GivingData Glossary

Admin Tools & Settings - The Admin Tools & Settings area contains the backend tools for customizing your GivingData site. Click the gear icon in the navigation menu to access this page. The icon may not be available to all users depending on permissions. Within Admin Tools & Settings, users can create and manage codes, build and edit applications, customize request statuses, and more.

Batch Edit - The batch edit function offers users the ability to edit multiple records at once from the results of a super search. The available batch operations vary depending on the type of search. 

Budget Manager - The budget manager tool allows users to input their foundation’s grantmaking budget by fiscal year, following the structure of their preferred budget code type (e.g. Program Area or Fund). The budget code type can be configured within Admin Tools & Settings. The budget manager allows users to set separate budgets for their grant payments and/or grant approvals. Once inputted, users have the option to view this budget information within their payments and approvals dashboards in order to track their current balances and subtotals by code.

Chart View - Chart view allows users to build custom data visualizations, such as comparison and trend charts, giving users the ability to quickly visualize real-time data that can inform their grantmaking strategy. To access this feature, users can either start a new super search or run an existing saved search. When viewing the search results, users can toggle to chart view to create data visualizations based on the results. Once customized, these charts can be exported and saved for future use.

Codes - Codes in GivingData are created by users in order to define and categorize their grantmaking. Within an overarching code type, such as Program Area, users can build a hierarchy of codes beneath it. Codes may be assigned to requests, organizations, payments, and contacts. Users can create super searches and reports based on code criteria and can filter their dashboards by code. 

Dashboards - Dashboards in GivingData provide users with an overview of the different components of the grantmaking process. The dashboards are a visual representation of a foundation’s payments and approvals, intake forms, requirements, workflows, and more. Within a dashboard, users can interact with their data at a high-level view or add filters to view specific information. 

List View - A list view describes a list of results or associated records organized into rows and columns. Common examples of list views include super search results, the Requests tab of an organization record, and the Payments & Approvals Dashboard (after clicking into a specific status). Default list views are configurable in Admin Tools & Settings. In addition, columns can be edited in super search results list views. 

Modal - A modal is a pop-up window within GivingData. Examples include the Add New Request modal, the Contact Details modal, and the Edit Columns modal within a list view.

Navigation Menu - The navigation menu appears on the left side of every page in GivingData. The options in this menu allow you to access the most commonly used features.

Object - An object refers to an entity in GivingData such as an organization, request, payment, contact, requirement, etc. 

Payments and Approvals Dashboards - With GivingData’s payments and approvals dashboards, users can analyze and interact with payment and grant approvals data by fiscal year and code assignment. A payments dashboard pulls data from payment records and displays payment amounts based on the dashboard’s criteria. An approvals dashboard pulls data from request records and displays entire grant amounts, allowing for multi-year grant amounts to be reflected in the year they are approved. Both payments and approvals dashboards can be filtered by specific date ranges, codes, and other mapped field data.

Roles & Permissions - On the Roles & Permissions page in Admin Tools & Settings, site administrators can create GivingData site roles and edit the permissions that users with that role will have. Common examples of user roles include: Administrator, Grants Management, Program Staff, Finance, View Only, etc. To view or edit a user’s site role, navigate to the Users page in Admin Tools & Settings.

Scenario Planning - Scenario planning allows users to forecast, budget, and experiment with funding scenarios for potential grants within the Planning disposition. Within a scenario planning dashboard, users can edit and add new request ideas and plan future payments across multiple fiscal years. If the user has a general idea for a future grant but has not yet identified the recipient organization, a best practice is to create a “TBD Organization” to which the potential funds can be allocated. Scenario planning is accessible through any payments dashboard. This feature is included with the Pro and Enterprise subscriptions.

Site Administrator - Site administrators are GivingData users who manage their foundation's GivingData database and have the highest level of permissions. These users have access to manage site settings and can assist other users within the organization with user permissions. Sometimes referred to as “power users,” these individuals are most often the foundation staff members who know the database inside and out and went through the GivingData implementation process.

Super Search - Super search allows users to search the database for records that match their desired search criteria. There are multiple types of super searches that allow users to search for various information throughout the database. Once a search has been run, the results are shown in a list view, and users have the option to enter chart view to create a data visualization based on the results. Within a super search, users can also perform batch edits, such as approving multiple grants at one time.

Tags - Tags in GivingData may be assigned to requests, organizations, and interaction records to label and track certain characteristics. While similar to codes, tags cannot be segmented into multiple levels. Tags are similar to social media hashtags and can be a useful tool to identify characteristics that may not be built into an existing code type. Examples of tags may include “Black Led,” “Youth Organizing,” “Audited in 2021,” and “COVID-19.” Tags are searchable within super search and a full list of active tags can be found within Admin Tools & Settings. 

User - An individual with a GivingData account and access to the database. Most often, GivingData users are foundation staff members and consultants.

Contact - A contact within GivingData refers to a member of a grantee organization or prospective grantee organization (e.g. staff member, trustee, volunteer, etc.). In GivingData, contacts may be assigned roles such as Organization Primary Contact and Request Primary Contact. Users also have the option to create custom contact roles, which can be configured within Admin Tools & Settings. 

Grantee 360 Timeline – The grantee 360 timeline provides an overview and timeline of a foundation’s relationship with an organization. Within this timeline, users can see the history of an organization’s grant approvals, payments, requirements, interactions, and key moments. This feature is located on every organization record.

Interactions - Users can track their foundation’s communication with contacts and organizations through interaction records in GivingData. Interactions (such as emails, site visits, phone calls, and more) can be linked to contacts, organizations, requests, payments, and requirement records. Users have the option to create custom interaction types that can be configured within Admin Tools & Settings. 

Key Moments - A key moment can be logged within the grantee 360 timeline when an organization experiences a significant change. Users have the option to customize their key moment types within Admin Tools & Settings. Common examples of key moments include leadership transitions, media coverage, and awards or recognition. 

Organization Record - An organization record holds all of the information related to a specific grantee, intermediary, fiscal sponsor, or vendor. The grantee 360 timeline, bank account information, financials and compliance, and additional information can be found on the organization record. 

Subsidiaries - The Subsidiaries field in GivingData enables users to connect related “parent” and “child” organization records. On the Subsidiaries tab of the “parent” organization record, users add the name of the “child” organization record. Within the About tab of the “child” organization record, there will be the hyperlinked name of the “parent” organization. In order for linking to occur, a user must have already created separate “parent” and “child” organization records.

Watchlist Checks - The LexisNexis Bridger Insight integration allows GivingData users to conduct OFAC due diligence checks on organizations and contacts stored in their site. During the initial setup, users select which watchlists their foundation wants to check and set thresholds for what the foundation considers a potential match. Users can run individual watchlist checks from contact, organization, request, and payment records, or through a batch process from a super search. Results are stored and can be managed in GivingData. This feature is available as an add-on to any GivingData subscription.

Board Portal - The board portal is a separate portal that provides a snapshot of grantmaking activities in a dashboard format. Board members with access to the board portal can view but not edit data. Users with permission to manage the board portal can customize which organizations, requests, portfolios, and documents to publish to the board portal, and can customize the layout. Objects can be published to the board portal individually or through batch edit from a super search. This feature is available as an add-on to any GivingData subscription.

Campaign - A campaign is needed in order for an unsolicited application to become available to the public. Campaign configurations include: the unsolicited application form, the custom campaign URL, the application open and close dates, and the number of times each applicant can apply. Once the campaign is created, the campaign URL can be shared on the foundation’s website or shared with a small group of constituents. The campaign link takes the applicant to a public landing page where they can create their grantee portal account and submit the unsolicited application. 

Dockets - The dockets feature allows users to create custom groupings of request records and view their grant information and documents together within a docket dashboard. Dockets are most often used as a container of information in preparation for board meetings. Requests can be added to a docket from the request Overview tab or through batch edit from a super search. Please note that a request can only belong to one docket. This feature is included with the Pro and Enterprise subscriptions. 

External Reviewer Portal - The external reviewer portal is a separate portal that facilitates the grant application review process with external review panels or board members. Within the external reviewer portal, individuals can view completed applications and provide their feedback. An external review form must be attached to the desired application in Admin Tools & Settings. This feature is available as an add-on to any GivingData subscription.

Fiscal Sponsor - Users can identify a request’s fiscal sponsor organization by using the Fiscal Sponsor field found on the request Overview page. To do so, a separate organization record for the fiscal sponsor must first be created. Payment records that have a fiscal sponsor listed as the Payee Organization will be visible on the fiscal sponsor’s organization record, in addition to the grantee’s request record. Please note that the Grantee Intake Forms can only be attached to the grantee’s request record. 

Followers - A follower is a GivingData user who receives notifications related to the request record, workflow task, intake form, or interaction record they are following. For example, a member of the foundation’s finance team may be listed as a follower on a workflow task related to a scheduled payment. In this example, the member of the finance team would receive notifications such as when the status of this specific task changes, or if a comment is made within the task. Each user can manage their notification preferences.

Grantee Portal - A GivingData grantee portal exists outside of the main GivingData site. Through the grantee portal, grantees, and applicants can submit information through grantee portal intake forms. This information can then be imported into the main GivingData site after a brief import process initiated by the GivingData user. After import, responses to mapped fields (e.g. Project Title, Organization Mission, Project Budget, etc.) within the intake form are also be reflected within the GivingData record.

Grantee Portal Intake Forms - A grantee portal intake form refers to a form, such as an application or report, that is submitted by an applicant or grantee through the grantee portal. Intake form types include: unsolicited applications, invited applications, report intake forms, grantee submission intake forms, active grant intake forms, and organization intake forms. Active grant intake forms and organization intake forms are included with the Pro and Enterprise subscriptions.  

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning - Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL) is a feature designed to assist foundations with their impact assessments, providing users the ability to perform qualitative assessments of their grants. Users can create a variety of Assessment Groups based on the foundation’s strategies and list specific metrics that they wish to evaluate their grants against. Assessment groups can also be mapped to a Grantee Portal intake form, allowing the grantee to select their preferred assessment metrics or update their progress during or after the grant period. This feature is available as an add-on to any GivingData subscription.

Portfolios - Portfolios allow foundations to group grants from a variety of program areas to create a unit of action with the aim of solving a specific problem. For example, a “Safer Neighborhoods” portfolio may include grants from a variety of program areas such as arts, health, education, and urban development to create outcomes that contribute to the solution of the problem. Users can customize this feature to reflect the portfolio’s aspiration, budget, progress assessment, timeline, and more. Users can create a new portfolio from the Quick Add menu, and grants can be added to a portfolio from the Overview tab of a request record or via batch edit from a super search. It is important to note that a grant can only be added to one portfolio. This feature is included with the Enterprise subscription. 

Request Record - A request record in GivingData holds all the information related to a specific grant, sponsorship, or gift. Within a request record, users can find related documents, contacts, payments, requirements, workflows, interactions, and more. In order to create a new request record, the request must be associated with an organization.

Request Disposition - All requests are categorized into one of the following dispositions: Exploring, Planning, Pending, Approved, or Declined. The name for each disposition cannot be customized. However, within the Planning, Pending, and Approved dispositions, users can customize specific request statuses.

Request Status - A request status provides further detail into a request's current disposition. For example, within the “Pending” disposition, there could be request statuses for “Application Invited,” “Under Review,” or “Submitted for Decision.” Request statuses can be configured in Admin Tools & Settings.

Requirements - A requirement in GivingData is a required action for the grantee. Common examples of requirements include a signed grant agreement, an interim or progress report, or a final report. When a grantee submits a requirement, a foundation staff member will need to click the Complete this Requirement button to close the requirement. 

Workflows - A workflow is a project management tool that enables users to outline a series of tasks to be completed within a specific grant process. Staff members can be assigned to tasks or listed as followers of tasks. Workflows may be added to request records manually or automatically, if automation rules are set up within the workflow template. Workflows are often created for processes such as due diligence, application review, payments processing, and grant closeout. This feature is included with the Pro and Enterprise subscriptions.

Documents - Documents can be added to records in GivingData either by uploading from a user’s computer or from templates created within Admin Tools & Settings. 

Document Templates - Document templates can be used to quickly create new documents using a standardized template. Common uses of document templates include award letters, grant agreements, payment letters, and write-ups. Users can utilize GivingData’s Microsoft Word Add-In to add merge fields to the document template, which correspond to fields in GivingData. Once a document is created from a template, data from those merge fields is populated into the document. Document templates can be created within Admin Tools & Settings for organization, request, payment, requirement, docket, and portfolio documents.

Dynamic - A dynamic mapped field in a super doc is updated automatically when the field's value changes within an organization and/or request record. Mapped fields that are not dynamic display the field's value at the time the super doc was created.

Mapped Field - A mapped field refers to a data field that lives on a GivingData record, such as an organization, request, payment, or requirement record. Mapped fields can be added to grantee portal intake forms. When creating an intake form, users have the option to either hide the mapped field’s current value on record, allow for the applicant/grantee to select the current value on record, or input new data. Mapped fields can also be added to super doc templates, allowing the current value of the field to display within the document. These mapped fields can be configured as dynamic (meaning they update when the field’s value changes on the record) and when possible, editable from the super doc.

Report Builder - The report builder allows users to create custom report templates that run automatically on a set schedule or on an ad-hoc basis. The report builder allows users to insert list views into their report templates and provides the option to group the data based on a mapped field or code. Users can also choose to show calculations per grouping, such as the total approved amount or balance. This feature is included with the Pro and Enterprise subscriptions. 

Super Doc - A super doc is a unique GivingData document that can contain mapped fields from organization, request, payment, and requirement records, in addition to list views of data and editable text areas. Unlike regular document templates, super docs allow users the option to edit mapped field data (such as the Project Title) directly from the document. Mapped fields on the super doc can also be configured to update automatically if the field values are updated on the record. Common uses of super docs include internal application reviews, due diligence reports, and grantee history reports. This feature is included with the Pro and Enterprise subscriptions.