Grant Software for Universities and Consultants: Features That Matter
Specialized requirements for academic institutions and grant consulting firms—from multi-PI management to client portal access and compliance tracking.
Why Universities and Consultants Need Different Tools
Grant management for universities and consulting firms looks very different from traditional nonprofit grant seeking:
Universities
- • 100-1,000+ concurrent grant applications
- • Multiple Principal Investigators (PIs) per grant
- • Complex institutional compliance (IRB, IACUC)
- • Federal F&A (indirect cost) calculations
- • Cross-departmental collaboration
- • Research administration oversight
- • Multi-year project tracking ($1M-$50M+ grants)
Grant Consultants
- • Managing 10-50 client organizations simultaneously
- • Client portal access (let clients view progress)
- • Time tracking for billable hours
- • Template libraries to speed up writing
- • White-label reporting for clients
- • Collaboration with client staff
- • Success rate tracking (prove ROI to clients)
Essential Features for Universities
Multi-PI and Role Management
Why it matters: Federal grants often involve 3-10 collaborators across departments. System must track Principal Investigator, Co-PIs, Senior Personnel, and support staff with appropriate permissions.
Example: Dr. Smith (PI - Biology Dept) + Dr. Jones (Co-PI - Chemistry Dept) + 2 postdocs + institutional compliance officer all need different access levels to the same grant application.
Institutional Compliance Integration
Why it matters: NIH, NSF, and DOD grants require IRB approval, IACUC clearance, COI disclosures, and other institutional certifications before submission.
Must-have: Checklist workflows that require IRB approval # and date, conflict-of-interest certification, and biosafety clearance (where applicable) before allowing submission.
F&A (Facilities & Administrative) Cost Automation
Why it matters: Universities recover 30-60% of direct costs through F&A rates. Budget calculations must automatically apply institutional rates.
Example: If direct costs = $500K and university F&A rate = 56%, system should auto-calculate $280K F&A for total project cost of $780K.
Departmental Dashboard & Reporting
Why it matters: Deans and department chairs need oversight of all grants in their units. Research administrators need institution-wide visibility.
Key views: "Biology Department - 23 active proposals, $12.5M in pending requests" or "College of Engineering - 78% success rate this year"
Pre-Award to Post-Award Transition
Why it matters: Once awarded, grants shift from proposal mode to project management mode. System should seamlessly transition with all data intact.
Must-have: Awarded grants automatically move to project management module with budget tracking, milestone management, and reporting deadlines preserved.
Essential Features for Grant Consultants
Client Organization Management
Why it matters: Consultants juggle 10-50 client nonprofits simultaneously. Need to keep each client's data completely separate with easy switching between accounts.
Key feature: Dropdown menu to switch between "Youth Alliance," "Animal Shelter," "Arts Center" with separate grant pipelines for each. Absolutely zero data leakage between clients.
Client Portal Access
Why it matters: Clients need to review drafts, approve proposals, and track progress without accessing the consultant's full system or other clients' data.
Example: Executive Director of Youth Alliance logs into branded portal, sees only their 5 active grants, can comment on drafts, but can't edit consultant's master templates or see other clients.
Time Tracking & Billing Integration
Why it matters: Grant consultants bill hourly ($75-$250/hr) or per proposal ($2,500-$15,000). Need to track time spent per client and per grant.
Must-have: Built-in timer or manual time entry: "3.5 hours - Youth Alliance - Smith Foundation proposal - Budget development" → Auto-generates invoice.
Reusable Template Library
Why it matters: Consultants work with similar nonprofits across many clients. Need to reuse strong language while customizing for each organization.
Example: Save "Needs Statement - Youth Development - Urban Setting" template once, adapt for 15 different youth-serving clients with minimal rewriting.
White-Label Success Reporting
Why it matters: Consultants need to prove ROI to justify retainer fees. Generate professional reports showing success rates, dollars won, and time savings.
Example: "Q4 2024 Report for Youth Alliance: 8 proposals submitted, 3 awarded ($285K total), 37.5% success rate, saved 120 hours of staff time"
Platform Comparison for Specialized Users
| Feature | Expirely | Instrumentl | InfoEd Global |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Client Management | Limited | ||
| Client Portal Access | Coming Q2 2025 | No | |
| F&A Rate Automation | Coming 2025 | No | |
| Institutional Compliance Tracking | Basic | No | |
| Grant Database Size | 41,000+ foundations | 400,000+ funders | N/A (research-focused) |
| AI Writing Assistant | No | ||
| Pricing (Annual) | $588/year | $4,788/year | Enterprise only |
| Best For | Consultants, small research institutions | Discovery-focused consultants | R1 universities (enterprise) |
Recommendations by User Type
For R1 Research Universities
Best Choice: InfoEd Global, Cayuse, or similar enterprise research administration system ($50K-$500K/year institutional license)
Why: Managing $100M-$1B+ in annual research funding requires dedicated compliance tracking, multi-level approvals, F&A automation, and integration with HR/finance systems. Enterprise platforms are necessary infrastructure.
For Small Colleges & Community Colleges
Best Choice: Expirely Professional ($149/month) with team features
Why: Managing 20-100 grants annually doesn't justify $50K+ enterprise systems. Expirely provides foundation discovery + AI writing + tracking at affordable price, with multi-user collaboration for faculty and grant office.
For Independent Grant Consultants (1-5 clients)
Best Choice: Expirely ($49-$149/month) + separate time tracking tool
Why: Affordable foundation database + AI writing saves 15-20 hours per proposal. Use free tools like Toggl for time tracking until client portal features launch. Total cost under $200/month vs. $400+ for Instrumentl.
For Grant Consulting Firms (10+ clients, 3+ staff)
Best Choice: Expirely Enterprise (Custom pricing - contact sales)
Why: Need robust multi-client management, client portal access (launching Q2 2025), team collaboration, and white-label reporting. Custom enterprise plan includes dedicated support and priority feature development.
The Bottom Line
For specialized users, features matter more than database size alone.
Universities: If you're a major research institution, invest in enterprise research administration software. If you're a small college, Expirely provides 80% of functionality at 1/100th the cost.
Consultants: You need client management, templates, and time tracking more than you need 400,000 funders. Expirely's 41,000 foundations + AI writing + affordable pricing makes it the best value for most consulting practices.
Perfect for Consultants & Small Institutions
Expirely offers multi-client management + 41,000 foundations + AI writing for $49-$149/month. Enterprise features coming Q2 2025.