Nova Ukraine launches a digital grants management platform in 3 weeks.

Nova Ukraine found itself at the center of an outpouring of global support in 2022. "We were getting millions of donations daily, skyrocketing our budget by over 100% within weeks. We didn’t have the infrastructure to manage the volume,” said Korkuna. With no time to spare, the team pivoted from project execution to grantmaking, partnering with other nonprofits who could execute on the ground. They needed to get a process in place fast to support it.

Nova Ukraine found itself at the center of an outpouring of global support in 2022. "We were getting millions of donations daily, skyrocketing our budget by over 100% within weeks. We didn’t have the infrastructure to manage the volume,” said Korkuna. With no time to spare, the team pivoted from project execution to grantmaking, partnering with other nonprofits who could execute on the ground. They needed to get a process in place fast to support it.

Moving at the speed of now is something that many nonprofit organizations face, particularly during times of great need - but it can't come at the expense of operational efficiency or transparency. Teams must be ready to answer data calls from donors, public inquiries, awareness campaigns, compliance reporting, and more.

Organizations must find a balance between speed, scale, transparency, and agility, which can be a challenge when they need to respond fast. That’s what makes Nova Ukraine such a noteworthy example: the team found this balance and became a grants management best practice – and then shared the key takeaways that make a great starting point for your next digital transformation to-do list.

Nova Ukraine deployed a grants management platform on Salesforce for Nonprofits with the help of Noltic, a Ukraine-based Salesforce implementation partner. "They needed to move fast but weren't sure where to start. We said, 'Tell us what it has to do; we'll go from there,'" said Vladyslav Petrovych, Chief Technology Officer at Noltic.

Here's how it works:

Grant applications 

A grant-seeking organization submits an application via webform. A unique profile is created for approved applications with links to all relevant applicant documents to process the background check.

Decision trees for project approvals are automated within the system, streamlining the workflow and enabling the Nova Ukraine team to track and manage budgets via project categorization, assigning budget, and designating approvers.

Once a project is approved, a payment order is created which notifies the financial team. All transaction information is tracked within the system, helping the team to confirm payments made to partners and facilitating mandatory reporting requirements.

Donation processing and reporting 

Nova Ukraine processes donations from over a dozen approved platforms; the system consolidates data from across these multiple sources into a single view. This assists the team with reporting - key for issuing receipts, complying with regulatory compliance, and donor communications.

Donor profiles are also created, helping the team to understand donor demographics and personalize their interactions with donors for future campaigns.

The system was live in three weeks, giving the team the tools they need to:

1. Manage grantmaking end-to-end digitally: "Everything is integrated in one place. It's transparent and traceable, it's driving operational efficiency - and it's scalable, so we can keep building as we evolve," said Korkuna.

2. Respond to need with speed: "The automated workflows are key when every hour matters. Our financial team was turning around payments within 24 hours, and the system provides a digital audit trail of all transactions."

3. Optimize their impact with data and actionable insights: "Having all our data in one place is invaluable. We can track fund levels for planning. We can generate reports for the board. It helps us manage funds in real-time and assists with reporting requirements."

4. Develop trusted relationships with all stakeholders. "Understanding our donors helps us personalize our interactions. We're able to engage with them in more meaningful ways, show them that their funds are put to good use, and run campaigns that resonate with them."

• 205k donation transactions processed
• $78M in aid disbursed
• 24 hour payment processing turnaround time
• 5k grant applications processed
• 4M+ people helped
• 11,200+ tons of humanitarian aid delivered

For Korkuna, the platform has helped the Nova Ukraine team to deliver on-the-ground results quickly and will help them to drive long-term impact, too. "The platform has been a key factor enabling us to sustainably manage massive growth. Our operations are more professional, and we've evolved from being reactive to planning ahead," he confirmed.