Create Funding Opportunities

Learning Objectives

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

Create an application timeline.
Set up a funding opportunity.
Explain how funding opportunities appear in the Grantmaking site template.

Complete the Administrative Phase

Remember that you track each of your grant offerings using the funding opportunity record. Applicants respond to these records when they decide to apply. Funding opportunities can include descriptions of the grants, instructions on how to apply, and details about the length of the application and grant periods.

Plus, you can display funding opportunities on your Experience Cloud site for potential applicants to review and directly apply, saving you data entry time. You can post funding opportunities for all applicants or a select group of invitation-only applicants.

In this unit, you learn how to create and configure funding opportunities, then you review how they work with Experience Cloud.

Along the way, you follow the example from the last unit, creating a food systems development funding opportunity for the Access to Nutritious Food program.

Create an Application Timeline

Each funding opportunity can relate to an optional application timeline.

Application timelines set basic dates in the pre-award and award phases. Timelines determine when an opportunity is open for application, the application deadline, and the decision date.

Create an application timeline now. Remember, you can follow along in a trial org.

From the App Launcher (), find and select Application Timelines.
Click New.
Specify these details about the timeline.
- Name: Food Systems Development Timeline
- Application Open Date: The first day of this month.
- Application Close Date: The last day of this month.
- Decision Release Date: The last day of next month.
- Type: Grantmaking.
Save your work.

You can use application timelines for multiple funding opportunities. For example, set up one application timeline for every grant you’re accepting applications for this quarter, then relate it to different funding opportunities.

Create a Funding Opportunity

Now create your funding opportunity.

From the App Launcher (), find and select Funding Opportunities.
Click New.
Specify these details:
- Name: Food Systems Development
- Program: Access to Nutritious Food.
- Status: Planned. Depending on how you display opportunities on your Experience Cloud site, this setting could determine if the opportunity is publicly visible.
- Application Timeline: Food Systems Development Timeline.
- Enter application instructions and a description of the opportunity.
- Minimum Funding Amount: 25000
- Maximum Funding Amount: 200000
- Budget Template: Leave this blank for now. A budget template is a budget record with preconfigured categories and periods, but without budget values included. It’s used in the Grantmaking site in Experience Cloud to enable grantseekers to create structured data that meets your requirements.
Save your work.

On the funding opportunity record, review the details you entered. On the Related tab, find related lists for individual applications and funding awards. As each application comes in and you decide awards, these relationships track activity around the entire opportunity.

Funding opportunity record corresponding to the preceding steps.

The funding opportunity record is also where you connect an opportunity to an application form template. Before you can connect the form to the funding opportunity, though, you need to set it up using Omnistudio, Flow Builder, action plan templates, and a few other Grantmaking objects. We don’t explain that process here, so visit Create a Grantmaking Form in Salesforce Help for details.

Understand Funding Opportunities and the Grantmaking Experience Cloud Site Template

Funding opportunities and application forms can be listed on your Experience Cloud site for potential applicants. When and how you list them is up to you. At what status does a funding opportunity appear publicly? Can anyone view funding opportunities without logging in or can only registered users view the funding opportunities? Are some funding opportunities invitation-only or for specific applicants? How can applicants collaborate on application forms?

Experience Cloud is a versatile tool—customize it to meet your needs. For more decisions to consider when setting up your Experience Cloud site, see Grantmaking Site Template for Experience Cloud on Trailhead and the other links in Resources.

After a funding opportunity is listed on your Experience Cloud site, you can watch the applications roll in. In the next unit, learn about individual applications and the pre-award phase of the grantmaking lifecycle.

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