Grants, Growth, and Creativity in New Mexico: A GO Smart Story
Renowned for its vibrant arts scene, boasting over 250 art galleries and the third-largest art market in the U.S., Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a must-visit destination for every art lover. Complementing the city’s rich history are the hardworking individuals who do the foundational work of making Santa Fe a place “where culture and creativity […]
From Past to Present: The Evolution of GO Smart
This year commemorates the 50th anniversary of WESTAF (Western States Arts Federation), the parent organization of GO Smart. To celebrate this milestone, WESTAF is sharing fun facts, historical insights, and a short video each month through September, that offer a glimpse at half a century of WESTAF’s work. This month’s spotlight is on WESTAF’s current […]
Making Grants Management Inclusive: GO Smart’s Partnership with ArtsHERE
Over the last year, the GO Smart team has continued to streamline the cloud-based collection and management of application data for clients and strives to be the most inclusive, accessible, and equitable grants management solution for the arts and beyond. With that, we’re excited to share that GO Smart has been selected as the universal […]
WESTAF Spotlights the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation: GO Smart’s Role in Simplifying the Foundation’s Grant Programs
GO Smart’s parent organization, WESTAF, spotlights the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation and its innovative use of WESTAF’s web services to streamline certain aspects of the annual Jazz & Heritage Festival. The feature includes a captivating story about the Foundation’s adoption of GO Smart and its role in simplifying its grant programming for the […]
5 Tips for Simplifying Your Grantmaking Process
Grants management can be a complex and time-consuming process, but it doesn’t have to be! We’ve put together a list of five tips for simplifying your grantmaking process — let’s dive right in The key to successfully managing grants is organization, and technology can be your best friend here. Utilizing GO Smart can help you […]
Launch of the National Leaders of Color Fellowship Program
Earlier this year, the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) partnered with its five U.S. regional arts organization partners (USRAOs) (Arts Midwest, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Mid Atlantic Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, and South Arts) to support an exciting expansion of WESTAF’s Emerging Leaders of Color (ELC) program. A leadership development program specifically for […]
GO Smart’s New Multiple Submission Tool
Are you looking to further streamline your grants management processes? Look no further than GO Smart’s new multiple submission tool! This innovative enhancement will save you time and stress during your next grant cycle. Applying for and managing grants can be time-consuming and cumbersome for grantmakers and applicants. But a new tool from GO Smart […]
Equity Resources for Grantmakers
As natural relationship cultivators, grantmakers explore equity and inclusion practices every day. Working within a system created to benefit some, but not all, creates challenges in the grantmaking field and slows the ability of nonprofits and other organizations to create greater impact in their communities. Folding equity into our daily actions is crucial not only […]
Client Spotlight: South Arts’ Joy Young
A dollar spent on the arts goes farther in the rural or BIPOC South than it might New York or Boston—and it often pays dividends in enriching the social fabric of small communities.” — Susie Surkamer & Joy Young, Artnet News, November 3, 2021 GO Smart, in collaboration with WESTAF’s Social Responsibility & Inclusion team, […]
Grantmaking Best Practices
In November, GO Smart teamed up with ZAPPlication, an art fair and festival application management and jurying system (powered by regional arts nonprofit WESTAF), to conduct a webinar on grantmaking best practices. Watch the webinar here! Before diving into these best practices, we should start with the essential players in any funding project and the […]
Exploring Disability Culture with DisArt
GO Smart is one of five innovative web services for arts, culture, and the creative economy developed and managed by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF). Recently, the GO Smart team as well as all WESTAF staff, participated in a professional development session led by DisArt on the many ways that the disability community intersects […]
Incorporating Equity into Your Grantmaking Strategy
Incorporating equity into your grantmaking strategy is most valuable when weaving the consideration of diverse experiences and perspectives through every step of the grantmaking process. What are some practical approaches to centering equity in your grantmaking practice and development? Here are GO Smart’s four favorite tips: Ensure BIPOC-led organizations are part of your funding. This […]
How Grantmakers are Adapting to a ‘New Normal’
COVID-19 has significantly changed the way many arts organizations have been managing their work over the past few months, playing a huge role in how grantmakers are adapting to a new normal. A lot of these changes have forced organizations to rethink how they function and support their local organizations, artists, and colleagues. To help […]
Tell Your Story With Data
By using an online grant management system like GO Smart, you will have a giant pool of data at your disposal to help tell your stories. When you want to tell your story with data, you may not be a graphic designer (or a millennial!) but you can easily pull statistics or trends from your […]
Be Nice to Your Applicants
Here’s Why You Should Make Things Easier on Them—and Yourself! We all know that having a positive reputation among applicant pools is essential. It can help to ensure that you attract the best applicants to your grants. But do you know what your applicants really think about your application process? Looking at the workflow from […]
The Power of the Panel
The GO team is sharing four helpful tips to help you utilize the power of the panel to keep your grants management process effective and efficient. Just like standards for grant applications, panel processes can vary widely from organization to organization. Although customization for your specific needs can be great, oftentimes processes just get complicated […]
Before You Make That Pitch for Cloud-Based Grants Management, Start Here!
Let’s face it: We could all use a little more money. And a lot more time. For nonprofits in particular, this is nothing new. But making the case for adopting cloud-based grants management systems can be challenging when you need the buy-in of those who may not instantly understand how such an investment will improve […]
Transitioning from paper to an online grants management system
Changing a tried and true process can be daunting in grants management due to the number of stakeholders involved in the process. You need an online grants management process that is simple for applicants, efficient for administrators, and easy for panelists–meeting all of these obligations is sometimes hard.Though it may seem like an uphill battle, […]
Grants management doesn’t need to be complicated
Learn how to simplify your grants management process and save more time so you can focus on the big stuff With all of the paperwork, accountability, and document retention that already comes with grant-making, why are we making our jobs more difficult by having multitudes of programs and lengthy grant applications? Not only is this […]
API – Connect Your GO Smart Data
When you use an online grant management system like GO Smart, you are probably collecting hundreds of data points. This digitized data can translate into countless uses for you: email lists, media folders, CRM files and on and on. These uses can become automated workflows by incorporating a program’s API (application programming interface). GO Smart […]
