Digi­tal appli­ca­tion manage­ment is beco­ming the norm

STIFTUNGSCHWEIZ

Digi­tal solu­ti­ons are beco­ming incre­asingly important in the Swiss foun­da­tion land­scape. They simplify and acce­le­rate proces­ses, increase trans­pa­rency and improve the quality and tracea­bi­lity of decis­i­ons. Digi­tal appli­ca­tion and grant manage­ment refers to the use of online plat­forms and soft­ware solu­ti­ons that support and auto­mate the process of submit­ting, evalua­ting and mana­ging grants. Modern tech­no­lo­gies enable orga­ni­sa­ti­ons to process appli­ca­ti­ons more quickly and make more careful decis­i­ons. They faci­li­tate the commu­ni­ca­tion with appli­cants, as well as the report­ing and docu­men­ta­tion of foun­da­tion activities.

New tech­no­logy, old habits

Since Novem­ber 2023, StiftungSchweiz is offe­ring an inno­va­tive service charac­te­ri­sed by an intui­tive user inter­face and the use of state-of-the-art tech­no­lo­gies, inclu­ding the consci­en­tious imple­men­ta­tion of arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence in the initial analy­sis of appli­ca­ti­ons. The solu­tion was deve­lo­ped in close colla­bo­ra­tion with Swiss­Foun­da­ti­ons and stands out for its simpli­city. This makes it parti­cu­larly suita­ble for smal­ler and medium-sized orga­ni­sa­ti­ons that have not yet adopted digi­tal solu­ti­ons. Howe­ver, thanks to its scala­bi­lity, the solu­tion is also being used by an incre­asing number of large foun­da­ti­ons or even in the spon­sor­ship manage­ment of large companies.

Tran­si­tio­ning to digi­tal appli­ca­tion and grant manage­ment is not without its chal­lenges. Orga­ni­sa­ti­ons have to adapt their inter­nal proces­ses and rethink old prac­ti­ces based on pen and paper. Imple­men­ting a digi­tal system ther­e­fore often leads to new respon­si­bi­li­ties, guide­lines or orga­ni­sa­tio­nal struc­tures in order to fully bene­fit from its advan­ta­ges. Digi­tal systems also meet the expec­ta­ti­ons of a new gene­ra­tion of foun­da­tion board members who prefer contem­po­rary decis­ion-making proces­ses and flexi­ble working methods (such as virtual meetings).

Progress for both sides

Often times, the appli­cants’ perspec­tive is negle­c­ted. Stand-alone digi­tal solu­ti­ons require appli­cants to enter their infor­ma­tion into speci­fic systems, which is often more time-consum­ing than the tradi­tio­nal paper appli­ca­tion. This aspect is often over­loo­ked when it comes to choo­sing a new system. It is ther­e­fore essen­tial that a solu­tion supports both the funding orga­ni­sa­tion and the appli­cants in terms of gaining efficiency.

At StiftungSchweiz, infor­ma­tion must ther­e­fore only be ente­red once and is then available for diffe­rent appli­ca­ti­ons – whether digi­tally or on paper. This signi­fi­cantly redu­ces the effort requi­red for all subse­quent applications.

With a forward-thin­king approach and the right part­ner, digi­tal solu­ti­ons can set new stan­dards and lead to more effi­ci­ent and trans­pa­rent funding proces­ses – inclu­ding data secu­rity, compre­hen­sive contex­tual infor­ma­tion that is available for every appli­ca­tion review, and trans­pa­rent and simple commu­ni­ca­tion. Those who make the tran­si­tion often ask: Why didn’t we do this earlier? Now is the ideal moment to explore the new possi­bi­li­ties and prepare your own proces­ses for the future.