SmartSimple is the First Grants Management System to Adopt a Universal Nonprofit Impact Registry

Partnership Will Enable Common Applications, Common Reporting, and Benchmarking

CHICAGO, March 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Impact Genome Project® and SmartSimple announced that SmartSimple will be the first cloud software platform to integrate the Impact Genome®, a universal nonprofit impact registry. Integrating the Impact Genome to a grants management platform reduces administrative burden for nonprofits by enabling instant grant applications and standardized impact reporting. The integration also allows funders to access impact data on millions of nonprofits without changing systems or processes.

"Together, SmartSimple and the Impact Genome are transforming the nature of grantmaking by eliminating duplicative data entry for grant applications and reporting," said Jason Saul, founder of the Impact Genome Project and CEO of Mission Measurement. "By leveraging a common data standard and centralized repository, SmartSimple enables funders and nonprofits to streamline the entire granting experience on both sides."

Common Grant Applications and Standardized Reporting Enable More Equitable Grantmaking

The Impact Genome enables charities to register and store all their program data in a standardized, universal format, including data on outcomes, beneficiaries, program design, theory of change, impacts, and quality of evidence. A centralized data repository dramatically increases nonprofit capacity by saving time on tedious grant applications and final reports. Nonprofits spend 15 hours or more on each grant report¹, amounting to billions of dollars wasted on low-value administrative tasks every year. With the Impact Genome, nonprofits can also attract new funders who are seeking precise outcomes and beneficiary impacts. This creates equitable funding opportunities for all charities, especially smaller, resource-constrained organizations. 

"With the Impact Genome integration, we are now better able to help our grantmaking clients adopt more equitable practices and significantly elevate their social impact reporting," said Mike Reid, co-founder and chief operating officer, SmartSimple. "This integration also supports nonprofits in their efforts to attract new funders, be more efficient with applications and reporting, and spend more time serving their communities."

An Evolution from Grantmaking to "Impact-making"

The Impact Genome includes standardized, comparable impact data on more than two million nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada. With the Impact Genome, grantmakers using SmartSimple can now operate like investors, researching and discovering the grantees that produce the impacts they desire. With access to verified impact data, grantmakers can select organizations to fund based on an expected "return" on their grant investments. The Impact Genome also enables grantmakers to view aggregate impact reports, rolling up common data from across their entire grants portfolio, creating a comprehensive social impact analysis.

"As early adopters of the Impact Genome Project, we've come to rely on the verified data it provides as part of our decision-making processes. The Impact Genome has also helped us identify new nonprofit partners that we wouldn't have found through our existing channels," said Kevin Ryan, director, Delta Dental Community Care Foundation. "With the Impact Genome and SmartSimple integration, we're now using one platform to evaluate new partners and report on the full impact of our philanthropic contributions."

Powering the Integration

Re-Solved, a global technology services and digital transformation firm, has partnered with the Impact Genome Project to develop an out of the box solution that integrates grants management processes with the Impact Genome's impact measurement tools and methodology. 

"As a long-term partner to leading-edge grantmaking organizations, we understand the importance of minimizing the impact of introducing new technology," said Mariana Catz, managing partner, Re-Solved. "The philanthropic sector is shifting toward trust-based philanthropy and impact investing. Being able to support these goals in a seamless way for grantmakers while reducing the burden on grantees has been a dream we can now achieve thanks to the combined power of grants management and impact measurement technologies."

Learn More
To learn more, register to attend a virtual event on April 6 at 2:00pm eastern.

About The Impact Genome Project®
The Impact Genome Project is a universal registry designed to standardize and quantify social impact outcomes. The project is a public-private research initiative developed in collaboration with leading social scientists, economists, statisticians, and data entrepreneurs. With the Impact Genome's standardized data, nonprofits and funders can evaluate and report on social impact factors including public health and social determinants, racial equality, financial inclusion, and workforce development. The Impact Genome Project is an initiative of Mission Metrics, LLC.

About SmartSimple
SmartSimple Software's platform, SmartSimple Cloud, is an award winning and global leader in configurable workflow solutions. Trusted by 450+ clients including prominent foundations, Fortune 500 companies, and government funders, the platform connects 1.8 million end-users and organizations to over $8 billion in critical grants annually.

1. Center for Effective Philanthropy, Working Well with Grantees. 2013.

SOURCE Impact Genome Project