8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
1/17
The DNA of GrantManagement Processes
Alex Sirota
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
2/17
A Story
Summer Company is yearly entrepreneurship experience for 15-29year olds.
www.ontario.ca/summercompany Business Process Reengineering began in 2002 Now in v9
eService Business Consultant wrote requirements with program input Economics and Business Cluster implemented code Yearly project charter < $100,000
Total budget spent - $400,000 over 5+ years Summer Company Registration, Eligibility and Evaluation Network
(SCREEN) is result Reusable internally by other clusters
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
3/17
The problem
Fix program mechanics & measure results
Lead time for applications too short
Not enough applications to fill 300-600 grants
Incomplete and non-standard applications
Identifying successful completion Reporting measures of success
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
4/17
The solution
Yearly continual iterations to improve Build Front and Back Office together Workflow built in based on grant best-practices Easy to learn and use Provide access to pre- and post-approval application
processes for ALL stakeholders
Rudimentary Reporting and Integration with Finance toDisburse Cheques https://stage.ontariocanada.com/screen (Front Office) https://stage.ontariocanada.com/screen_bo (Back Office)
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
5/17
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
6/17
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
7/17
Status Quo
All paper applications have been deprecated SCREEN has processed over 15,000 applications since 2003, over 2000
approved applications.
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) completed by OCIPO with 10recommendations to continue to remove private information fromall existing paper-based processes (disbursement requests toFinance)
Organizations have recently approached us to use the code andmodel Issues: Liability, timing, support, open-source, making system a
generic platform, cost not usually an issue
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
8/17
In short
Success in grant management is *much* more than effectiveprocessing and administration
Important to properly address: Privacy Complete applications Provide control to proponents during pre/post-approval Relationship management Measuring financial forecasts/actuals
Tracking the story of the project Measuring success Reporting longitudinally And Privacy, again
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
9/17
Agile Guiding Principles
Individuals and interactions over
processes and tools Working software over
comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over
contract negotiation Responding to change over
following a plan
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
10/17
A proposal
Approach in incremental steps, implementing onlyshared, common needs and functionality
Work from a strawdog approach, testing a standardlogic model
Leverage an open source model of development bothfrom a business process and a code perspective
Build an abstraction layer to benefit all who use the system Build a strong community of practice with process and
code as the backbone
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
11/17
Benefits of Proposal
Incremental approach will yield quick wins fororganizations that can adopt proposed grant model
Creating a shared grant logic model will make it easierfor others to install-and-run
Open-source will make it easy for organizations in theBPS to contribute and receive benefits from code
library Learning from each others successes and failures in a
community of practice centered around the project
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
12/17
How unique are grant processes?
Is there a shared DNA between
different grant processes? Imagine:
An easy to configure, scalable, inexpensive
grant management process that is availableto anyone in the OPS or the Broader PublicSector.
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
13/17
True or False?
We have plenty of time to get this right? Culture change takes 5+ years, not 1 or 2, consultants are
always available to help Government collects and spends money, we are good at
collecting, but spending effectively and measuring outcomes?
Technology solutions are the answer? Appear to solve the mechanics problem (20%)
We know how to measure performance and outcomes? Program measurement, performance and outcomes are not
usually addressed effectively (80%)
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
14/17
One DNA strand for GM
A logic model: Eligibility Check
Application Inquiry (aka Part A) Authentication Formal Application (aka Part B) Submission Recommendation Evaluation
Approval/Initial Disbursement(s) Project Monitoring Successful/Unsuccessful Completion Project/Outcome Reporting
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
15/17
References Lawrence Lessig Code is Law
harvardmagazine.com/2000/01/code-is-law.html Agile Methodologies
www.agilemanifesto.org and www.agilealliance.org
Independent Blue Ribbon Panel From Red Tape toClear Results www.brp-gde.ca
Project Streamline report from foundations in US www.projectstreamline.org
Open Proposal Appraisal -http://sourceforge.net/projects/opa Vista Veterans Administration open source solution,
runs Mexicos health care system
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
16/17
TODO
Create mapping of SCREEN modules to CommonProcess Model/Workflow Intake, filtering, funding provision, monitoring &
closure Agreement Management, Financial Management,
Information Management, Operations, Performance Information & Referral, Client Advice, Community &
Industry Advice, Service Development & Monitoring,Governance, Framework Management, IntegrityManagement need to be worked out
8/6/2019 A Standard Grant Management Process
17/17
Explore ROI of Build vs Buy
Solutions for grant management are
immature, long term cost for supportcould be a lot larger than you think customization is always hidden cost
Building your own, deployment on cloud
computing systems like Googles AppEngine
Top Related