WebGrants+Overview.docx

WebGrants Overview WebGrants is a comprehensive full-lifecycle grant management system for grant giving organizations. Since 2000, DTPi has refined and enhanced the core product resulting in software that currently meets 90 percent of all new client requirements “out of the box”. How is this possible? At a high-level, all grant management projects are similar; they all have the core grant management lifecycle, which is opportunity creation and announcement, application preparation and submission, application evaluation, grant award, project implementation and reporting, and finally project closeout. Many details at each stage of the lifecycle are also similar for each client. WebGrants has evolved over the years with many features and functions at each stage of the process. These “bells and whistles” set WebGrants apart from our competition. Not only does WebGrants support the grant management lifecycle at a high-level, but also features numerous specific capabilities within each module.

In additional to all the great functionality “out of the box”, WebGrants is also almost completely user definable. Clients can create their own forms for almost any aspect of the system including announcements, applications, reviews, grants, status reports, claims, site visits, contacts, contracts and more.

A quick high-level overview of each WebGrants module is provided below:

Dashboard The dashboard module allows internal staff to view all assigned work in one convenient location. Staff can easily check their dashboard to see any new alerts, work or pending authorizations. Management staff can view their dashboard to see the current volume of work. Management can easily see where in the grant management lifecycle the current applications, grants, payments and other documents are pending. Each staff person can easily configure the dashboard to display information that is most relevant to him or her. Staff also receives automated email alerts when new work assignments are made.

People and Organizations WebGrants has a comprehensive contact management system. Users and contacts of the system maintain a personal profile and an organization profile; these users can be internal staff, reviewers, applicants, board members, etc. The People module maintains all the personal information about each user and contact. This information includes the person's name, address, email, phone and other standard contact information. In addition to the standard contact information, the WebGrants Form Creator allows STATE to expand the base fields and add new additional fields. These new fields can cover additional information not covered by the base fields such as the person's academic degrees, demographic information, their department or additional email addresses and phone numbers. This configuration capability allows STATE staff to expand and capture any additional relevant information for a person.

Staff can search for people in a wide variety of ways including selecting a letter of the alphabet, name search and advanced search that allows searching on expanded fields. Staff can also set additional parameters on each user in the People module including configuring the user's dashboard preferences, associating them with one or more internal agencies or departments, associating them with one or more program areas, setting their security roles, subscribing them to certain automated email alerts, and resetting their password. Staff can also view the history of that person and view their submitted applications, reviews and successful grants. Staff can also merge people to eliminate duplicates.

Each person can be associated with one or more organizations. WebGrants also supports people that are not associated with any organization at all. The Organization module uses the same navigation as the People module with the same abilities to search. Each organization has a base profile that can be expanded to include custom fields in the same manner as the People module. Organizations can be associated with people in a many to many relationship. A single organization can be associated with one or more people.

Information entered into the People and Organization modules are reused on all submitted documents. A person's or organization's contact information never needs to be entered again, this information will appear on all documents by a query to the database. The People and Organization can be entered into the system in three ways, via self-registration, added manually by staff or via legacy data migration.

Distribution Lists Staff can leverage the contacts in the People module to send mass emails and letters to large subsets of people. By selecting individuals from the people module or by running a query, staff can compile a list of people and save the list. Once the list is established, staff can send the list a mass email or staff can create and send to the list form letters, staff can also export the data to use as a mail merge source for physical letters and labels. While WebGrants has over 70 automated email alerts that are sent under a wide variety of business rules, staff can utilize the distribution lists module to augment those notifications with additional specialized alerts like announcements.

Awards WebGrants supports a comprehensive financial management module. The Awards module acts as a financial dashboard giving staff visibility into the overall financial situation of the organization at any point in time. Each award records a grant or allocation to your organization from an external source. This source can be from the federal, state or local government or from corporate or private contributions. This award can then be subdivided into fund sources to support grant giving, loan giving or internal administration activities. Funds from each fund source are allocated, earmarked, or committed to one or more grants. When the grantee is paid, either on a payment schedule or reimbursement basis, the funds are drawn down from the allocated fund sources. WebGrants automatically calculates the committed, expended and unexpended amounts at the grant level and rolled up by fiscal year and funding opportunity.

Funding Opportunities New grant competitions are announced and posted online via the Funding Opportunity module. Staff can create and post new opportunities at any time. Funding opportunities can require a single-stage final application submission or a two-stage submission with a pre-application, letter of intent or eligibility quiz followed by a final application submission. Prospective applicants can view, search and apply to posted funding opportunities. Applicants can also post questions about the funding opportunity and staff can post the answers for all applicants to view.

Applicants can apply to a posted funding opportunity by starting a blank application or by copying the contents of an old application into a new application, make any necessary edits and then submit the application.

WebGrants supports any number of application forms. Forms are created in the system via a user-friendly tool called the Form Creator. STATE staff can use the form creator to create new forms and edit existing forms. Creating or modifying forms requires no formal technical expertise and can be learned by anyone in an afternoon. Forms are associated with program areas or grant types. When a new funding opportunity is posted it is associated with a program area, the application that applicants complete will display only those forms associated with the same program area. Thus, it is possible to support any number of program areas with any number of forms in the system.

Applicants complete the application by answering all questions on each of the forms. When designing forms, STATE staff can designate fields to be required or optional, of a specific type like dates, numbers, text, drop downs, etc. There are twenty different data types available. Fields can have a maximum character length. Fields can also have instructions, calculations, input masks, conditional required properties, conditional reject properties, conditional comparison properties, subtotals and other specifications. Applicants can also attach electronic documents to their application of any type or size. Applicants completing the forms in the application must adhere to the rules defined in the form creator. Therefore, it is impossible for an applicant to submit an incomplete application or an application where the answers logically do not match the definition. All of the applicant's work is saved in real time so an applicant can stop writing the application at any time, turn off their computer and return later to complete their work. They can even resume their work from a different computer. Applicants can also work on smart phones and tablets. Multiple applicants can work on the same application from the same organization. Once submitted, the application is locked from further editing.

Submitted Applications Once applications are submitted, internal staff can view the applications in the Submitted Applications module. This module is a quality control area to ensure that applications assigned to reviewers are of good quality. While the system will enforce completeness and accuracy, it cannot enforce quality. Any ineligible applications can be withdrawn from the competition. If any clarifications or edits need to be made by the applicant, staff can unlock one or more sections of the application via the negotiation process. This process allows staff to unlock each application form independently and route the application back to the applicant. Upon receiving an automated email notification, the applicant can open and edit the unlocked forms and only the unlocked forms. The applicant can then make their edits and resubmit the application. In this negotiation process, the system will version all unlocked forms, this copies the forms and allows the applicant to edit the new version and not the original version, therefore the original version and the new version are both stored in the system. Thus, no data is ever overwritten or lost via the negotiation process. Staff can negotiate each form any number of times and each time the system will create a new version.

Staff can also add internal notes to the application that are viewable only by internal staff and optionally reviewers. Staff can also add feedback to the application that will be appended to the end of the application and is visible to everyone viewing the application including the applicant. Addresses or coordinates in the application can be mapped via integration with Google Maps. Staff can map a single application per map or multiple applications on a single map.

Panel Evaluations After the initial quality control phase, the applications can be assigned to evaluation panels. WebGrants supports up to five evaluation rounds. In each round, staff can assign any number of evaluators to any number of applications. Evaluators can be assigned two ways, either on an ad hoc basis or via static panels. The ad hoc method allows staff to assign any number of evaluators to any number of applications. Staff can assign two evaluators to one application, three to another, four to another, etc. Evaluators are selected from the People module and assigned to applications. The static panel method allows staff to predefine a panel that remains static over many competitions. These static panels can be reused over time. The assignment of a static panel assigns many evaluators to many applications in a single step.

Once the panels are defined, staff can choose to optionally require a conflict of interest process. This process requires that each evaluator indicate if they have a conflict of interest with the applicant or the application. If they do have a conflict then staff can choose to remove the evaluator from that application or the entire panel.

Once the panels are finalized, evaluators can view the assigned applications in the My Reviews module. This module is an inbox for each evaluator where applications assigned to them personally appear. Evaluators can read the applications online; they can print out a paper copy or save a PDF version of the application on their computer. The PDF version will also merge all PDF attachments into a single consolidated document. Evaluators can then complete the associated review forms. STATE staff use the Form Creator module to define review forms. Like application forms, review forms can be created, modified and associated with a program area. Review form questions can be numeric scores, comments, yes/no fields and drop downs. WebGrants will automatically calculate the total score for the application and the average score for all reviewers.

This process can be repeated five times in five review rounds. Applications can be eliminated after each round. The evaluators and the evaluation forms can be different in each round. Rounds are typically used to differentiate internal panels from external panels or reviewer scores from management/board member scores.

Final Approval Once all panel evaluations are complete, internal staff can view the results in the Final Approval module and make the ultimate decision on each application. This module will display a sorted list of all applications with an automatically calculated average score per application, per round. Staff can drill down on the average score to see the breakdown of scores by evaluators. Staff can further drill down and view the forms each evaluator completed. This process allows staff to view all the comments and feedback from each evaluator. This data can also be displayed on a report. Staff can unlock the review to allow further editing by evaluators. This process will version the review forms. Staff can also enter notes for each application and can set an internal status. Internal status is a temporary status to capture additional steps in a business process like awaiting board approval or awaiting a director's signature. If necessary, staff can also at this point negotiate the application for further editing back to the applicant, in a process identical to the one described under the Submitted Applications section above. Staff can also change the application's status from the current Under Review to Awarded or Not Awarded. Not awarded would mean a rejection, and awarded would award the application and the system will automatically create a grant in the Grant Tracking module.

Grant Tracking Once awarded, the application data is automatically copied from the application into the grant. The Grant Tracking module encapsulates the entire post-award grant management lifecycle. Each grant is subdivided into a number of components. There are three types of components, first are default components that all customers receive. These components are described in the sections below and include the Status Reports, Claims, Communications, etc. The second type are any application forms designated to be copied into the grant. This is a configuration setting on each application form that can be set by STATE staff. Typical application forms that are copied into the grant include the budget, scope of work and any other form that contains data that might change during the course of the grant. Third are user-defined forms. Staff can create and maintain any number of additional user defined forms. These forms are created in the Form Creator. Staff can set security on the grant and each component. In addition, the grantee is able to view and edit certain components of the grant.

Each component of the grant is described in further detail below.

General Information Upon creation of the grant, high-level application data is automatically copied into the grant. This information includes the title, organization, grantee, year, project dates and other information. Staff can at this point enter a new multi-part grant id number, designate primary and secondary grant contacts and establish the project duration dates.

Budget Upon award of the application, the budget is automatically copied into the grant. To support budget amendments, internal staff can version the budget and edit the new version. This allows the original budget to be retained in the system, and the new version is stored as the new official version. This process can be repeated any number of times. In addition, internal staff can unlock the budget to allow the grantee themselves to make modifications. This process requires internal approval for the updated budget to become the official version. Grantees can view the budget read-only at any time in the system.

Fund Sources Fund sources created under an award in the Awards module can be associated to grants. Staff can associate one or more fund sources per grant. Staff can also allocate, earmark, or reserve dollars from each fund source to pay the grantee on a grant. When the grantee submits a payment request or reimbursement request, the system will draw down the funds from the associated fund sources. Fund source allocations and payments can be viewed at the grant level or rolled up at the funding opportunity or fiscal year level. This information is also available via reports.

Status Reports Periodic status reports can be submitted in WebGrants. Internal staff can designate a status report schedule for a single grant or for a collection of grants. Once scheduled, WebGrants will email automated reminders to the grantee when the due date approaches. The grantee can complete a multi-form status report and submit it. Internal staff can design the status report using the form creator in the same manner as the application. The status report can be of various types, for example, reports can be defined for quarterly reports, interim reports and final reports. Once submitted, internal staff can route the reports back to the grantee for clarifications, they can make notes and provide feedback. Internal staff can also approve submitted status reports.

Claims WebGrants supports two types of claims, payments and reimbursements. Payments are scheduled payments that reoccur over time. Staff can define a payment schedule with a start date, a payment type, an installment amount and a frequency. The system will automatically generate the payments as they come due and notify appropriate accounting personnel for approval.

Reimbursements are claims that are more complex. WebGrants will reproduce the grant budget, complete with all budget line items, on the claim. Grantees can create a new reimbursement request at any time. The grantee will enter the expenses this period for each budget line item. The system will then compute the total prior expenses, the current total including the current expenses and the available balance. Upon submission, WebGrants will route the claim for approval to up to five levels. Any number of staff can be assigned to levels one thru five. When the claim is submitted, everyone in level one is notified, when a person in level one approves the claim then level two is notified. This continues until the highest level defined is reached or until level five is reached. Once approved, staff can create the voucher. The voucher is the payment authorization form. On this form will be all associated funding sources. These funds are associated to the grant via the fund source component described above. Staff can designate for each budget line item how much of the requested amount will be drawn down from each associated fund source. When the values are entered and the voucher is saved, it is ready to move to the financial accounting system. Data from the voucher can move to the financial accounting system two ways, one is a manual process where accounting staff manually key into the financial accounting system the details of the voucher. Second, via electronic integration with the financial accounting system. Once the voucher is paid, staff can either manually key in the date paid and check number into WebGrants or this information can automatically return from the financial accounting system via the electronic integration.

Communication The communication component has two sub-sections, the Non-WebGrants Communication Log and the Inter-WebGrants Grantee Correspondence. The Non-WebGrants Communication Log records important conversations that occur outside of the WebGrants system. For example, if there is an external phone call, email, fax or letter then staff can create a new record and record the communication including the recipient, date, subject message and they can attach the external file. This information can be searched and viewed by other staff with the correct security access. The Inter-WebGrants Grantee Correspondence allows staff and the grantee to communicate by sending messages within the WebGrants system. Both parties can initiate communication and the other party can reply to any communication received. The whole conversation is recorded in the system. The benefit of this over using external email like Outlook is anyone with security access to the grant can view the entire communication history.

Site Visit Site visits are fully supported in WebGrants. Site visits can be assigned to a site visitor. Any site visits assigned will appear on the site visitor's main menu in a new module called My Site Visits. Staff can impose deadlines for when the site visits must be completed. Staff using the form creator develops site visit forms just as forms are developed for the application or the status report. Site visit forms have a type and forms can be developed for both the grantee and the site visitor. The grantee can be assigned preliminary forms that must be completed prior to the site visit. The site visitor can also be assigned forms that will record the monitoring oversight and any findings. All site visit data is associated with the grant and is fully searchable and can be displayed on reports.

Contract Amendment The contract amendment component provides an amendment authorization workflow. The contract amendment process can be started either by the grantee or by internal staff. Each contract amendment has a type such as a grant duration extension, a budget modification or a scope of work modification. Once the contract amendment is created, it can be routed internally to up to five levels of approval. This process is very similar to the claim approval process. Once the ultimate level has approved the contract amendment, staff can make the corresponding changes in the grant components. This component records a history of the authorizations and the requested changes.

Closeout Schedule The closeout schedule is used to define a list of activities that must be completed before the grant can be closed. These activities can be defined for a group of grants or for a single grant. Each task will have an expected completion date that will tie into the alerts. As the dates approach, WebGrants will send automated email alerts to the grantee. Once the task is complete, internal staff can enter the actual date completed.

Contract Data Export Contract data can be exported from WebGrants two ways. The most common way is for the required raw data to be exported from the system in CSV format. This raw data includes the grantee contact information, the grant information, the budget, scope of work and other relevant information. This data can be exported for a single grant or for many grants at once. This data can then be imported into a Microsoft Word document template via the mail merge functionality. The resulting contracts can be signed, scanned and stored in the system. The other less common method is to develop the entire contract in the system and generate it fully complete directly from the system. This is a good option if the standard boilerplate text does not change. However, this process will not work for any clients where the standard language is edited for each contract.

Attachments Internal staff can attach any number of electronic files in any file format to the grant. These files could be the scanned signed contract or any other relevant documents.

Other Functionality Other grants management functionality includes the ability to map grants via Google maps. The system will map both addresses and coordinates. Multiple addresses can be mapped on a single map. Staff can define their own alerts for each grant. These alerts can be for any purpose and can be one time alerts or reoccurring alerts. Grants can be copied and the standard forms associated with a group of grants can be changed on an individual grant basis.

Inventory The inventory module allows clients to store information in the WebGrants system that is separate from an application or a grant. The inventory module can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Some clients may want to use the module to track equipment or capital purchases that might be used on a variety of grants. Once the inventory item is created, it can then be associated with other objects in the system such as People, Organizations, Applications, Grants, Status Reports, Claims, Site Visits or Amendments. Inventory items can be added by internal staff or by applicants/grantees. Examples of inventory module uses would include transportation clients can enter vehicles to track mileage, repair history and transportation route, art clients could use the module to track applicant art portfolios and housing clients could use the module to track unique properties. Once these items were created in the system, each item can be associated with one or more applications or grants.

The inventory module forms can be defined in the Form Creator to allow each client to maintain unique forms for each item. Each form can be associated with a type to allow clients to store more than one type of inventory item in the system. The user defined forms and fields are immediately available in the ad hoc reporting tool to allow clients to run full reports on all inventory module activity.

Reports WebGrants supports two report types, standard and ad-hoc. Standard reports come standard with the system. There are approximately two dozen standard reports in the system. These reports display data from all aspects of the grant management lifecycle including financial management, applications, panel reviews, grants, payments and monitoring activities. Each standard report has its own filter screen where staff can limit the data returned on the report; common filter criteria include program area, data range, status and funding opportunity. Each report can be exported to PDF, HTML, Word and Excel formats. New reports can be developed during the course of the project.

Ad hoc reports allow STATE staff to develop their own reports. Ad hoc reports can be created, named, saved, and shared with other co-workers. Staff can define their report by adding fields from nearly anywhere in the system including the funding opportunity, application, review, grant, status report, claim, site visit or contract amendment. Once the fields are added staff can reorder the fields, rename the fields, group the data by any field, sort the data, filter the data with the logical operators (=, <, >, like, IN, Between), insert subtotals and grand totals. In addition, mathematical formulas can be added using the operators add, subtract, multiple and divide. In addition, the data can be exported to MS Excel where any number of additional computations can be executed. Other formats include HTML and CSV.

DTPi also allows direct database access. Clients who wish to use their own third party reporting tools can connect the tool directly to the WebGrants database and run their reports. DTPi will give each client a copy of the data dictionary and the database schema.

Program Areas A program area is a grant type; it is also a concept within the WebGrants software that allows a single instance of WebGrants to support many unique process workflows, business rules, formula-based calculations/allocations, reporting, and standardization across a client’s diverse set of grant offerings. Clients typically give away multiple types of grants. Each program area can be distinct in terms of forms, business rules, workflow and security access. Each program area can have its own unique set of forms including applications, reviews, grants, payments, status reports, site visits and contract amendments. WebGrants can support any number of program areas. Our largest client, the State of Iowa currently has 113 program areas running simultaneously in a single instance of WebGrants. Program areas can be grouped into agencies and security access can be assigned at either the program area or the agency level.

Drop Down Lists All drop down list boxes in the WebGrants software can be edited by the system administrator. The administrator can add, edit or delete the contents of any drop down list box. Drop down list boxes can also be nested so the selection of an option in the first drop down restricts the choices in a second drop down.

Form Creator The WebGrants Form Creator is a powerful tool that places the customization and configuration of the system in the customer's hands. Clients have the power to modify forms, business rules, workflow and security practically anywhere in the system. Clients can add new forms that are used throughout the grants management lifecycle including user profiles, funding opportunities, applications, review forms, grants, status reports, claims, contract amendments, and site visits. Staff can define the form's rules such as where in the process the form is used, how it is routed, who has access to the form, what stage of the process the form is used, when the form is visible and when its hidden and when the data is copied from one step in the workflow into the next. Staff can create new forms, modify existing forms and discontinue using old forms. The workflow can be modified at any time to include or exclude forms, queues, staff and stages. Business rules can be changed at any time to reflect changes in business practice. Forms, workflows and business rules can be defined at a global level or down at a program area level.

Forms can be defined using a wide collection of powerful tools. Staff can define many different types of forms including, budgets, attachments and standard forms used in any document in the lifecycle. Each form can have any number of sections. Sections can be data entry forms, lists or grids. Each field has dozens of parameters that allow staff to fine-tune the specific field-level business rules. These parameters include a data type. There are over twenty data types to choose from including text, number, date, currency, yes/no, drop down, phone, email, attachment, percentage, etc. Staff can also define an order, a label, a default value, an input mask, a field size, a maximum length in terms of characters, required or optional parameter, a visibility flag, header labels, sub labels, instructions, and online help text. Conditional parameters can also be set these include a conditional required parameter that allows staff to designate a field as required if an answer to a prior question is met. Conditional validation allows staff to set up logical comparisons that force answers to be within certain parameters like 1-10. Conditional reject defines certain answers to questions that automatically disqualify an applicant. In addition, staff can define mathematical calculations between any fields on any forms. Staff can use the operators add, subtract, multiply and divide, they can use parenthesis to establish the order of the operations. Staff can define complex mathematical formulas that execute automatically for the benefit of the applicant or grantee so the applicant or grantee never has to do any math and there are never any mathematical mistakes to worry about.

Staff also have the ability to set up and define workflow parameters like how many approvals are required for a certain document, by what percentage can a grantee overdraw a budget line item, and who is alerted when certain documents are submitted. There are too many parameters and business rules to list here. Over the course of a decade of customer requests DTPi has added so many configuration parameters to the system that almost any workflow can be accommodated without the need for software development.

Security WebGrants security starts with user authentication that is via a user id and password. WebGrants generates each user's user id to ensure uniqueness. Passwords are originally set by the system however; users can reset them at any time. A self-service screen can retrieve lost passwords. The system admin can configure certain password parameters like expiration period, restrict past password reuse, require alpha characters, require numbers, require special characters, set minimum length and force reset upon first login. WebGrants can also be integrated with client's single sign on technologies like LDAP and Active Directory. Both passive and active integration is supported. Simultaneous lookup is also supported.

Once logged in, WebGrants restricts user access two ways. First users have access to only certain program areas and agencies. The admin assigns access to each program area and agency. If the user does not have access to a program area or agency, then they do not see that data. Clients can maintain a multi-departmental implementation without the fear that users in each department will see each other's data. Second, user access is restricted via roles. Each role is defined by associating privileges. There are approximately 70 privileges in the system. These privileges control access to modules, forms, workflows, business rules and other areas. It is possible to restrict access at various levels including the module, form, function and field level.

Online Help The entire WebGrants user manual is available via online help. A dedicated online help button appears on every screen. This button will pop up a new window that will display the relevant online help for that screen. The system comes with a complete online help library; client staff via the online help module under Utilities can extend this library. Staff can expand or rewrite the existing online help for each screen. DTPi will also update all online help in areas that were specifically customized for the customer. In addition to online help, staff can also add instructions to the screen at the form, section and field levels.

Automated Alerts WebGrants sends automated email alerts under a wide set of business rules. These alerts are sent to applicants, grantees, internal staff, evaluators and administrators. WebGrants contains over 70 different automated alerts. Examples of automated alerts include registration, application deadline approaching, reviewer assigned to a panel, review deadline approaching, grant status change, grant closeout approaching, status report deadline approaching, claim deadline approaching and others. Each alert is fully customizable, staff can edit the alert body, and the frequency and staff can insert variables into the body to indicate the recipient's name, grant title, deadline, budget amount, status and other data elements. Individual staff personnel can subscribe to certain alerts so they receive only the alerts they want.

Audit Trail WebGrants records all user actions in an audit trail. The system records the user's id, the timestamp and the action performed. This audit trail can be queried to determine the user responsible for any action in the system. The audit log grows indefinitely large.