Explore the Benefits of Outbound Funds Module

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

List the common grantmaking processes that Outbound Funds Module (OFM) tracks.
Describe how OFM uses standard and custom objects to record grant requests, awards, and disbursements.

Manage Your Funding Programs and Relationships in One System

If your organization makes grants, gives scholarships, or disburses other funds in support of your mission, you need a way to manage your processes and track your results. In Salesforce, Outbound Funds Module (OFM) gives you the framework you need to do just that for your funding programs and the individuals you support.

OFM is a free, open-source product that helps organizations track, manage, and deliver funds. It’s available on the Salesforce AppExchange—we’ve included the link to install it in the Resources section. OFM works well with Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) to track your grants against specific general accounting units (GAUs). Learn more on that a bit later in the Manage Your Grantmaking section.

OFM is also included in the Nonprofit Cloud curated solution, a preselected set of products and features that give you the foundation you need to start managing your entire organization on Salesforce.

In this module, we explore how OFM helps track funding programs and manage grantmaking, so you can spend less time on processes and get back to meeting your mission.

Note
OFM was originally developed by and for the community of grantmaking organizations as part of the Salesforce.org Commons program, and has since been adopted by Salesforce.org. Learn more about the Commons at the link in Resources.

Track Funding Programs with OFM

The Schedule Disbursements interface in OFM

OFM tracks funding programs, from the letter of intent to reporting on results, and helps you:

Manage internal and external requests for funding.
Schedule and disburse payments on awarded grants.
Provide insights with prebuilt reports about funding programs and disbursements.
Develop and sustain relationships with grantseekers and grantees–and make them even stronger with the addition of the Experience Cloud-powered online portal, which requires additional licenses.

OFM is also the foundational layer of Salesforce Grants Management, a paid product that helps grantmakers simplify and accelerate their grantmaking. (Learn more about Salesforce Grants Management in the Trailhead module linked in Resources.)

Manage Your Grantmaking with Standard and Custom Objects

OFM uses a combination of standard and custom objects to track applications and awarded funds.

Once OFM is installed, open it by selecting Outbound Funds from the App Launcher ().

Let’s explore how the app uses different objects to help you manage the grantmaking lifecycle.

Object	Salesforce Standard or Custom	What It Tracks in OFM
Contact	Standard	Anyone associated with an application and grant, like a nonprofit’s development director, a finance director, or a scholarship applicant. Designate how different people relate to a funding request with funding request roles (see further on this list).
Account	Standard	Applying organizations, such as nonprofits, schools, or households.
Funding Program	Custom	Funding areas and specific grant opportunities that tie to funding request records (see further on this list). For example, you may have a funding program for a specific community impact grant or scholarship. Funding program records can have a parent-child hierarchy to relate individual funding programs with larger initiatives.
Funding Request	Custom	Applications for funding, such as a nonprofit grant application or a student seeking a scholarship.
Funding Request Role	Custom	How a contact is involved with a funding request, such as applicant, grants manager, or financial manager.
Requirement	Custom	Information or actions needed to process a funding request, such as a program budget, interim report, site visit, or letter of recommendation.
Review	Custom	Comments and recommendations from expert reviewers of a funding request.
Disbursement	Custom	Money paid to a grantee, either a one-time payment ($1,000 once for a scholarship, for example), or installments (three annual $50,000 payments to an organization, for example).
GAU Expenditure	Custom (Optional, must also use NPSP)	A GAU is a fund designated for a specific use or that meets particular restrictions. You must use NPSP to access the OFM GAU Expenditure object and connect a disbursement to a GAU. Check out the Allocations Overview link in Resources for more about GAUs.

Get Started with OFM

To get started with OFM, check out the links in the Resources section. To try OFM in an existing Salesforce org, have your admin install it in a Salesforce sandbox. Or, if you’re new to Salesforce, talk with your Salesforce Account Executive or consulting partner to learn more about the solution.

And to learn more about the additional features available in the Salesforce Grants Management product, check out the Grants Management with Salesforce module on Trailhead.