I am coming back to this thread to see if it has gained any momentum. The spring grant round was very interesting. Two applicants were technically denied because they could not be funded through the process where they applied. However, they will still be receiving funding. Denied is still freaking them out. The third applicant withdrew their application because they realized they are not in a place to apply. Denied is freaking them out because we said they could apply next year. Also new staff members do not always drill down past seeing denied and assume it cannot be funded "Withdrawn" would ease the anxiety on both sides.

I just found this topic after having 3 grant applicants withdrawn their application after submitting and going through the review process. I hate to mark them as abandoned because we use that for organizations that started an application did not complete and submit it. This would be a great feature and helpful for our reviewers to be able to see the difference between abandoned and withdrawn.

It appears there hasn't been much traction on this topic in a few years, but I want to revisit this and strongly encourage Foundant to consider adding a "Withdrawn" option. This comes up with enough frequency that having this makes great sense.

And yes, Vonda is right - the word "Abandoned" freaks out applicants! LOL

I would also welcome an option for "Withdrawn".
It's a GREAT idea.
While I don't use it often, the need does come up occasionally and the only option that somewhat fits is "Abandoned" - but it's not correct.
Yes, a "withdrawn" option would be AWESOME.
Glad to hear it's in the long-term product road map.

Hi Karina and Vonda,

Just wanted to let you know that a "withdrawn" option has been suggested in this Idea Lab item: "Need a Withdrawn Category".

There's been a fair bit of discussion on it, and it's something that is on our longer-term product road map. We will probably be doing a revision of statuses as a whole - not just adding a Withdrawn one - as there are other suggestions for additional statuses as well.

Thanks for taking time to make this suggestion!
-chris

That sounds like a good idea. Abandon sometimes freaks out an applicant.

Chris,
We also have a need for a "Withdrawn" status after the evaluation stage. Sometimes circumstances change for a grantee or project after an application is submitted and under review (site visit). We don't want to use the abandon category because this application actually got reviewed. (We use the "abandon" category for applicants who do not finish or submit their applications. This category also requires us to revert the status of an application back to application complete. Again not capturing that it got reviewed.) Nor do we want to use "deny" because it doesn't capture the special circumstance of a withdraw and implies that our grants committee denied it rather than it being withdrawn. For us, "withdrawn" is its own category worth capturing.

Ladan

Hi everyone,

I don't have an update on this suggestion directly, but I wanted to try to get more feedback around a somewhat related idea - adding an option for applicants to "Abandon" a request (here). I recognize that it won't address the need for a "Withdrawn" status, but it is something that needs more input.

Thanks in advance for your feedback,

-chris

posted September 3, 2013 by Chris Dahl, Foundant Technologies

Thank you to everyone that provided additional information on this subject. I believe I have enough insight to at least write a preliminary specification of how the new status might work in the software. I'll route the specification for review shortly.

posted May 30, 2013 by Daren Nordhagen, Foundant Technologies

Daren,

Thanks for the update. I second what Amy and Mary have said. If an application has been submitted, it's important to maintain an accurate record of that application in the GLM system. With the number of grant processes we are working on (upward of a dozen), we need to keep things as transparent as possible to avoid confusion for the applicant and for us. We are currently limiting the use of the delete option to unsubmitted applications.

As to the two scenarios you mention: By our definition, an application would be labelled "Withdrawn" before decisions are officially finalized. After decisions are made, if a grantee cannot meet the grant terms and conditions and returns the funding, we call this a "Cancelled" grant. The amount awarded is adjusted to $0. (In our terminology, changes to approved grants are known as "grant adjustments".)

Stephanie

posted May 22, 2013 by Stephanie Tuxill, Vermont Community Foundation

Daren-

I like to have a record of it. That way if they come back the next year, I know that there is a history there. I do manually creat a new grant for the projects that we fund within the foundation, but for things funded in other ways, it isn't so easy. Keeping the grant application allows me to keep the information somewhere that trustees can acess in the future if they want to.

Amy

posted May 22, 2013 by Amy Moore, O.P. & W.E. Edwards Foundation

Hi Daren,

We would also be looking for one before the decision. As to your question about just deleting it, sometimes there's a specific reason (like an issue with financials, for example) that we'd want to make sure people knew about the next time they applied, so we might need the original submitted documents for reference.

-Mary

posted May 22, 2013 by Mary Nicosia, GMA Foundations

Hi Amy,

Not trying to be difficult here but would it perhaps create a more accurate history if you just deleted the submitted application and manually created a new grant via a manual grant entry process?

-Daren

posted May 21, 2013 by Daren Nordhagen, Foundant Technologies

I really need a "withdrawn" category before a decision has been made about the grant. Often, a grantapplicaiton that comes to our general fund would be better funded through one of the donor advised funds at our foundation or through one of the trustees personally or through other grantmaking vehicles that our trustees use. In this case, I would prefer to mark the grant as withdrawn or something softer than denied. While it is true that the grant is denied by the General fund, we are still funding it thorough other means. Seeing "denied" as the status can throw off the grantee as welll as our trustees when they are looking at funding history. If I saw withdrawn or something similar, I would know to dig a little deeper into the grant history.

Amy

posted May 21, 2013 by Amy Moore, O.P. & W.E. Edwards Foundation

The recent flurry of discussion on this topic prompted us to bring it up for consideration at our weekly Product Team meeting. After our discussion, we realized that people seem to be using the term "Withdrawn" to mean multiple things. We're open to the idea of adding another status but want to make sure we're truly meeting the need if we do so.

It sounds like some people want a "Withdrawn" status prior to the funding decision to indicate that a grant application should be withdrawn from consideration. If this is your need, please chime in with further details including why Deleting the application would not work for you. (I'm not doubting that Delete wouldn't work, just want to make sure we understand why!)

I've also had several conversations with users that would like a "Withdrawn" status after a funding decision has been made. I.e., the funder agrees to make a grant but the grantee can't meet the commitments so the grant is "Withdrawn". If this is your need, please chime in with further details on how you'd like to see this status implemented, including an alternate name if "Withdrawn" isn't an accurate term.

Once, we get a little more feedback I'll distribute a proposed specification for further comments. We'll keep working with you to investigate and the timing will just depend on the level of agreement from everyone and the complexity of the project.

-Daren

posted May 20, 2013 by Daren Nordhagen, Foundant Technologies

I have had to switch grants to a different process as well - similar to Example 1. Having a withdrawl or similar category would be helpful.

posted May 3, 2013 by Amy Moore, O.P. & W.E. Edwards Foundation

I agree and was about to suggest the same thing. Approved and Denied are two ends of the spectrum, and there are many reasons (on our end or the applicant's) as to why an application might be submitted but then withdrawn before final decisions are made. Since it's not truly denied we don't want it to mess up our statistics. We use FIMS, and are used to choosing Withdrawn as a third option.

Example #1: In the first few months of being live we already have 2 instances where an application is submitted through one process (i.e., small community grants), and the decision is made to approve it as an out-of-cycle grant through a different process (i.e., Arts grants) because it is a better fit withour funding priorities. In order for our statistics to be accurate, we need to Withdraw it from one process and then create a manual (Approved) grant in the second process (attaching the original application as a PDF).

Example #2: During the evaluation process an applicant informs us that due to an unforeseen circumstance their project cannot move forward on a timeline that fits that grant round. They don't want to impact their ability to apply this calendar year, so they ask to withdraw their application. They hope to be able to resubmit at the second deadline, but it's unclear if they will be in a postion to do so. Again, the only way to accurately capture this in the system is to change the status to Withdrawn. (The only other options seem to be Abandon or Delete.)

thanks for your consideration! Stephanie

posted May 2, 2013 by Stephanie Tuxill, Vermont Community Foundation

Hi - I just wanted to bring this back up to the front. We have a couple of clients who use the denied to determine eligibility (ie - if you were denied, you can't reapply for two years), so I have program officers who are looking up applicants, see they've been denied, and tell them they're not eligible. The reply I got nearly a year ago says a Withdrawn category is high on the priorities list. Is there an update?

Thanks,
Mary

posted May 2, 2013 by Mary Nicosia, GMA Foundations

I would like to see a Withdrawn option with a comment box.

posted June 21, 2012 by Bob Coakley, Thomas J. Long Foundation