Grant management system FAQ

Our aim is to make applying for and managing your grant from BCF as easy and seamless as possible. The FAQ below provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about using our grants management system, and you can always contact our Program & Partnerships team with additional questions.

New users must first register by clicking “Create New Account” on the Grant Management System login page.

The registration process has four sections:

  1. organization information
  2. your individual user information
  3. executive officer information, and
  4. choosing your individual user password.

Although the registration process is straightforward, in some cases, it can be more complex when certain factors apply:

  • During the registration process, you cannot save partial information; therefore, you should gather all required information before beginning the registration process.
  • Your user account ID is your email address and each individual user only can be linked to a single organization. If you are submitting applications for different organizations, you will need to register separately using a different email address for each organization. If, for example, you are part-time staff at both Organization A and Organization B, then in order for you to submit applications for both Organizations A and B, you will need to register using one email address for the application from Organization A, and then you will need to register with a separate email address to submit the application from Organization B.

Updating your registration information

To update your user information, click on your name at the top right corner of the screen and select “Edit Profile” from the drop-down menu. To update your organization’s or chief executive officer’s information, please contact us.

Returning users log onto the system using your email address and the password. Please do not create a second, new user account. There is a system prompt to assist if you need a password reminder.

After you have registered you will be directed to the Application Page. You will two options on the screen:

  • Dashboard – (Application Status Page) This screen is your homepage where you can check the status of your grants. This page will display the form you just completed, the status of the form, and the next form in the process.
  • Apply – (Application Page) This screen lists the available grants and is the portal to apply. You may choose to bookmark the log in website address.

Apply for a grant by clicking “Apply” in the menu at the left side of the screen.

Manage your grant application by clicking “Dashboard” in the menu at the left side of the screen. The Application Status Page provides information regarding the status of open grant applications. From this page, you can download completed application forms and see the status of an application form you have submitted. If you have saved but not submitted an application form, you must access the form on this page to complete and submit the form.

Manage your awarded grants by clicking “Dashboard” in the menu at the left side of the screen. The Application Status Page provides information regarding awarded grants. From this page, you can see whether or not a grant has been awarded and complete required follow-up forms for awarded grants. The term “follow-up” describes an upcoming or pending grant agreement or report that is due.

  1. The character counter includes spaces as well as characters.
  2. A user will be automatically logged out of the online system after 90 minutes of inactivity. The user will receive a warning message at 80 minutes of the pending time out. Working on a form without saving does not count as activity.
  3. Please remember to regularly save your work. The system will auto save every 20 minutes.
  4. You may choose to prepare your response in a document outside of the online system (e.g. Microsoft Word) and then copy and paste the text into the online form. If you prepare your application in this way, be sure to keep track of character limits. As noted above, character limits include spaces and characters. We recommend that you do not use formatting tools, as available in Microsoft Word, because the formatting will likely not transfer to the response area when pasted into the online system.
  5. It is advisable to download copies of all submitted forms to your computer.
  6. If you do not provide an answer for one of the required questions, you will not be able to submit your application.
  7. If your PDF upload file exceeds the maximum file size, consider using the Adobe Acrobat option to ‘Reduce File Size’ (see options in Document).
  8. Remember to click “Submit Form” when you are finished.
  9. Once your application has been submitted it is no longer available for editing. If you need to make a correction to a submitted form, please contact us.

In general, the acceptable file types for uploading files are: Microsoft Word/Excel and Adobe PDF (PDF) files. Only one file can be uploaded per question. Multiple documents must be combined into one file and then uploaded.

If the document(s) that need to be attached are not in digital form and/or if you need to combine multiple documents into a single file, our online system gives you the option to “Fax to File.” This easy-to-use tool will convert documents from hard copy to digital format as a PDF file.

  1. Click “Fax to File” in the menu at the left side of the screen and read the instructions.
  2. Select “Request a Fax #”; a toll-free number will appear on the page.
  3. Load a document, or multiple documents that need to be consolidated into one file, into your fax machine.
  4. Dial the toll-free number. Send a separate fax for each individual file you wish to create.
  5. Select “Finished Faxing” when you are done and to see your list of files.

There are two ways to remove an uploaded file from an application:

  1. Once the file has been uploaded a delete button will appear below the file name. Clicking Delete will remove the file.
  2. To replace the file a new file can be uploaded in its place. Simply upload the correct form to the question and the old uploaded form will be erased.

Applicants can only upload a single document in response to an upload question. If you have more than one file they need to upload, you can combine the files either electronically or via scanning. There are two methods applicants can use:

  1. If the files to be uploaded are in a format that is editable (such as Word or Excel), the applicant may take multiple Word documents or Excel sheets and combine them into one file.
  2. If the files are not easily edited (PDF or physical copies), they may be combined by utilizing the Fax-to-File tool. For example, sending two resumes in a fax would result in one PDF file containing both resumes.

Applicants may also send files to BCF via email or mail.

There a few different reasons you may experience file upload issues:

  1. File names – Remove extra periods or replace them with a dash or underscore character.
  2. File size – Files that exceed the maximum file size limit will cause an error. Compress the files or use Fax-to-File to create a smaller file.

Applicants may also send files to BCF via email or mail.

No. At the bottom of the application is a “Save as Draft” button. We recommend you save your application often and before logging out. You can log in at a later time to continue working on your application.

If you would like a copy of your application for your own records, log in to the application portal and click on the Application Packet link. This will create a PDF of your application. You can print or save this document. You will always have access to your application by logging back into the application portal, even after you submit it.

Yes. If you submitted a grant application within a previous BCF grant cycle through our online grant management system and would like to copy this content into a new application, please take these steps:

  1. Log into your site, then click Apply in the upper navigation bar.
  2. Click Apply next to the BCF grant program you’d like to apply within.
  3. Click Copy Previous Answers to copy your responses from a previously submitted application into this form.
  4. The pop-up shows your previous applications with BCF that could be copied, and the number of matching answers that will copy into your request for this grant program
  5. Select the application you want to copy responses from, then click Copy Answers. Please note that if you’ve started filling out this form already, this will not overwrite or affect your new responses. Remember to click OK on the message that appears next, confirming that you want to copy answers into this new request.
  6. The matching answers from your previous application will then automatically populate in this form for your new application. Please be sure to review the responses and update them as needed, and check for any additional questions on the form that did not populate with copied responses.
  7. Click Save at the bottom of the form if you need to continue working on it later, and click Submit when you’re ready to submit your application to BCF.

Grant application
questions?

Please contact us at grants@brooklinecommunity.org with any questions before, during or after the application process. We are happy to discuss ideas prior to submission. Our mailing address and phone number are listed in the footer of this page.

2024-02-01T04:17:43-05:00
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