SmartyGrants

What can be migrated?

To date we have not encountered any existing data that could not be migrated into SmartyGrants. This is because SmartyGrants is immensely flexible in terms of the amount of information you can hold about applications. Starting at the small end, there are very few essential pieces of information we require (less than you can count on one hand) to migrate and create a new application record in SmartyGrants. At the large end, SmartyGrants can cater for an almost unlimited bits of information about an application.

We can also cater for your existing file attachments and bring them across as either part of an application/assessment/administration form or as an attachment to a filenote for a particular contact.

What is the process?

Step 1: You know your existing data far better than we do, so the process kicks off with reducing your existing database to a single (if possible) Excel file, where each column represents a key bit of information about your past applications. If need be we can assist you in exporting your old data, but many grants programs are already being run from an Excel sheet so this first step is done.

Step 2: Is for you (or we can do it on your behalf) to create forms to hold all of the data that you want to migrate into SmartyGrants. This typically involves building an application form, assessment form and administration form. In building these forms you need to look at what fields are in your existing database and where you would like that data to appear in your new forms in SmartyGrants. Typically each column in your spreadsheets (from the first step) corresponds with a field in one of the three forms that you make. We generally find that it is most efficient if you build these forms yourselves and then we come in and tweak them if required, but if you need any help please let us know.

Step 3: Once the data is in Excel format we start to look over the data and do a little bit of analysis to make sure that it contains the minimum we need to successfully migrate it into SmartyGrants. However, the old rule applies: garbage in equals garbage out, so we will spend some time scrubbing and polishing your existing data to make sure that it sparkles in SmartyGrants. Of course how long and how much data cleaning you want done is entirely up to you and we'll be back and forth with you during this stage letting you know of the issues we encounter and what we recommend to do.

Step 4: Once the form design is locked in and the data is all sparkling and clean we go away and do our little bit of magic and a few days later the data will appear in your account.

How much will it cost?

We will have a look at your data during Step 1 and give you a quote for the maximum that the migration will cost. When it comes to actually billing you for the migration work we charge on a time basis, so our quote is something you can give your bean counters so they can stop fretting and can place a fixed line item in their budgets. Typically we find we come in well under our quote (and that makes the bean counters very happy) and if we somehow fail to understand the scale of the migration task and it takes longer than we anticipated, then it is on our head and we'll bear the expense.

We find migration-costs generally range from $1,000 to $5,000, but that always depends on the state of the data you give us and how much of the form design and data cleansing you can do yourself.