MOUNT VERNON – The Knox County Foundation has been working hard to debut its new donor portal and fund advisor portal.
These new systems will make giving to, monitoring and distributing from funds a simple and convenient tasks for fund holders. They will also make donating to any public funds quick and easy for the public.
The Foundation had been planning to transition to a new software system for a while.
“We spoke with several different companies but discovered Foundant’s product to be specifically designed to serve community foundations and their unique donor relationships, the grantmaking processes and financial reporting needs,” said Jeff Scott, the Foundation’s executive director. “Many of our peer foundations throughout Ohio have implemented the same system with great success.”
The new public donation portal allows anyone to make a gift or donation to any of the public funds held by the Knox County Foundation. Prospective donors can choose from one of the featured funds on the portal homepage or search for a fund by name, and then quickly and conveniently make a donation by credit card. Donors receive an immediate confirmation via email that their donation was received, as well as an emailed tax receipt shortly thereafter.
The other portal offers fund advisors — those individuals or organizations who actively manage charitable funds at the Foundation — the opportunity to engage with their fund from any computer, tablet or mobile device. Fund advisors can see the current balance and funds available for grantmaking, review recent donations and grants, download fund statements and make grant requests online.
“This is something that a number of our fund advisors have been asking for, and we are pleased to now be able to offer this service,” Scott said.
When asked if COVID-19 was a factor in moving the portal forward, Scott responded that the Foundation was already engaged in the process before the pandemic started, and that the ultimate goal was to make the experience of partnering with the Foundation more convenient and accessible for donors and fund advisors.
“We are still committed to offering the same exceptional and personal service to everyone, and (we) remain available to assist our partners via email, phone or in person,” Scott confirmed. “That said, we do believe many of those partners will find some of these new tools to be convenient.”
In addition to the portals, the system offers an online grant application process that has already been implemented and has received positive feedback from those organizations applying for grant funding.
While it was not the primary motivation for change, the new system also offers more efficiency for Foundation staff, allowing the team to better serve philanthropic partners. The online grant application and new portals are seamlessly tied to a new database that reduces redundancy in workflow and offers more robust opportunities to engage with donors and fund advisors.
.webp)
.webp)
