What should you look for in a contacts management tool in your grant management software system?
If you ask a grant manager what their biggest challenge is, the answer often boils down to communication ā internally and externally. The right grant management solution will allow you to centralise, sort and manage all your contacts in one place ā whether they are applicant, stakeholder, administrator, reviewer or auditor.

By having a good contacts management tool in your grant management software system, you can streamline your communication and make it easier to manage your relationships with grantees, donors, and partners.
At AIMS we believe that a grant management system should give you access to a contacts management module that is:
- Simple to use
- Customisable
- Secure, with nuanced privacy and conflict of interest settings
- Able to manage complex relationships between individuals, organisations and projects
What features should you look for in a contacts management system for your grant making?
- A centralised database that stores all contact information in one place, making it easy to search and access.
- Customisable forms that allow you to add custom fields to capture unique information specific to your organisation and needs.
- It should allow you to segment your contacts into different groups, such as applicants, donors, and partners, making it easy to manage and communicate with them.
- It should allow you to track all communication with your contacts so you have a complete record of your written interactions. Ideally this would also include tracking internal communication via the system’s chat function.
- It should allow you to give specified access to data on the system for applicants and stakeholders based on their contact status or group membership.
- It should provide you with reports on your contact database, such as how many new contacts you’ve added or how many recipients you’ve contacted in a given period.
- Security is critical. A good CMS module will have robust security features, such as two factor authentication and access controls, to protect sensitive contact information.
We know that a good contact management tool is a key component of effective grant management. We understand how important it is to build and maintain strong relationships with applicants, supporters, and partners, and to efficiently communicate with these stakeholders.

Have a look at our feature focus on contact management to learn more about the AIMS grant management system contacts management capabilities.