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Pros
The best features of this software is the ease of use and the excellent customer service when you have questions or issues.
The customer service we receive from Community Force can not be beat. They have always responsive and quick to point out that their job is to provide us the support we need to be successful.
Cons
Our reviewers found the logic model difficult to read on their side.
I struggled a little bit with the reporting but the help/assistance the staff offer helped me so much.
Showing Most Helpful
Showing 18 of 18 reviews
"Corporate Grant Making"
Overall: Our experience with CommunityForce has been great, despite the initial setup complexity. The platform has enabled us to streamline what was previously a cumbersome, paper-heavy process. We've been able to expand our corporate responsibility grant-making capacity significantly without adding administrative staff, thanks to the platform's robust automation capabilities. The system really proves its worth during heavy application periods. It handles large volumes of submissions effortlessly, and the automated communication features keep applicants, reviewers, and internal stakeholders well-informed throughout the process.
Pros: The platform's comprehensive grant lifecycle management capabilities have transformed our operations. The automated workflow system handles everything from initial submissions to final impact reporting with efficiency. What stands out most is the platform's flexibility in accommodating different grant types - from small community grants to large multi-year funding programs. The built-in compliance tracking and reporting features have been invaluable for maintaining transparency and meeting regulatory requirements.
Cons: The depth of customization options, while beneficial, made the initial platform configuration more complex than expected. The CommunityForce's support team was highly responsive.
"United Way Grant Portal "
Pros: The IT support is to tier. Anytime we have any issues they respond very quickly and supportive.
Cons: Our reviewers found the logic model difficult to read on their side. The applicants and admin found it useful.
"Grant Management Portal and Manager"
Overall: The organization has used the program for a number of years for all of our major grant applications. Coming in new to the team has posed some challenges to learn the ins and out. But we have made due and will get it to work.
Pros: The ease of having all of our grant applications in one place.
Cons: There is a learning curve and some of the features are not intuitive.
"Yes, this is the Grants Management platform you're looking for."
Overall: We use CommunityForce for grants to non-profits and we researched several platforms. As a United Way, cost is very important to us. They are technically competitive and their customer satisfaction goes above and beyond other companies that are far more expensive.
Pros: It is so easy to use and most importantly it's easy for our applicants! I have agencies tell me all the time how user-friendly it is and how much they love the progress dashboard. There's no way for them to miss anything. That's the platform itself. The thing that makes CommunityForce different is the customer service. They are great teachers, always ready to help, professional, and genuinely concerned about our grants. If you asked my [sensitive content hidden] she would tell you that it's amazing value for money and the ROI is above what would be expected.
Cons: The reviewer scorecard for grants could use some tweaks to make it a little more intuitive, but all in all, it's a very good tool.
"New Director Learns From Community Force"
Overall: I've been working with Community Force for over a year, but more recently, they have been tremendously helpful to me as I learn my new director role, specifically in the granting process, which is a huge part of our organization's function.
Pros: The staff. They are efficient, friendly and skilled.
Cons: I do not find anything they have helped me with lacking substance and expertise.
"Grants United took a very complex onboarding process for one of our programs and gave me flexibilty."
Overall: Flexibility and easy customization to our needs, with a few clever clicks we were also able to use it for project management
Pros: The flexibility and intuitive nature of the process of building multiple applications. I am able to build applications for the many programs we have and customize them to our needs, both front end on the application and back end in staff only sections. The post acceptance sections give me the ability to continue my relationship with the grantee beyond the award. I can have progress reports and final reports that allow me, through conditional logic, to gather what i need for reporting to our funders.
Cons: I wish there were a way to have separate landing pages for separate programs. I also wish I could clone reports from grant round to grant round.
Vendor Response
"Ease of Community Force Program"
Overall: Easy and fast way to keep our grant applications and reporting current and easily accessible.
Pros: Community Force was a breath of fresh air after other programs, what a difference. We had tried another grant management program and it was difficult for not only us but our partner agencies to use. Our funded partners have told s our grant reporting software is the easiest they use. The customer service we receive from Community Force can not be beat. They have always responsive and quick to point out that their job is to provide us the support we need to be successful.
Cons: I feel that there are to many sections to sometimes sort through at times to try and find your answer.
"Overall it is a good program and meets our needs. We have used this software for 4 years."
Overall: It is user friendly. We like having multiple year data on our agency applications. Our reveiwers can access it anywhere internet is available.
Pros: We like the section icons in setting up the applications. It is easy to follow. We like the % of completion in each section. It is easy to duplicate an application from year to year. The ability to transfer information from prior applications is helpful. We like that we can create reports from any field but we don't like only downloading into MS Excel.
Cons: The ability to develop easy reports. Wish there were report templates build into the system. Just downloading to MS Excel isn't very user friendly. We would like to be able to print some nice reports from the system. It takes a lot of staff time to make the MS Excel reports in a concise format. For reviewers the scoring rubic and application scrolls separately. We didn't find the new enhancement of the reviewers seeing each other's comments very helpful in the current format.
"Charitable Trust Review"
Pros: Eliminates PaperworkEasy to communicate with applicants
Cons: Global Reports cannot be shared with reviewers
"uw4communityforce"
Pros: [SENSITIVE CONTENT] - her customer service skills are 5 star worthy!
Cons: None at this time. I haven't had too much time with this software but so far so good!
"Thank You For Excellent Customer Service [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]!!"
Pros: Opportunity to ask questions and receive actionable support from CF team ( [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] Customer Success Manager ) in a consistently informative and positive manner. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] knowledge of the platform functionality coupled with outstanding customer service skill set(s) made my experience with CF positive each time i logged in as Global Admin. Than you [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] for the amazing support from our team at the United Way of York County.
Cons: There were very few features I notices that detracted from my opinion of the platform.
"Management of grants has been streamlined"
Overall: Their customer service is very responsive on all questions and problems we ask of them. They also keep us updated on all new upgrades and occasionally ask if we have any needs that are not being met.
Pros: All information is available 24/7 and in one place. Training was online and easy to follow.
Cons: Initial set-up. Was not bad though, we paid them to do the initial set-up of the application and then just had to do training of how to use.
"Great Tool for Philanthropy"
Overall: I can't imagine how much more time consuming it would be to manage our grants and scholarships without this software.
Pros: One software for applicants and reviewers with the ability to manage, monitor and track the entire process efficiently. The ability to export to excel is extremely helpful and time efficient and calculation of reviewers scores is great.
Cons: Without the appropriate implementation and training it is difficult to capitalize on the full potential of the software. The training manual covers the basics but doesn't have a lot of depth for more complex situations, however our Client Success Manager, has proven extremely helpful in these circumstances.
"Great software!"
Overall: Excellent
Pros: Easy to use and navigate, all the buttons are very intuitive
Cons: I struggled a little bit with the reporting but the help/assistance the staff offer helped me so much
"Review"
Overall: streamlined the granting process for applicants and volunteer reviewers
Pros: Ease of use, intuitive for user are the two thinks that we like most
Cons: There isn't a spell check feature which can be a challenge for our applicants
"Community Force Grant Management Software"
Pros: The best features of this software is the ease of use and the excellent customer service when you have questions or issues.
Cons: The reports section is the part where I need the most help.
"Great system "
Pros: I like how the volunteers can review all the information on it. How you can switch views from admin to reviewer if anyone of them has a problem with it.
Cons: The complex of the system of making an application public. How to create an application Just a lot of differnet screen you have to go to just to create an application. .
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