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Showing posts from 2016

Supporting our Community for the Holidays

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It’s hard to believe another year is almost over and we’re into the festive frenzy of the holiday season once again. While we all look forward to making merry with friends and family, we also like to make some time to share our good fortune with others. This season, SmartSimple has been collecting food, toiletries and winter accessories like hats and mitts for the Red Door Family Shelter . In this way, we could provide support to several families at once who need extra support at this time of year. The shelter provides temporary housing, counseling services, child care and a food bank to more than 500 families each year, including women fleeing from violence, those who have been evicted, refugees and young mothers who have nowhere else to turn. The Toronto team will also be volunteering at the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club , packing food hampers to be distributed to less fortunate families in the community. Community Support for SmartSimple users during the Holida

Why process automation is the new black

There’s a lot of talk about process automation - why? Process automation drives the success of every organization by ensuring the constant movement of workflow. It’s part of your everyday whether you realize it or not. Take your pay stub - the entire process of working out your salary, calculating tax deductions, adding benefits and direct debiting your pay into your account - is process automation hard at work.   So why is the granting sector still relying on Post-it notes and spreadsheets to track funding calls and payment schedules? First, let's back up and explain what we mean by 'business process’ . Every organization is driven by processes - even grantmaking. You may not use the term ‘process’, but look close enough and you’ll find a set of processes in everything you do - just think of how you manage grant applications. The question is - are your processes automated - and should they be?   Why should grantmakers care? Repetitive, manual tasks

5 critical first steps to creating better granting outcomes

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How do you know you’ve been making a difference with your granting initiatives? That’s what every grantmaker is asking or being asked by their donors, funders and boards. While it’s important to know what you’ve accomplished, it’s even more important to have a solid understanding of how to gather, organize, analyze and share data, in order to ensure your granting activities achieve impactful, measurable results; this is where predictive analytics comes into play. Predictive analytics uses your data to paint a picture of what is likely to happen in the future. This gives you the insight to make better, more informed decisions; increasing your ability to create positive change. Large corporations, retail chains, marketing companies and even sports franchises have been using this process to successfully forecast outcomes for decades, and it can be an invaluable tool for grantmakers. Any successful predictive analytics program starts with 5 key steps: 1. Develop a B

SmartSimple October 2016 Upgrade Highlights

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We’ve got a total of 47 new features and enhancements for our October 2016 Upgrade. That’s 47 more ways we’re continuing to prove our commitment to our clients’ needs. Of note, we’ve streamlined reporting, created a more intuitive user interface for Arcadia X , and introduced new beta features to strengthen the platform for you and your users. Reporting Features Enhanced Neo Report Builder Creating impactful reports is always a challenge, so we continue to add functionality to our Neo Report Builder tool, working to make the process as painless as possible. We’ve expanded the number of data sets and fields available based on your reporting requirements. You can now include data for user and company event activities, notes, and status name for an increased range of options. In-Line Data Grid This new field type will give you the ability to build an Excel-style grid directly on the page you’re working on without having to open a second window. This is ideal for

How SmartSimple is helping change the lives of high-risk children and youth

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The numbers don’t lie; children who suffer from untreated mental health issues in their formative years are at significant risk for a future of behavioral problems, unemployment, incarceration and even suicide. Did you know? An estimated one in five Canadian children experience mental health issues Approximately 60% of incarcerated males in Canada have a history of childhood conduct problems It’s estimated that future costs for a career criminal can be up to $6.5M if no early intervention takes place It’s why SmartSimple was eager to help Child Development Institute (CDI) and their SNAP (Stop Now And Plan) National Expansion Campaign . “At SmartSimple, we firmly believe technology has the power to do good things, so whenever we see an opportunity to apply our expertise to help an organization meet their goals, we’re happy to facilitate.” SNAP is an evidence-based intervention model designed to positively change the lives of high-risk children in their middle ye

6 Reasons Your Organization Should Consider GMS Essentials

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You’re a grants manager with a small team. You only handle a few grant programs a year and your application and processing requirements are pretty basic and straightforward. You’ve been using a mix of emails, spreadsheets and paper files to keep track of everything. It’s not an ideal solution, and since you’ve been thinking about expanding your program, you’re concerned that this current set-up won’t be able to handle a more complex granting process. Fortunately, SmartSimple has introduced a new grants management product – GMS Essentials – that’s designed specifically for organizations that want to expand their granting activities. Whether that means adding more programs or introducing more complex application processes, GMS Essentials will provide the added features and functionality to manage your applications, tracking, reporting and awards processes in one centralized location. Why is GMS Essentials the best choice for a growing organization? Here are six key reason