Working with Funders

A GrantLink funder is the organization or person associated with one or more grants. The funder record stores relationship details and groups its grants and reports. It is not a funder login, contact-management system, or shared portal.

Before You Start

Confirm that:

• You have a Member or Admin role. Viewers can review funders but cannot create, import, or edit them.
• You know whether the funder already exists as a QuickBooks Customer.
• QuickBooks is connected and synced if you plan to import or link a Customer.
• You understand your QuickBooks hierarchy. A common structure uses a parent Customer for the funder and a sub-customer/job or Project for an individual grant.
• You understand that GrantLink can link an existing synced Customer, but current QuickBooks Customer create and update writers are blocked globally.

Create a Funder in GrantLink

1. Open Funders.
2. Select Add Funder.
3. Enter the required Funder name.
4. Add optional fields as useful:
   • Short name
   • Type: foundation, federal/state/local government, corporation, individual, or other
   • Description and website
   • Contact name, email, and phone
   • Default indirect rate from 0% through 100%
   • Default reporting cadence: monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual, final only, or custom
5. Choose how to handle QuickBooks:
   • Skip an explicit link
   • Link an existing active Customer
   • Request creation of a new QuickBooks Customer from the funder name and contact email; this option currently fails because the provider writer is blocked
6. Select Create Funder.

GrantLink creates an organization-scoped funder record and records the action. Creating a funder does not create a grant.

Current QuickBooks boundary: The explicit Create new QuickBooks customer option also requires the organization's Create & update funder customers permission, but permission is not sufficient. The Customer create and update handlers are currently blocked globally. Create or correct the Customer in QuickBooks, sync, and then link the existing Customer in GrantLink.

Funder default cadence and indirect rate are reference defaults on the funder record. Review the actual reporting schedule and indirect-cost terms on each grant; do not assume the funder defaults have populated or overridden a grant.

Import a Funder from QuickBooks

Use this when the funder already exists as a Customer:

1. Open Funders > Import from QuickBooks.
2. Search the QuickBooks customer inbox.
3. Select the Customer.
4. Review the prefilled funder name and email on the new-funder form.
5. Complete the optional funder fields and create the record.

The import list includes active, non-Project Customers that are not already linked to a funder. It searches display and company names, pages up to 50 at a time in the interface, and de-duplicates matching display-name/email records in the synced mirror.

If a Customer is missing:

• Confirm QuickBooks is connected and has synced.
• Confirm the Customer is active.
• Confirm it is not a QuickBooks Project.
• Check whether another GrantLink funder is already linked to it.
• Search by both display name and company name.

Preserve the Funder–Grant Hierarchy

For the common parent/sub-customer model:

1. Create or import the parent Customer as the GrantLink funder.
2. Create the grant manually or from award documents.
3. Select the funder on the grant.
4. Link the grant to its own sub-customer/job, Project, class, or other supported grant tracking entity.

Do not link both funder and grant to the same Customer merely to make the records appear connected. Keep the hierarchy aligned with the real QuickBooks design so income, claim, and mapping workflows can distinguish the relationship.

Review the Funder Workspace

Open a funder to use three current tabs:

• Grants: shows associated grants, total count, active count, total awarded, status groups, periods, and award amounts.
• Reports: shows funder reports grouped as Draft or Published. Select Create Report to start a funder-scoped chat; open drafts in chat, published web reports by link, and generated PDFs when available.
• Details: edits relationship fields and links an existing QuickBooks Customer. A visible create-Customer choice is currently blocked when submitted.

The Reports tab does not invite the funder into GrantLink. A published report is a shareable web link. Use a custom report password when the plan supports it and the content should not be accessible by URL alone. Funder reports cannot use a grant's default report password.

Update, Archive, and Restore

• Edit the funder's Details when contact information, name, defaults, or the QuickBooks link changes.
• Archiving a funder removes it from active GrantLink lists but does not deactivate its QuickBooks Customer.
• Restoring an archived funder does not reactivate a Customer in QuickBooks.
• Unlinking or changing the linked Customer updates the GrantLink relationship; verify downstream grant and receipt mappings afterward.

Changing a funder's name or email updates the GrantLink record. It does not currently update the linked QuickBooks Customer because the provider writer is blocked. Make source-controlled Customer changes in QuickBooks and sync again.

Prepare a Funder Report

1. Open the funder and select Reports.
2. Select Create Report.
3. Specify the reporting period, included grants, requested measures, and audience.
4. Review source data and reconcile totals before approving the narrative.
5. Use a generated PDF when available, or publish the reviewed report with the appropriate password choice.

A funder record can group multiple grants, but report scope still needs review. Confirm whether the report should include all associated grants or only a defined subset and period.

Security and Edge Cases

• Contact fields are internal organization data; they do not send email or grant access to the contact.
• There is no current funder user role or authenticated funder portal.
• QuickBooks remains the source of Customer status and accounting records. Correct source-controlled errors there and sync.
• GrantLink organization ownership checks prevent a linked Customer or funder ID from exposing another organization's record.
• A published link and a downloaded PDF or workbook may be forwarded. Share only the fields the recipient needs.
• If a funder supports grants with different reporting or indirect-cost terms, set and review those terms on each grant instead of relying on one funder default.