SmartSimple Blog

Photo by Glenn Carstens

Originally written and published by SmartSimple Software COO & Co-Founder, Michael Reid, in his blog 'Charlie In The Jungle', a journal of his thoughts on what technology is, how it works, and why it matters.

I recently saw a blog post by a competitor criticizing our platform due to the inability to add fields to forms using drag and drop. I'm not going to reciprocate and criticize their platform, as I'm sure it's a fine solution for some organizations (plus, I do believe that it's unprofessional to criticize anyone's work). However, let me explain exactly why our platform does not use drag and drop.

Going into our second year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, most of us have adjusted to working remotely. Admittedly, there are some things that are more difficult to manage virtually, but executing agreements shouldn’t be one of them.

Tools like DocuSign’s eSignature solution have been pivotal in helping organizations manage activities that are traditionally managed offline like agreements and contracts. It’s just one of the dozens of apps on the SmartSimple Marketplace that can be added to any SmartSimple Platform3 system to extend functionality, so that you can manage even more of your operation from place. There’s PayPal and Stripe for online payments, Salesforce for CRM, or Microsoft Dynamics GP for Accounting to name just a few.

Read on to see how one financial institution automated their e-signature workflow with SmartSimple Marketplace’s DocuSign eSignature app to not only meet urgent funding needs in their community, but also accelerate their operational efficiency.

In our November Upgrade,  we are releasing 45 new features and enhancements. While we think all of the things we’ve added help to make Platform3 even better, we’ve highlighted a couple of enhancements and new features in this blog that we’re particularly excited about.  You can find a full upgrade summary of all features and enhancements on our Wiki or by attending our Upgrade Webinars.

Consider this: non-profit organizations everywhere are under pressure to maximize their resources, provide for community needs, all while managing their relationships with foundations and partners. Meanwhile, funders and their staff are under duress to balance program development, stakeholder engagement, and fiduciary responsibility. At the end of the day, the grant application, for both grantseekers and grantmakers, is one part of the process that both have to interact with to move forward.

Along with having a clear mission and efficient processes, effective budgeting is critically important to any grantmaking organization's success. Leanly staffed grantmakers of all sizes can often grapple with maintaining and improving their philanthropic budgeting operations, especially when using systems that are rigid and do not easily adapt to today's rapidly changing world and economic uncertainty.