SmartSimple Blog

There are many moving and complex facets in running an event, often all happen in tandem. Using SmartSimple tools, Kim Thao from Bader Philanthropy and Annie Brinkman from the Spencer Foundation managed to streamline their entire event management process in one centralized system, keeping everyone on the same page, from the finance department to the caterers. Both Annie and Kim presented their event management systems at ELEVATE San Diego. Here’s how...

In anticipation of their upcoming presentation at SmartSimple’s ELEVATE San Diego conference in October, we sat down with Zia Maumenee, Grants Manager of Headwaters Foundation, and Malcolm Klotz, Founder of Re-Solved, to learn more about their trust-based philanthropy model and how they leveraged SmartSimple’s technology to carry it out.

Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) was challenged not only with the high volume of incoming grant applications but effectively managing the diverse needs and requirements associated with each application. Their data was scattered across different software and platforms, which caused delays in their administrative and application review processes. SmartSimple delivered them a cohesive system that integrated all functionality they needed into one, centralized platform to simplify their workflows. This enabled OCE to efficiently manage their processes on a large scale.

SmartSimple recently exhibited at the Americans for the Arts (AFTA) 2019 Annual Convention in Minneapolis. For over 60 years, the AFTA Annual Convention has brought together the movers and shakers of the arts industry, including advocates and funders. This year, the four-day, more than 1,000 arts professionals and funders participated to discuss arts education, cultural diversity, developing arts programs and events in local communities and more. Daily learning sessions focused on a series of core themes, including the value of inclusion, accessibility, and investing in the arts.

With over 200 different funds to grant from and hundreds of new proposals submitted each year through different granting calls, Vancouver Foundation had difficulty being efficient and effective through its collection of segregated in-house processes and systems.