Adobe is helping government agencies modernize grants management

Grants funding is critical to helping citizens and communities meet local needs with greater efficiency and effectiveness — up to 75 percent of federal dollars are allocated towards grants or fixed charges, according to USAspending.gov. Whether it is economic development, crisis and disaster recovery, educational programs, or agricultural projects, more and more funding dollars are now managed via grants.

The government’s grant-making role is occurring alongside the very events — including the global pandemic — that have shown nimble grant management processes to be a necessity. In addition, government must ensure effective management and oversight of these grants.

Luckily, agencies and departments can lean on investments already made in mobility and remote work to drive continuity of operations and enable continuous collaboration between teams, no matter where users are located. But these digital workflows are only as fast as their slowest link — a single outdated redundancy can quickly roll back innovation gains. At the same time, compliance, security, and transparency controls must be upheld. Today’s government agency must strike a careful balance between speed and certainty.

As agencies transform how they design and deliver services, grants management teams are a critical first line of collaboration and response. Modernizing grants processes can help agencies and communities build better and faster.

A special challenge (and opportunity) for grants management

This is especially true with grants management, where teams are working to turn tight timelines and complex requirements into processes and programs that are as easy as possible for citizens and organizations to use. Throughout the entire process — initial application, review, final award, and reporting — modernizing grants management means:

• Using technology to simplify and streamline grants management processes
• Giving stakeholders accurate, real-time visibility into the status of grants
• Strengthening internal controls through reporting and information analysis
• Capturing and sharing electronic or digital signatures

Agencies who get it right can not only move processes faster, they can deliver more seamless experiences at greater speed and lower cost while exceeding citizens’ expectations. Digital grants management workflows offer the opportunity to capture and redeploy resources that may go wasted, deliver services to hard-to-reach communities, and provide greater transparency into how tax dollars are being spent.

A high bar for success

Modernized grant workflows must drive not only specific mission goals, but also align with other big picture operational and technology goals. This ensures that any specific digital solution is a force multiplier for grant-making teams, driving greater productivity while staying aligned with overall digital government objectives.

• Solutions must be designed for maximum access and usability, streamlining the way grant applicants and agencies communicate and coordinate.
• Technologies must be secure and compliant, keeping sensitive information safe and secure.
• Processes must be simple, empowering organizations to approve, obligate and disburse funds efficiently and effectively.
• Visibility and reporting are critical, not just for short-term operational excellence but also for long-term accountability, recordkeeping, and internal control reviews.

The goal should be a solution that’s trusted, secure, and flexible. Agencies need to be able to carefully weave a digital signature layer into their existing productivity fabric, adding new capabilities without significantly disrupting the job today. Given the number of times signatures are captured and shared across the pre-award, award, and post-award grant phases, a single efficiency can roll up to big gains.

Solutions like Adobe Acrobat Sign, Adobe Acrobat, and digital experience solutions like Adobe Experience Manager Forms can make a huge impact on grants management and an agency’s ability to serve the community with greater intelligence, seamless integration, and fast time to value. Built to plug into the processes and applications teams are already using today, our digital solutions offer an elegant, intuitive alternative to paper-based processes that aren’t just faster, they are more secure, too.

The future of grants management look familiar

Agencies are changing the way they communicate and create content, serving their stakeholders and meeting their missions in more innovative ways. They are relying on cloud, video, and shared document management tools to transform the services they deliver — and how they deliver them. That’s why we are working hard to make sure we are building for the same vision: government agencies using technology to expand their reach and impact of services across the country and in their communities.

Our digital document management solutions are fundamental to helping achieve this critical transformation, delivering a new standard in safe, intelligent citizen experiences that also enable agencies to work faster and more efficiently behind the scenes. Bringing the signature process into the digital age immediately accelerates the process with no additional cost or risk. It’s a win-win for agencies looking to extend their digital infrastructure, and for citizens looking for better government delivered for less. For grant-making teams, the benefits become exponential, enabling agencies to turn small efficiencies into long-term strategic and community gains.

Learn more about Adobe digital document solutions for grants management

See how Adobe can make grants management faster, simpler, and more transparent with the Move grants faster and smarter: Agencies are building new digital workflows for grants management eBook, or contact us to learn more about how these solutions can help your agency or department meet its goals.