The ZoomGrants system provides an easy way for organizations to receive and manage applications online. In ZoomGrants, there are several user types:
- Applicants work on and submit applications
- Collaborators work on applicants’ applications
- Administrators create and manage programs that receive applications
- Reviewers read, score, and vote on submitted applications
Your user type determines how you will interact with the system, and you’ll find some resources in ZGU that are specific to a certain user type and some that relate to all users. Below is an overview of ZoomGrants that applies to everyone.
ZoomGrants is a web-based system.
You can log into your ZoomGrants account on any internet-enabled device with nearly any recent version of most browsers. We recommend using Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari. For optimal performance, please be sure you are using the latest version of your browser.
In ZoomGrants, each user needs an account in order to access the system.
Applicants
In ZoomGrants, each applicant, be it an organization or individual person, should have a single applicant account.
That account is owned, controlled, and accessed via one email address and password and is tied to a specific organization or individual.
Applicant accounts are used to submit applications on behalf of than one organization or individual. If you are a professional grantwriter OR represent multiple organizations, read this.
If you represent an organization, set up your organization’s account using the email address of the person who will be primarily responsible for managing your organization’s applications going forward or a generic email address that can be used by all staff members to log in. Since your organization should have just one applicant account, it’s important that you make that account accessible to all those who need full access. You can give other users access (via their own accounts) to individual applications within your organization’s applicant account using the Collaborator feature.
Read this for more information on how to create your applicant account and start your applications. After you’ve created your account and started an application, you can also log in via our homepage – https://www.ZoomGrants.com/Login.
Collaborators
For users who do not need to submit their own applications, a collaborator account is ideal. It lets users log in to a simplified interface and access and work on applicants’ applications.
Applicants (the folks who own the applications) invite collaborators to work on each application separately. Applicants control which sections their collaborators can access, and that access may need to be updated if the application is later approved and applicants are asked to submit invoices or reports or to sign a contract.
Collaborator accounts cannot be used to submit applications. If you need to create and submit your own applications, sign up for an applicant account prior to being invited as a collaborator on someone else’s application.
Read this for more information on the collaborator feature.
Administrators
Administrator accounts are used to create and manage programs that accept an organization’s applications are set up by other administrators in that organization.
If you’re new to your organization and need to have an account set up, contact one of the other folks who already have an admin account. Read more about the admin account setup process here.
At this time, if you are an admin for one organization and a reviewer or applicant for another, you’ll need to have separate accounts for each function, which will require that you use an alternate email address or email alias to create the other account(s). Similarly, if you wish to be an administrator and reviewer for a program, you’ll need two accounts. Contact our support folks to learn more.
If you are an administrator (create and manage programs that receive applications), you can now use the new email: adminquestions@zoomgrants.com. If you are not an administrator (applicants, collaborators, and reviewers), please continue to use questions@zoomgrants.com. We ask that administrators continue to refer their applicants, collaborators, and reviewers to questions@zoomgrants.com for their support needs.
ZoomGrants makes it easy to administer programs. The usual process has three phases or periods:
Reviewers
Reviewer accounts are set up and managed by administrators in the organization that is accepting the applications.
An admin with the organization will create your account for you, and can help you update your user ID (email address) or password in the system.
At this time, if you are a reviewer for multiple organizations that use ZoomGrants separately, you’ll need an account for each organization, which will require that the admin use an alternate email address or email alias for you, if your primary email address is already in use in the system. Contact our support folks to learn more.
ZoomGrants uses a tab system to keep things organized.
ZoomGrants™ predominantly uses a tab system to set apart the different sections and features of the system. Click on each tab to access the content housed there. Many of the tabs have customizable labels, so admins can give each feature or section a title that makes sense to their users, rather than using our default labels.
Our support materials, including all of ZGU, refer to the tabs and features by their default titles, so you may want to be familiar with the default labels.
You can click directly on a tab to access the content in that tab. Applicants and collaborators can also use the Next and Previous buttons at the bottom of the tabs to move through the application tabs sequentially.
ZoomGrants auto-saves your progress.
The system automatically saves your progress as users complete applications, set up programs, do their reviews, finalize decisions, etc.
When you make a change in a text field then click outside of that field or change your selection in a radio button, checkbox, or dropdown, you’ll see a flash of the ‘Saving’ screen as your change is being saved. That screen indicates that the system is saving your answer.
If the save is successful, that ‘Saving’ screen will flash then disappear.
For applicants, collaborators, and reviewers, the Auto-Save feature allows you to work through the application or review without needing to expressly save your progress, and you can log out and log back in as many times as you need to in order to complete your tasks. You do not need to complete your application or review in one sitting.
For administrators, there are a few exceptions to the general auto-save functionality, specifically in places where it is better to allow the user to decide when they are finished with a field (such as creating and editing questions and adding comments to the Discussion thread). In those fields, there will be a clear ‘Save’ button. Otherwise, everything else will be saved automatically once you click elsewhere on the page!
The “Saving” screen is still flashing…now what?
ZoomGrants checks applications for completion prior to submittal.
When applicants are done with an application, clicking the Submit Now button initiates a check for completion that will highlight skipped questions and unfulfilled required document requests.
This ensures that applicants do not inadvertently forget to answer questions or upload required files. If you’re an applicant, the system will go through your application to make sure that you have answered all of the questions that were presented and have uploaded any document that the administrator has marked ‘required’. If you skipped any of those questions or didn’t upload a document in each ‘required’ document slot, the system will present a red list of what is still missing. Complete those requirements, then reload the page to try the submit again.
Keep in mind this check for completion as you build your programs. All document requests that you mark ‘required’ and all questions not hidden by a branching question will be required from all applicants. Please set up your programs accordingly.
We’re here to help.
This ZGU page has information about nearly every feature and function of ZoomGrants and can help all users learn more and troubleshoot issues. If you need additional assistance, let us know!
Use the Submit Ticket button to the right to send a message to the support team. Our Support Desk is staffed from 8am – 5pm Mountain Time M-F, though we’re happy to help with urgent matters on weekends and federal holidays.