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, the Outbound Funds Module (OFM) managed package gives you a framework 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).
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.
OFM was originally developed by and for the community of grantmaking organizations as part of The Commons program, and has since been adopted by Salesforce. Learn more about The Commons at the link in Resources.
Track Funding Programs with 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 managed package product that helps grantmakers simplify and accelerate their grantmaking.
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 managed package product, check out the Grants Management Basics module.
Resources
- Salesforce AppExchange: Outbound Funds Module
- Salesforce Help: Meet Outbound Funds Module
- Salesforce Help: Get to Know the Data Model
- Salesforce Help: Allocations Overview
- Trailblazer Community: Outbound Funds Module (SFDO Product)
- Trailhead: Grants Management Basics
- Salesforce Website: The Commons