhancements are slated for release in the first quarter of FY 21.
GrantSolutions fully supports its Partners objectives and efforts toward lightening the administrative workload on recipients and continues to work on developing innovative ways to help them accomplish this goal.
