Allow grant requests to be submitted when a fund's available cash balance is insufficient
Problem and use case:
Some DAF foundations/organizations operate in a model where grant requests are submitted before funds are transferred into the fund. The vetting, due diligence, and approval process must happen first, and the donor does not send money until after the grant has been approved. As a result, the fund will almost always carry an insufficient cash balance at the time a request is submitted.
Currently, the portal blocks fund advisors from submitting a grant request that exceeds their available cash balance. For organizations that follow this workflow, this restriction makes the grant request feature unusable, forcing them to manage requests outside the system entirely (via email, phone, or third-party forms). This creates inconsistency for donors and an additional administrative burden for staff.
Proposed solution:
Add a setting at the fund level that allows administrators to override or disable the available cash balance requirement for grant request submission in the Portal. This would allow donors to submit requests through the Portal regardless of current balance, while the foundation/organization retains full control over which funds have this capability enabled.
Expected impact:
This would unblock a meaningful segment of DAF/foundation clients from using the grant request workflow end-to-end within the portal, reducing reliance on offline processes and improving the donor experience.
Mark Bejcek
shared this idea