CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:
	As a private foundation, we believe one of our key responsibilities is to keep our overhead costs low and the quality of our work high so that funds can go where they are needed most- to our applicants. GrantMaker has been key in our efforts to keep more money and energy flowing in the right direction by eliminating a great deal of unnecessary paper-pushing and overly-long meetings- things that do not contribute to the greater good and that can contribute to trustee fatigue and burnout if not managed responsibly. It is not an exaggeration to say that our on-line system from Closerware has saved us the cost of 1-2 employees by streamlining and improving our efforts. Just as importantly, the system has enabled us to use our trustees' time efficiently and responsibly. Our seven trustees and staff are located all over the country. All of our trustees review all grant applications- sixty or more a year. We realized quite soon after becoming a large foundation in 2003 that printed copies of applications in three-ring binders were heavy, cumbersome, environmentally ridiculous, and hopelessly outdated. We moved temporarily into using e-mail to get the applications to trustees for review. But even e-mail can be cumbersome, with large files blocking in-boxes and the invasive feel of 15-20 or more e-mailed applications arriving at one time. When all the documents were received and reviewed, precisely when our reviewers were fully focused on the application, there was no mechanism for submitting comments or further questions. So, the trustee would jot down notes and wait for the meeting to make his or her thoughts known, by which time they were no longer fresh and re-reading was often necessary. This resulted in the typical foundation challenge of the quarterly pile-up of feedback (in our case eight people responding to 15-20 applications- a great deal of information.) Even though we review all applications in committee prior to the full board meeting, there is still much to be discussed before final decisions are made. As in all organizations, typical discussions favor the experienced debater, so the opinions of all were not always fully considered. When you factor in time constraints, the result of our old method was a bit frantic- a rushed verbal debate- a race against the clock to approve or decline applications before everyone left for their trains, flights, and their full-time jobs. No one liked this method. Mercifully, this all changed when we began working with Closerware. The GrantMaker system completely overhauled and streamlined the entire process. One month prior to each quarterly meeting, our staff posts each application complete with images and an executive summary. At their own convenience, trustees sign on to GrantMaker to read, review, rate, and make comments on each request. Every bit of important information for each application is at the trustee's fingertips in a consistent, structured manner. After each trustee weighs in, a full report is produced with consolidated ratings, comments, etc. That report becomes our working document for the meeting. Once the meeting arrives, about 75% of the discussion had been completed, peacefully and thoughtfully. The administrator can publish the applications once, to a central location and be assured that each trustee has all of the information they need. There is no concern over faxing it to one person, mailing it to another, assuring delivery, resending applications, etc. This centralization is a great help to staff as well. Since our work requires frequent travel, it is critical that we know that all of the information surrounding grant applications is centralized and can be accessed any time of day from any location worldwide. We rely on Closerware to manage the hosting, monitoring, maintenance, data backups, support, and security of our system and data. The work that this system has eliminated easily equates to a 40 hour/week clerical position. The trustees appreciate the system for many reasons: they can work at their convenience, they are not overloaded with paper or e-mail, and everyone has an equal say in the decision-making. The staff appreciates the fact that debating skills are removed from the process of evaluation, and that a written record of all remarks can be made part of the grant application file. We all appreciate that the money once used for unnecessary photocopying, mailing, sorting, rearranging and otherwise over-handling the applications is going toward our mission. We spent a good deal of time trying to find the right system, and we got one by working with Closerware. GrantMaker has made our lives easier, and the review process more thoughtful and streamlined. Most importantly, it puts the significant time and energy we save where it belongs: to worthy applicants. We are happy with this system and would highly recommend it to other foundations
	facing similar challenges. --Mary Anthony The 1772 Foundation www.1772foundation.org
	The 1772 Foundation first approached Closerware in 2005 to describe their struggles with distributing application information, aggregating evaluator feedback, communication, and reporting. As a result of these discussions and an assessment of the need across thousands of foundations, Closerware made the decision to develop a subscription-based product specifically for grant makers. The 1772 Foundation has been using the product for more than two years and their input and feedback along the way has been invaluable. The benefit the product now offers to all foundations is greatly due to their foresight and progressive views on utilizing technology to create efficiencies for their foundation.