Illinois Arts Council Streamlines Grants Management Processes
The mission of the Illinois Arts Council is to build a strong, creative, and connected Illinois through the arts. IAC develops the state’s public arts policy, fosters quality culturally diverse programs, and approves grant expenditures. A small professional staff with in-depth knowledge of the arts develops and administers the agency’s programs, provides technical assistance, and ensures the responsible and impactful distribution of all funds.
Serving the people of Illinois through a variety of grants and services, primarily geared to:
Support Illinois’ Arts Sector: Operating and technical support provided to organizations and programs statewide helps keep Illinois’ arts sector vital, vibrant, and accessible to all.
Advance Arts Education: The arts can be a part of the education of every single child in the state through the programs, services, partnerships, and collaborations of the Illinois Arts Council.
Foster Creativity and Working Artists: Resources, opportunities, and direct support for the work of individual artists -- the foundation of Illinois’ creative environment.
Challenge: IAC Needed a Centralized Grants Management Platform
The Illinois Arts Council (IAC) struggled to manage grants awarded to a wide range of constituents, including individual artists, art organizations, educational institutions, government entities, and religious organizations, while also handling their grantee relationships, documentation, and communications. They needed a system enabling their grants management staff to collect and report on each step of the grants process. With a portal, grantees and constituents could access and participate in grant opportunities, allowing them to communicate and complete applications efficiently.
Solution: Experience Cloud Community Portal for Grantee & Applicant Engagement
With a connected engagement and collaboration solution like Experience Cloud, IAC could quickly construct their grantee and applicant portal to enhance engagement and digitize their business processes for greater efficiency. This system would enable IAC to increase transparency throughout the grantmaking and awarding processes.
Requirements:
House their grant program criteria and requirements to minimize manual back-and-forth communication between staff and grantees.
Easily accessible and a user-friendly interface for staff, grantees, panelists, and constituents
Document generation tool, e-signature capabilities, and a form builder to facilitate the application process for constituents.
Enhanced data quality and reporting to track applicants and understand their constituents' locations to send awards and essential communications.
Applicant System Overhaul & Revamp
Through the Illinois Arts Council’s Experience Cloud community portal, they can view applicant information, notify applicants of deadlines and application statuses, receive alerts for outstanding items, and access historical data on applicants and grantees.
Their Experience Cloud portal enables panelists to review and score applications, providing a streamlined way to evaluate submissions effectively. IAC can manage the entire grant process and communications within one centralized database, saving time and money while maintaining an efficient grants process. Using Formstack, they can create forms to collect panelist information and utilize them for final submission reporting. With Formstack’s Doc Generation tool, they can produce grant agreements and employ e-signature technology to quickly sign application agreements.
Solution Outcomes
Streamlined the grant process for IAC staff, enhancing ease of use.
Increased transparency in IAC’s grantmaking process for staff, panelists, and current or prospective grantees.
Created more efficient workflows, reducing manual data entry between staff and grantees.
Enhanced reporting capabilities allow IAC to use their information and data optimally.
Customized their system to meet current needs while remaining flexible for future organizational requirements.
Strategic Planning & Ongoing Salesforce Support
After IAC’s Salesforce implementation, Provisio supported their technology journey with Managed Services, ensuring the new system functioned smoothly. During this ongoing support, Provisio’s Salesforce experts provided strategic advice to help IAC leverage the platform as the organization evolved.
“In 2024, Provisio completed a secondary Salesforce implementation to help IAC streamline its grants program further. These solutions simplified initial applications, reduced the number of application types, and replaced reapplications with a yearly renewal process.
Throughout both processes, Provisio acted as a true thought partner to IAC. We worked to simplify and combine applications, revise criteria, and implement complex pathways within the platform. This collaboration resulted in a more intuitive platform for our constituents, creating workflows that lessen the staff's workload.
The technical assistance, support, guidance, and problem-solving that Provisio has provided during this journey have been instrumental in IAC’s goal of better serving our constituents.”
Jackie Banks-Mahlum, Director of Programs at Illinois Arts Council
Achieving More With Salesforce
Through a steady partnership with Provisio, IAC implemented a flexible and fully customizable solution to manage grants more effectively and communicate with grantees more efficiently. IAC can now automate its grants process and engage better with its staff and grantees. Moreover, applicants can navigate an easy process through the Experience Cloud portal, allowing IAC to serve even more individuals within the Illinois Arts Sector.
