Grant tracking

How to create a grant application pipeline project in Asana

There are a few ways to create your grant application pipeline. To get started quickly:

1. Start with our grant application pipeline template and customize it for your organization’s needs.
2. Import an existing spreadsheet where you currently track grants.

How to access all Asana templates

If you prefer to build your own pipeline project from scratch, or want general best practices for Asana projects get started here.

Managing multiple active grant applications at once?

If you’re using our template:

1. Duplicate the [EXAMPLE TASK] in the template, rename it, and convert it into a project.
2. Then add these projects to a portfolio to help you manage and monitor all your grants in one place.

Tips for managing your grant application project

Now that you’ve built your project, these tips will help you manage it as you add grants to your pipeline.

1. Organize your project with application process stage sections

Make it clear which grants are in which stage of the pipeline by creating sections. Sections help you see different phases of your application process, like "Scoping," "Applying," "Pending," etc. and categorize the tasks accordingly.

As you make progress on your application, drag tasks from one section to another to reflect their status.

2. Map out application schedules and grant cycles with Timeline

Once you add a grant to your pipeline, make sure to assign it a due date so you submit or renew on time. Then start working backwards from the deadline to set realistic start and due dates for each step of the process. You can use Timeline to help you visualize your schedule, adjust so it’s realistic, and easily set dependencies between tasks so work happens in the right order. If you need to shift anything, Timeline also makes it easy to drag and drop to new deadlines.

3. Source new opportunities by capturing them with a form

New grant opportunities can come from anywhere, and forms allow you to quickly source and review them. Create a form that captures the details you need in order to evaluate the opportunity and approve it. Once submitted, the form will turn into a task in your pipeline project.

Share the form link across your organization or on your website to make it easy to submit and discover opportunities. Anyone can fill out a form even if they don’t use Asana.

4. Make priorities, approvals, and key details clear with custom fields

With various grants in your pipeline, you’ll want to make sure you can see which are top priority, how much funding you expect, and more. Custom fields help make these details clear at a glance, and can also be used to filter and sort your project (like spreadsheet columns). You can create fields for funding amount, priority, stage, or approvals—whatever you need to capture key details.

Track approvals with custom fields notifications

Grant proposals usually go through a few rounds of feedback, and the custom fields workflow for approvals makes it easy to see if something is approved or not. Just add an approval custom field to your project, and turn on notifications. Then all task followers will get notified if the field is changed, so everyone stays in the loop as applications are approved or have feedback to incorporate.

Tips for reporting on grant pipeline progress

Post regular status updates in one place with Progress View

Insights into pipeline progress and growth are key to make sure you’re sourcing enough opportunities and keeping them moving. Instead of relying on long email threads or random pings asking for updates, try posting regular updates with Progress View. You can @mention existing tasks, projects, and teammates to make it easy to reference work and keep everyone informed about progress or obstacles.

Tracking multiple grant projects? Add them to a portfolio to monitor their status in one view.