Fluxx Grantmaker

Super Flexible Grantmaking System

Commentaires : We have been able to streamline our operations considerably with Fluxx, so that our standard workflow can be operated by one person, and the quality of the generated reports taken to our Board is exceptional. The flexibility is so great that it can be a challenge to know when to stop refining processes! Having got to this stage, however, it means we can concentrate more on higher-level concerns like outcome reporting, equity issues, and community engagement.

Avantages :

The positive experience started from the beginning: the onboarding process. The onboarding team helped guide us through organising all the exported data from our old system and mapping it into the new structure. I learned that there is no "default" setup - everything was set up from scratch to match our desired workflow and existing data. As we have grown and needed to make changes to our grants programmes, we have customised Fluxx more and more to our particular needs. The majority of this we have been able to do ourselves or with the help of the active and helpful Fluxx community from around the world. There is a huge amount of knowledge and goodwill on the Fluxx community forum, there are local user groups, and an annual Fluxxcon conference. The Fluxx community is well supported by the company (dedicated member of staff) and by far the quickest way to get help when needed. Fluxx's Advanced Services team are available to take on bigger customisation projects, but we have not needed to use them (yet). Another stand-out for me about the product is that you can modify the system using (limited) lower-level coding in a reporting language called Liquid HTML, and its underlying language Ruby. This opens up possibilities for incredible customisation of reporting, workflow, external data access, and processing.

Inconvénients :

From the beginning I realised "there is no manual". Yes, there is documentation within the help-desk system and this is growing over time, but it tends to be task-based rather than actually describing the interface and what everything does. Support is sketchy at times. There is often better information and help from the rest of the global community than from the Helpdesk; over time, too many of my bug reports have gotten stuck at "With Engineering" and not resolved. Offsetting the support issues is the way that Fluxx provides levels of certification for users and admins, though online courses. These appear to be valuable conduits for product knowledge and good practice. Recently, Fluxx has locked down some of the things that we used to be allowed to do with Ruby programming within the system. Thankfully, they listened to users' voices and have allowed some more flexibility than they were planning, but the net effect has been that it takes some more time and effort to learn the programming environment and to implement features using it. The cost is quite considerable, about 1.5% of our granting budget. This could be prohibitive for grant-makers smaller than we are. We feel we get good value for this.

High praise for Fluxx

Commentaires : Improved customer service and access to grant documents for our subrecipients.

Avantages :

There are so many options to customize features and functionality to meet the unique needs of your specific organization.

Inconvénients :

Limited training seats were available with the implementation package, and purchasing additional training seats is a bit expensive. Due to the level of customization the trainings did not always meet the needs of our organization. It would also be helpful to have access to training manuals versus the videos and limited slides that can be downloaded for reference.

Advocacy Funder Review

Commentaires : My team is liking Fluxx overall so far. As the person overseeing its setup, we are still rolling out the system and the jury is still out on if purchasing the system will be worth it or not.

Avantages :

Fluxx is highly configurable. You can set it up in so many ways.

Inconvénients :

I purchased this software needing a budget management system. After months of research and testing (and being told by the marketing team), I believed it would meet our needs. Now that we are in the system, I see that the budget management aspect of the system is not configurable (although everything else in Fluxx is) and is badly built. I wouldn't recommend this product for anyone looking for budget management until they make some fixes.

Good grnt management tool but steep learning curve

Commentaires : Mostly positive. There is a great community that provide a lot of support and help in getting to learn the product. The product itself is very flexible and offer a lot of possibilities to custom it so that it fits our needs. However, it requires some time and energy to learn how to administrate it properly, especially when you are a small team (like ours)

Avantages :

This product is very flexible and offer a lot of opportunities to custome it if you have the skills and time for it

Inconvénients :

There is a steep learning curve. In addition, it is sometime necessary to re-adjust some settings after an product update release, which might be frustrating

Flexible Grants Management

Avantages :

What I like most about Fluxx is that changes to the live process or forms can be made on-the-fly. This is very helpful for us as a new foundation still iterating on really everything to do with our grantmaking cycle. Another thing I like is that the company really does listen to its user community, incorporating our ideas into their updates.

Inconvénients :

What I like least aboutFluxx is that it's capability is deep, but there isn't a good way to tap into all that is available. When we set up the system, the implementation folks map the Fluxx system to your current process without really sharing what is available/possible. So now that we are changing our processes, there could be features that we could use but we don't even know what is available. Also, there is a lot that can be done with liquid code, but if you aren't fluent in liquid, there really aren't any resources to help except for other users who are busy with their own jobs.

Incredible tools and functionality, lots of set up!

Avantages :

Fluxx is incredibly customizable. We were able to build and implement grant processes that reflect our values and the desired relationship we want to create with grantees and applicants, rather than needing to create workarounds based on an out-of-the-box or one-size-fits-all system. The connected data structure mirrors the relationship-oriented way we work and makes it very easy for members of our staff to move through the network of grantees and applications. Complex reporting tools are available and there are many features and integrations to experiment with and refine our processes so it can improve from year to year. Additionally, there is a strong Fluxx community to rely on with questions about those features or ways of maximizing the impact of Fluxx.

Inconvénients :

Shifting from an out-of-the-box GMS to Fluxx meant that we weren't prepared for the amount of work it would be to set up, build, and maintain Fluxx. Some back end tools like document and email templates require strong knowledge of liquid code. Staff members who are not fluent in Fluxx can't design their own reports, for example, because of how complex reporting in Fluxx is (the knowledge of backend field names is required, as well as understanding the relationships between models). Operating Fluxx, though it results in strong report, a flexible workflow, and lots of customization, is a heavier lift for the grants team and required new staff hires with past Fluxx experience. Additionally, the support team, though thoughtful and helpful in the moments when something goes wrong, is not available to brainstorm solutions, just solve problems. It would be helpful to be able to consult with someone inside of Fluxx when we have questions about new features or tools that could benefit us, rather than needing to seek that out from the community or pay for an additional contract.

Fluxx works

Commentaires : The system works best when it is in the background doing its job and doesn't require much energy or attention. For the most part, Fluxx meets that need.

Avantages :

Consistent performance, good uptime, simple data visualization and organization.

Inconvénients :

Complex upgrades, inconsistent customer support and engagement, overly complex in some areas.

Fluxx Grantmaker for Non-Profit Grantmaking

Commentaires : We open requests for proposals continuously throughout the year, and have about 200 active grants at any time. Fluxx is able to scale with our needs quite well. While building new functionality in Fluxx requires a technical learning curve, we've had good luck with Fluxx service support.

Avantages :

The degree of customization, as well as customer service and support for Fluxx are strong selling points.

Inconvénients :

Using the admin panel to customize Fluxx features requires a fair amount of training. I was worried about this initially, but found that Fluxx has several options to provide user training and/or consultation.

Reviewing my Fluxx

Commentaires : great experience

Avantages :

The design, online access, easy configuration, user friendly, integration, emails alerts,

Inconvénients :

reporting option, document edition and management

Renewed - Appreciation

Avantages :

Continuous evolution, incorporating improvements such as upgraded reporting capabilities, better user interface, integration with NetSuite, we've been able to develop comprehensive training programs, and enhanced tools like Grantelligence, all of which collectively enhance grant management efficiency and decision-making processes that we never had before.

Inconvénients :

The initial site performance issues, which were addressed through regular maintenance with Fluxx, and the need for extensive compliance warnings due to upgrades, which although necessary, required additional attention to ensure smooth implementation to our system. In the end, the improvements and customization made a big difference.

Buildout review

Avantages :

I like how well I can customize the forms and process.

Inconvénients :

lack of data display without buying grantintelligence; document editing like in Microsoft 360

Fluxx for Medium-Sized Foundations is a No Brainer Decision

Commentaires : We have been using Fluxx live for the past ten months. Five of those months we used it internally and launched it to our grantees in March of this year. Quite simply it has been a game changer for our foundation. Our program officers have better insight into their work. It becomes an interactive tool that informs meetings in real time. It allows us to analyze our work in new ways. And, because it is so customizable, we are constantly finding new ways to bring all kinds of workflow and business processes into the Fluxx system. Our goal is to make it the central place for all of our daily activities, internal and external. As my tiltle says, being a medium-sized foundation, this purchase is a no brainer. Fluxx counts most of the country's largest foundations as its clients. How the platform works is that all improvements go to all clients. That means as the big boys like Kresge build in PRI capabilities, the rest of us get these improvements at no cost. This is a much different development and sales model than most foundations are used to with previous options like Microedge and FIMS where you got nickled and dimed for every part you wanted to add. And our grantees love it too. Admittedly, we are a bit late to the party with online grantmaking, but our grantees have made numerous comments to us about how user friendly the interface and grants process is with Fluxx vs. the other platforms they use with other grantmakers. When we first looked at changing to Fluxx I went to the TAG (Technology Affinity Group) conference to meet real users and talk about their experiences. Two were actually going live at the conference. At this time, all of those users could be considered early adopters. As anyone who adopts tech products early knows, that means lots of pain points. So after three days meeting and talking with these folks and hearing the good and bad (and being early adopters there was a lot of bad), I asked them all the same question. If they were starting today and could choose any platform, would they still choose Fluxx. Without a pause every single one of them said without question they would still choose Fluxx. And now as a customer I agree. Nothing is ever perfect, but there is a reason foundations are switching to this platform at an amazingly fast rate. It is best in class next generation software made by grantmakers for grantmakers. It works so well because they truly understand how we work.

Avantages :

1. The Fluxx community (truly the best and most supportive group of users I've ever experienced from a software platform) 2. anytime/anywhere/any device access (with great iOS and soon Android app) 3. regular updates and upgrades included in monthly fees that add features you actually want and need 4. good customer support with people that get to know you and your software instance 5. great conference every year 6. ample learning opportunities provided by the vendor at no additional cost (except for conference) 7. company leadership that comes from our sector and understands our needs 8. upgrades and updates add features and functionality that customers request 9. easy to use for end users (both grantees and staff) 10. admin panel is complex with lots of depth and features but is manageable once you are trained in how powerful it is and what it can do.

Inconvénients :

1. Would like to see the development of integration into a board book platform or an integrated board book feature. No one has done this, it would be revolutionary. 2. So many new and useful features, sometimes it is hard to keep up. 3. Not much else, we are very pleased with this change

Works but definitely areas for improvement

Commentaires : At our Foundation's basic level, the system enables us to do what we need to do -- store grant data and enact a workflow to award grants and approve payments.

Avantages :

As an end user, it's easy to make way through the system and see/do what you need to do.

Inconvénients :

Reporting is tedious, hard to get the data (or even find the data -- backend name and knowing all the right parameters) that you want. Having so much of the information available it s challenge bc it's overwhelming. Data manipulation/filtering is not easy. A novice user can't easily create a report, so there's a dependency on others to do it for them. Also feel like I need to really learn liquid language to make effective administrative changes. Would be nice to have more end user friendly ways for administrative maintenance.

Review of Fluxx

Commentaires : Fluxx has been very helpful in keeping the grantmaking process flowing, and has been particularly useful during this time when we have been working remotely.

Avantages :

Fluxx is highly customizable, and has the ability to connect to third party platforms through api's. The native workflow in Fluxx helps the grantmaking process move through the grant cycle, keeping people informed and ultimately supporting decision-making and money into the hands of nonprofits in a timely manner.

Inconvénients :

Reporting could be improved; it's overly complicated to set up reports. Customer service could also be more responsive -- there are times when a ticket is submitted and follow-up is less than timely.

Good product, but beware the runaround

Avantages :

Relatively easy for applicants, grantees and internal staff to learn. It has tremendously our process of creating allocation letters. Good filtering ability and good searching ability.

Inconvénients :

I had few complaints as staff user, but now that I am on the team that deals with Fluxx my largest complaints are with customer service and customer support. We've had support tickets open for two years and counting. We are optimistic that the support process will change but for now it seems that there is a language barrier with the reviews, along with the issue of the time it takes for resolution. We'll put in a ticket with explicit technical details and they will ask for the same technical details we covered in our original ticket. We've tried to improve our wording on these tickets but this exchange always happens. This would not be an issue if this meant swift resolution to our tickets, but we're frustrated since this slows down an already glacial process. Fluxx has planned new features but they rarely meet the expected timeline, and now it seems they will not give anyone an explicit expectation of when new features will be implemented. The Fluxx team loves the phrase "It's on the roadmap" as an example of their adoption of corporate vague-ness. We're crossing our fingers the customer support improves. Size does not seem to improve the customer support experience, in face, we are one of the larger clients in Fluxx.

Review

Commentaires : Overall, the experience with FLUXX has been beneficial and is the core of our program and we have built out the platform to serve our team and users.

Avantages :

The features that are most impactful are the ad hoc report function, the centralization of all of our awards, grants and scholarships. We have built out our FLUXX platform extensively. We have made very good use of our FLUXX platform as each year, we are developing and expanding a new feature within FLUXX.

Inconvénients :

The additional cost for any add-in features. There isn't an effective and efficient translation option for non-native English speakers/non-English speakers. There isn't an option for visually impaired users. The platform should be better suitable for tablets and phones also. Overall, accessibility is key for us since are an international focus organization.

Feature-rich and useful platform can get bogged down

Commentaires : Overall, we are satisfied with Fluxx. It has the features we need, plus a lot that we don't need. Speed is a constant frustration.

Avantages :

Fluxx Grantmaker is easy to use and easy to learn. It makes collaborative grant review possible with some custom features, which we paid extra for during implementation.

Inconvénients :

The biggest con is the speed, which is incredibly slow at times. Some features don't work consistently, like the search functions.

Fluxx grantmaker

Avantages :

Great card system. Can follow grants through the process. Great visibility of grants for grantees.

Inconvénients :

Not very intuitive system. Some grantees struggle with it esp having to push submit and save all the time. Quite complicated to make changes in the system. Sometimes poor system support - takes time for solutions.

From CyberGrants to Fluxx

Commentaires : Our foundation migrated our grant data to Fluxx last year. It was a really good decision for us since Fluxx provides real time data and we were forced to clean up those projects that needed it.

Avantages :

I love the fact that Fluxx always works... we did have a bug this year but other than that, most of our employees really enjoy using it. It has been very beneficial to us in having the Project Leads take responsibility for their projects.

Inconvénients :

Moving to Fluxx from our last grants management system was quite an ordeal. The migration did not go well and we spent a long time cleaning up data and ensuring all the documents were in the system correctly.

What's the best experience I have in using Fluxx?

Commentaires : The best part is the support is get from the Fluxx community where I learned a lot and helped me with my day-to-day activities as administrator of Fluxx.

Avantages :

Grants management - grantees have "one stop shop" for all their requests, awards, scheduled payments and reports in one portal. Same way with how we monitor all our records, we have one portal to look at.

Inconvénients :

incompatibility issues with Microsoft add-ins

Great grants management software

Commentaires : Fluxx is very well received at our office. It's easy to use, hence the transition was smooth and people got used to it quite quickly. People appreciate the fact that Fluxx allows them to easily manage their daily work and track progresses of an application or grant. We still need to learn how to better work with the system for data reporting and data analysis, but so far it helps us greatly in managing our grants.

Avantages :

Everyone at our office loves the interface and how Fluxx allows you to personalize your screen according to your needs. It's very easy to (re)configure the system, for a relative young organisation which is still (re)adjusting its processes, the flexibility is highly important. We enjoying the (growing) user community and benefit a lot from the community-driven feature developments.

Inconvénients :

Some features still have minor glitches. This said, there are work-arounds and Fluxx is usually quick in addressing these. Reporting is already quite useful the features allowing for complex reporting with drill-down possibilities could be improved. We have demand for higher standard of security and further segregation of permissions.

Easy to use, supports grants administration and workflow process. Overall a great product.

Commentaires : Our organization has used Fluxx for several years to help manage our grantmaking programs. We have definitely seen improvement in Fluxx over the years. The software is extremely helpful in supporting workflow processes, it is much more straightforward than MicroEdge GIFTS, and overall we are happy with the experience. Customer support has greatly improved as Fluxx grows and continues to establish itself.

Avantages :

Supportive of workflow, helpful with running reports, budget tracking, easy to quickly find information on particular grants

Inconvénients :

Fluxx has many different capabilities and this only seems to keep expanding. However, there are a lot of little bugs that require workarounds. It would be great if Fluxx could focus on fixing these bugs while at the same time adding new features.

A great platform that transformed our grant making processes.

Avantages :

Great platform that allows you to customize your experience more than any other platform we have tried. The ability to do a lot of the customization yourselves The crowd based approach allows you to benefit from other customizations and vice versa Real time updates

Inconvénients :

The development cycle can sometimes feel a bit long as product updates pushes collectively. Creating new report types in the admin end is still a bit complex.

Excellent product but expensive for small foundations

Commentaires : Very positive experience so far. Configuring it from scratch can be a bit of a challenge but not unlike any other system.

Avantages :

- Only requires intermediate technical abilities to maintain independently - Weekly training webinars - Highly engaged online community forum - Very fast online technical support process - Great employee interface - Fluxx releases monthly updates

Inconvénients :

- Expensive for small foundations - Public-facing portal is unattractive - Overall product has a bit of a 'work in progress' feel - Limited support for third-party integrations

Great features - not user friendly

Commentaires : We are granted grants from orgs that use Fluxx Grantmaker. From the receiving end, it is not the best software to have to navigate but it does ensure that we don't miss any necessary documents or deadlines by showing us all tasks associated with each grant we were awarded.

Avantages :

I like what you are able to do with this software. We get assigned tasks from the administrator and can complete them online. It ensures we don't miss any deadlines by sending reminder emails. I also like that you can submit your payment requests on Fluxx.

Inconvénients :

The website itself is not the easiest to navigate. There are multiple tabs and often tasks can seem hidden if you don't know how to get to that specific page