Publishing Secure Funder Reports

When you publish a reviewed web report, GrantLink puts it on a web page and gives you a link to share. The published page is a report that anyone with the link can reach. It isn't a funder account or a portal that asks people to sign in.

Before you start

Check the following items before you publish:

• You're a Member or Admin of the organization. Viewers can't open chat, so they can't publish reports.
• The report covers the intended grant, initiative, or funder, and the correct reporting period.
• QuickBooks has synced through the end of the reporting period.
• You've reviewed the budget, allocation, receipt, funding share, release, and indirect cost figures in the report.
• You've removed internal notes, unsupported assumptions, personal information, and transaction detail the reader doesn't need.
• Your organization has approved both the content and the way you'll share it.
• If you need password protection, your organization has a Professional, Enterprise, or agency plan.

Create or reopen the report

1. Select Draft report with Assistant on the Reports tab of a grant, initiative, or funder. You can also start from Chats > New chat.
2. State the audience, purpose, period, and exact scope.
3. Review and revise the draft in chat.
4. Confirm that the report appears on the Reports tab of the right record. On initiative and funder Reports tabs, a draft report shows Open Draft, and a published report shows View Report. Reporting > Saved reports lists all web reports in the organization.

A funder's own Excel workbook or PDF form follows a different workflow. Add it under the grant's Reporting > Templates, and prepare it from Reporting > Obligations. The prepared copy is a file you download, and you don't publish it. For the steps, see Generating Funder Reports.

Choose password protection

In the report chat, select Publish, and then select Password. Choose one of these options:

• No password (public access): Anyone with the link can open the report.
• Use grant's default password: This option appears only for a grant report, and only when that grant already has a default report password.
• Custom password: Visitors must enter the password you type or generate.

To set a default password for a grant before you publish, follow these steps:

1. Open the grant and select Reporting > Access.
2. Find Report password and select Set.
3. Enter a password or generate one, and then select Set password.
4. Copy the password right away. GrantLink tells you to save it because it won't be shown again.

Grant default passwords and custom report passwords require a Professional, Enterprise, or agency plan. Initiative and funder reports can't use a grant's default password, so use a custom password for them.

Publish

1. In the report chat, select Publish.
2. Select Password, choose the approved option, and select Save.
3. Select Publish to Production.
4. Wait while GrantLink copies the latest version of the report and publishes it. The button shows progress while this happens.
5. When you see Published successfully!, select View your deployment.
6. Open the link in a private browser window, or in a browser where you aren't signed in to GrantLink. If you set a password, confirm that the page asks for it.
7. Copy the link from the opened report, and share it through the channel your organization approved.

GrantLink publishes in the background. While one publish request is still queued or in progress, GrantLink won't start another one for the same report. If publishing fails, read the error message, fix the cause, and then select Retry Publish.

What each access control does

A report password is shared by everyone you give it to. It doesn't identify each reader, expire, give different people different access, or keep a log of who viewed the report. Anyone who has both the link and the password can view the report.

Current limitation: The publish window shows Visibility and Customize Domain settings, but GrantLink doesn't apply either setting when you publish. Choosing Private doesn't make readers sign in, and a custom domain you type isn't set up. Use a report password when the link alone shouldn't be enough to open the report, and check the published link yourself.

Republish or remove access

After you review updated content or change the password option, select Republish in the publish window. Republishing updates the published page for that report. Open the live page again afterward to confirm the change.

GrantLink doesn't currently have an unpublish button. Don't promise readers that you can remove their access yourself. If you need to remove a link you already shared, contact GrantLink support right away and follow your organization's incident process. Changing the password and republishing can block future visits, but it can't take back screenshots, downloads, or information people already copied.

Checklist before you share

• Open the final link outside your signed-in GrantLink session.
• Confirm the title, scope, period, totals, and narrative.
• If you set a password, confirm that the page asks for it.
• When you can, send the password separately from the link.
• Record who approved the report, the publish date, the recipient, and the report period.
• Remove information the funder doesn't need.
• Keep the export or reconciliation you used to check the numbers.

Published reports belong to your organization, and GrantLink records publish activity in its activity history. The activity history doesn't replace your organization's own approval, secure sharing, or record retention controls.