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Author: Joel Kristenson

Last Updated: 2015-09-04

Overview

This article is primarily for our nonprofit customers, but does contain useful information related to log notes and pivot reports for political customers who are interested in the same.  It covers the basic ways you can track grants by utilizing Log Note Types, Reminders, and the System Gallery to stay organized.  It also gets into details on how to build a basic Pivot report you can run to get sum totals on how your different grant requests are coming along.

IMPORTANT!  Some sections of this article require you have appropriate security clearance to things like the System Manger.

Tip: Use the Ctrl+F hot key to jump to different sections of this article (example: “#1”, “#2” or “Related Resources”.

Outline

#1 Adding the Log Types for Grant Requested, Grant Denied, and Grant Approved

#2 Recording the Log Notes in a Foundation’s Record Card, and Storing the Related Documentation in the Gallery

#3 Generating Reports from the Search Log Entries List, and Building a Pivot Summary Report for Totals of Grants Requested, Approved, and Denied

#4 Related Resources

#1 Adding the Log Types for Grant Requested, Grant Denied, and Grants Approved

Navigate to the Log Types list under Application Menu > System Manager > Lists > Log Types and click [Search].

Click [+ New] on the search tool strip to begin adding a new log type.

Create a Log Type Name to categorize your grant status, and then click [Save and Close].

In my example I created 3 different log types called Grant Requested, Grant Denied, and Grant Approved.

Once you’re done adding your log types click [Search] to refresh the list and they’ll display at the bottom:

Next you’ll want to refresh the drop-downs in your database so they display your new log types.  To execute this utility follow Application Menu > System Manager > Settings > Update Unique Search Values (Drop Downs)

You’re now finished with these steps.  The next section will show you how to record a grant request in a foundation’s record card, and how to store the related documentation in the Gallery.

Tip: Once a new Log Type has been created you’re not able to delete it so if it hasn’t been used you can always just rename it by opening the Log Type record(s) in your Log Types list under System Manger > Lists.

#2 Recording the Log Notes in a Foundation’s Record Card, and Storing the Related Documentation in the Gallery

From your Contacts (Donors/Voters) list search for the foundation you’re requesting a grant from, and click on the blue First Name hyperlink to open their record.  In this example I pulled up all of my foundation records and selected the Rockefeller Foundation.

Navigate to the Logs tab, and click the [+ New] button.

Click the Log Type drop-down and select your new log type of Grant Requested.

Tip: If your new log types don’t display even after running the ‘refresh unique drop-downs’ utility, then click the ‘Refresh list’ option, shown in the image below.

Fill out the relevant information on the input form i.e. Date/Amount/Details, and click [Save].  In my example below I requested $5,000 on 8/21/2015 with notes on where to find related info in the Gallery.

My example saved log note is below, the details you entered will now display so each of your database users can quickly see what’s been communicated with this contact if they open the record at some future point.

Next you’ll want to click on [Add/Open Reminder] if you need to follow up on this grant at a future point.

Fill out all of the relevant follow-up reminder information, and click [Save].  If no follow-up is required you can skip this step.  My example is below to follow-up in 4 weeks after the date the grant was requested.

Reminders will display in the lower-left of the Trail Blazer interface, they will turn red if they’re past due.  My example is below.

You’re now finished with the recording of the grant request log note, navigate to the Gallery tab if you would like to store related grant documents.  If you don’t have any you can skip this step.

Click on the [Import File] button.

Locate the file(s) you would like to upload, click on it, and then click [Open].

Once the file(s) is uploaded it will display with details in the Gallery.  It can be viewed by other users with appropriate security access and can be exported if need be.  My example Word Document is below.

You’re now finished with these steps.

The final section in this article talks about how to generate basic reports off of the log note data you’ve record as well as how to build a more advanced Pivot table which will summarize the current dollar amounts for each of the grants you’re tracking.

#3 Generating Reports from the Search Log Entries List, and Building a Pivot Summary Report for Totals of Grants Requested, Approved, and Denied

For this section we’ll start with some very basic queries, and finish with a more advanced summary report using the Pivot utility.

To search by a single Log Type e.g. ‘Grant Requested’, navigate to the Search Log Entries list under the Application Menu, choose ‘Grant Requested’ under the Log Type drop-down, and then click [Search].

In my example I had 3 requested grant records for a total of $18,500.00.

The other search criteria you can use in this list for basic queries includes:

- Date Range

- Created By

- Other Log Types

- A Specific Contact (Foundation)

- Specific Text within a Log Note

This screenshot provides a visual of the other searchable fields in the Log Entries List with descriptions:

To finish off this article we’ll end by constructing a pivot summary report of all the different Grant Log Types to see how many grant requests have occurred per foundation, as well as the total dollar amounts for all requested, accepted and denied grants.

Begin by opening a new Search Log Entries list, and select the Log Types of Grant Requested, Grant Approved, and Grant Denied, then click [Search].  In my example it produced 10 log entries related to my grant tracking.

Next, click on the [Pivot] button on the list tool strip.

Under the Row Labels tab select First Name.

Under the Column Labels tab select ‘Type’.

Under to the Data tab, select Show count of occurrences, $ or Hours, and then click [OK].

Below is my example Pivot Table, the report summarizes how many grants have been requested, approved, and denied by each of the foundations as well as the total dollar amounts for each.

You can Export, Print, or Chart your pivot table if necessary:

You’re now finished with this article, take a look at the related help resources below, and don’t hesitate to call our support team for 1-on-1 assistance.

#4 Related Resources

Article: Adding Log Types

Article: Adding Log Notes, Mass Log Notes, & Reminders

Video: Reporting 105 – Pivots – summary reporting

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