Aims Grant Management Software

15th October, 2009

23 September, 2009

The agency wishes to significantly improve its electronic capacity for the Management of Grants and today announced its intention to implement the AIMS Grant Management Software. It is expected that the project will commence before the end of Autumn.

31 August, 2009

The UK’s Department of Health has gone live with the AIMS Software which was implemented to manage the Innovation Excellence and Service Development Fund 2009-10. The find is split into 3 Funding Strands (Innovation / Excellence / Service Development) and is sub-classified further into 5 Funding Themes.

Only Organisations can apply to DH for funding and a number of contacts for that Organisation may apply for different grants. AIMS allows all contacts to self-register on the system on-line through the DH website. Once registration is complete, users can review and update their “profile” on the system and apply for the various Funding Strands offered.

DH have used the workflow tool within AIMS to map the process that an application must go through in order for funding to be awarded. This ensures all applications are reviewed in a fair and equal manner. It also means staff and reviewers can manage their workload much easier though a series of individual “tasks” that appear in each worker’s Inbox as the application moves through the internal process of Grant Management.

The project had been very successful thus far and AIMS will now be rolled out to manage additional Funds which are currently managed by partner organisations of the Department of Health.

24 August 2009

Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN) was established in 1997 to fund projects which are eligible under the Landfill Communities Fund. WREN is a not-for-profit business that helps benefit the lives of people who live close to landfill sites by awarding grants for environmental, heritage and community projects.

The level of demand for WREN funding during the past year has been unprecedented and there are signs that this demand has yet to peak. This has resulted in an increase in the number of applications received by WREN, and also the highest level of declines. Despite this in 2008 WREN recorded its highest level of grants awarded.

In order to safeguard a high level of service and ensure that funding continues to be available to those communities that this scheme, it was decided in 2009 to procure a highly efficient automated Grant Management Solution. After considerable research, AIMS was selected as WREN’s preferred solution and will begin implementation of the system later this autumn.

02 May 2009

Quest’s AIMS Solution has been selected by the UK’s Department of Health to manage grants and funding awarded to Third Sector Organisations. The Third Sector Partnership Team is responsible for managing the Department of Health’s relations with the ‘Third Sector’ and in particular the award of grants to the Third Sector. The scheme supports local projects that enable Third Sector organisations to involve volunteers in health and social care activity.

The Implementation of AIMS has already begun to manage this funding. Applications for much of these funds, which are substantially oversubscribed, are made online. Award recommendations are made by relevant units within DH depending on the nature of the activities for which funds have been requested, although the final decision for Section 64 grants rests with the Secretary of State. Grants may be made for periods of up to three years, and during this time, the recipients’ expenditure and progress on the project must be monitored to ensure successful delivery.

Substantially more than £20M per year is awarded by DH to Third Sector organisations.

 20 March 2009

THE CLIENT

The Netherlands Fund for Performing Arts+ (Nederlands Fonds voor Podiumkunsten - NFPK+) brings together all the performing arts disciplines into a single organisation that considers the entire chain, from creating and producing to programming and audience-building.

The Dutch Funding Organisation makes awards to professional arts organizations and individuals using a peer assessment process. The Netherlands is home to many companies, ensembles, orchestras and creators respected around the world. There is a well-equipped and well-distributed network of venues to exhibit the entire range of disciplines. NFPK works to retain and enhance what is already good and to help streamline those areas that require improvement.

This naturally presupposes the existence of a wellfunctioning funding structure.

GRANT  MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

NFPK decided to implement Quest’s AIMS Grant Management Solution to provide more efficient and effective ways to deliver services to grant applicants.

The AIMS System will be used to gather information from artists and organisations which is fed into the AIMS database where all information on each client is centrally stored and easily retrieved. Each Grant Application will follow an electronic "workflow" to ensure all applications are processed and assessed fairly and in the same way.

The new Grant Management solution will provide NFPK staff with “information at their fingertips”, and will as a result, offer more efficient communication with artists and organisations.

NFPK+ will use the new software to ensure closer contact with the sector and improve transparency, accessibility, visibility and administrative procedures. In doing so, it will seek to strike the right balance between continuity and a satisfactory degree of flexibility.