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Grantors and Applicants research and address significant challenges in society. Collaboration is time-consuming; whether in identifying funding needs of researchers, resourcing potential requests for proposals/applications (RFP/RFA), or reporting progress and results. International and in-country organizations spend too much time locating potential grantors and those grantors spend too much time administering grants when they yearn to link with the research community in an innovation rather than a maintenance role. All parties prioritize researching, analyzing, and disseminating; however, the business burden of grants compliance overshadows the incredible potential of significant adoption of grants-related research.
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- Pre-Award Phase - funding opportunities and application review
- Award Phase - award decisions and notifications
- Post Award Phase - implementation, reporting, and closeout
Low-level Summary
Adding a graphic representation here
Primary Actor
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- Reduce redundant reporting
- Control of access to and protection of personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive/proprietary information
- Integrate federal and non-federal grants management processes
- Improve payment efficiency for second- and third-tier grant recipients
- Notify RFA and RFP based on selected topics
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The Grant Applicant is the Actor whose goal is addressed with this Use Case. The main individuals and systems involved in the case include:
- Grantors
- Compliance Agencies
- Applicant Organization and/or Parent Organization Members
- Principal Investigator (or Project Director, depending on Grantor terminology)
- Grant Writer (intra or inter organization)
- Applicant Partners (intra organization)
Supporting Actors
Multiple stakeholders in Awardee and Applicant organizations, external researchers, and grants participants:
Pre-Application - Team
- Vision meeting(s) with team
- Align vision with grant opportunities
- Identify potential grants and narrow timeline
- Identify goals and objectives of grant
- Build draft work plan and budget to assess fit
- Draft Review of Literature
- Identify partner needs and expectations
Pre-Application - Writing Workflow
- Identify vision and alignment with organization initiatives
- Detail information needed to communicate Goals and Objectives
- Build work plan
- Work with business functions (accounting, procurement, legal, etc) to validate budget narrative and allowable expenses
- Draft budget
- Research and identify indirect expenses and any match needs
- Build skeleton application
- Identify and insert carryover language if applicable
- Draft narrative
- Request any additional data needed
- Draft budget
- Draft budget narrative
- Draft letters of commitment
- Secure letters of commitment
- Begin supplementary docs (ie bio sketches)
- Contact potential evaluators
- Review first draft of narrative, work plan, and budget
- Send out narrative, work plan, and budget to team and evaluator edits
- Revise draft narrative, work plan, and budget
- Write Evaluation Plan with identified evaluator
- Send out final draft for team review
- Secure signatures
- Submit all documents to grantor
- Send out notification of submission
- Monitor Notification of award status
- If applicable (NSF, USDA) begin project negotiations
- If awarded, advise meeting to begin implementation and secondary workflows
Awarded
- Receive Notification of Intent to Award
- Notify team
- Receive FaceSheet or other form of budget confirmation
- Provide programmatic/budgetary training to PI or PD
- Hiring Process begins, expenditures begin
- Build-out reporting timelines
- Build-out objective tracking
- Build-out expenditure tracking
Build sustainability/institutionalization plan
Not Awarded
- Receive declination letter
- Review panel comments
- Debrief with team
- Use notes from panel and Admin conversations to re-write grant or identify another grant
Reporting (adding more)
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<List the Actors who have a supporting role in helping the Primary Actor achieve his or her goal.
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