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The DNA of GrantManagement Processes

Alex Sirota

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A Story

Summer Company is yearly entrepreneurship experience for 15-29year olds.

www.ontario.ca/summercompany Business Process Reengineering began in 2002 Now in v9

eService Business Consultant wrote requirements with program input Economics and Business Cluster implemented code Yearly project charter < $100,000

Total budget spent - $400,000 over 5+ years Summer Company Registration, Eligibility and Evaluation Network

(SCREEN) is result Reusable internally by other clusters

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The problem

Fix program mechanics & measure results

Lead time for applications too short

Not enough applications to fill 300-600 grants

Incomplete and non-standard applications

Identifying successful completion Reporting measures of success

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The solution

Yearly continual iterations to improve Build Front and Back Office together Workflow built in based on grant best-practices Easy to learn and use Provide access to pre- and post-approval application

processes for ALL stakeholders

Rudimentary Reporting and Integration with Finance toDisburse Cheques https://stage.ontariocanada.com/screen (Front Office) https://stage.ontariocanada.com/screen_bo (Back Office)

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Status Quo

All paper applications have been deprecated SCREEN has processed over 15,000 applications since 2003, over 2000

approved applications.

Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) completed by OCIPO with 10recommendations to continue to remove private information fromall existing paper-based processes (disbursement requests toFinance)

Organizations have recently approached us to use the code andmodel Issues: Liability, timing, support, open-source, making system a

generic platform, cost not usually an issue

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In short

Success in grant management is *much* more than effectiveprocessing and administration

Important to properly address: Privacy Complete applications Provide control to proponents during pre/post-approval Relationship management Measuring financial forecasts/actuals

Tracking the story of the project Measuring success Reporting longitudinally And Privacy, again

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Agile Guiding Principles

Individuals and interactions over

processes and tools Working software over

comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over

contract negotiation Responding to change over

following a plan

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A proposal

Approach in incremental steps, implementing onlyshared, common needs and functionality

Work from a strawdog approach, testing a standardlogic model

Leverage an open source model of development bothfrom a business process and a code perspective

Build an abstraction layer to benefit all who use the system Build a strong community of practice with process and

code as the backbone

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Benefits of Proposal

Incremental approach will yield quick wins fororganizations that can adopt proposed grant model

Creating a shared grant logic model will make it easierfor others to install-and-run

Open-source will make it easy for organizations in theBPS to contribute and receive benefits from code

library Learning from each others successes and failures in a

community of practice centered around the project

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How unique are grant processes?

Is there a shared DNA between

different grant processes? Imagine:

An easy to configure, scalable, inexpensive

grant management process that is availableto anyone in the OPS or the Broader PublicSector.

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True or False?

We have plenty of time to get this right? Culture change takes 5+ years, not 1 or 2, consultants are

always available to help Government collects and spends money, we are good at

collecting, but spending effectively and measuring outcomes?

Technology solutions are the answer? Appear to solve the mechanics problem (20%)

We know how to measure performance and outcomes? Program measurement, performance and outcomes are not

usually addressed effectively (80%)

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One DNA strand for GM

A logic model: Eligibility Check

Application Inquiry (aka Part A) Authentication Formal Application (aka Part B) Submission Recommendation Evaluation

Approval/Initial Disbursement(s) Project Monitoring Successful/Unsuccessful Completion Project/Outcome Reporting

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References Lawrence Lessig Code is Law

harvardmagazine.com/2000/01/code-is-law.html Agile Methodologies

www.agilemanifesto.org and www.agilealliance.org

Independent Blue Ribbon Panel From Red Tape toClear Results www.brp-gde.ca

Project Streamline report from foundations in US www.projectstreamline.org

Open Proposal Appraisal -http://sourceforge.net/projects/opa Vista Veterans Administration open source solution,

runs Mexicos health care system

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TODO

Create mapping of SCREEN modules to CommonProcess Model/Workflow Intake, filtering, funding provision, monitoring &

closure Agreement Management, Financial Management,

Information Management, Operations, Performance Information & Referral, Client Advice, Community &

Industry Advice, Service Development & Monitoring,Governance, Framework Management, IntegrityManagement need to be worked out

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Explore ROI of Build vs Buy

Solutions for grant management are

immature, long term cost for supportcould be a lot larger than you think customization is always hidden cost

Building your own, deployment on cloud

computing systems like Googles AppEngine