Salesforce can work as grant tracking software, but the right setup depends on which side of a grant you are on. If you apply for and report on grants you receive, you can usually track them with standard Salesforce objects and some configuration. If you give grants to others, Agentforce Nonprofit (formerly Nonprofit Cloud) includes dedicated grantmaking objects for applications, awards and disbursements. A dedicated grants tool can still be the better choice for some teams.
Two different jobs called "grant tracking"
People use the same words for two separate problems.
| Grants you receive (fundraising side) | Grants you give (grantmaking side) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are | The applicant or grantee | The funder |
| Main questions | What have we applied for? What's pending? What is due and when? | Who applied? What did we award? What have we paid? What do grantees owe us? |
| Typical users | Development and grants staff | Program officers and finance |
Foundations and some larger nonprofits do both. Most small and mid-size nonprofits only receive grants.
Tracking grants you receive
The simplest approach is to treat each grant as a gift record with extra fields. Which objects you use depends on your setup:
- NPSP (still supported): grants are commonly tracked as Opportunities, often with a dedicated record type and a stage path for the grant lifecycle.
- Agentforce Nonprofit: fundraising uses its own gift objects, including Gift Commitments and Gift Transactions. (Trailhead: fundraising records, checked November 2026)
Whichever you use, the design questions are the same.
What to track on each grant
- Funder and program, and the contact who manages the relationship
- Stage: prospect, LOI submitted, application submitted, awarded, declined, closed
- Amount requested and amount awarded
- Restrictions and purpose, so the money is used and reported correctly
- Key dates: deadline, expected decision, award period, report due dates
- Payment schedule: when installments are due and received
- Reporting requirements: what the funder wants and who owns it
- Documents: application, award letter, agreement and reports
Make dates work for you
Grant management is mostly deadlines. Set up:
- Tasks or reminders that create themselves when a grant reaches the awarded stage, one for each report due
- A list view of grants with reports due in the next 60 days
- A dashboard of pipeline by stage and expected decision date
Keep restrictions visible
Funders often limit what money can be used for. Record restrictions in a field staff will see, and tie gifts to the fund or designation they belong to, so finance can report on it later.
Tracking grants you give
For funders, Salesforce has a purpose-built set of grantmaking features. According to Salesforce's Trailhead (checked November 2026), Grantmaking covers the cycle from funding opportunities and budgets through application review, awards and disbursements. It includes objects for individual applications, application reviews, decisions, funding awards, funding disbursements, and award requirements such as interim or annual reports. It also includes a grantmaking site template for Experience Cloud, so applicants and grantees can use an online portal. (Trailhead: meet grantmaking)
Trailhead also says this is distinct from the older Grants Management managed package, which is a separate product. If you are on NPSP, ask Salesforce which option applies to you. Licensing and cost for grantmaking are separate topics to confirm with Salesforce, since we could not find a single official source for current pricing.
Choosing: Salesforce or a dedicated grants tool
Salesforce is a good fit when:
- Grants are part of a wider relationship with funders, donors and programs, and you want one record of each
- You already use Salesforce for fundraising
- You need custom reporting, such as tying grants to program outcomes
- You have, or can pay for, an admin to build and maintain it
A dedicated grants tool may be better when:
- Grants are your main need and you have no Salesforce admin
- You want a ready-made application portal and reviewer workflow quickly
- Your budget is limited, and your volume is small
There is no single right answer. We would rather you choose the tool your team will actually keep updated.
A practical setup in five steps
- Map your grant lifecycle. Write the stages on one page, from prospect to closed.
- Choose your objects. Decide whether grants are Opportunities (NPSP), gift records (Agentforce Nonprofit) or grantmaking records.
- Build the fields and path. Add only the fields you will use, and make required ones truly required.
- Automate reminders. Create report-due tasks and a weekly digest.
- Build one dashboard. Pipeline by stage, awards this year, reports due. Feed it into your board report.
If you are planning a move off NPSP, our post on whether NPSP is going away covers the decision.
Reporting you should be able to run
Once grants are tracked consistently, a handful of reports answer most of what leadership and funders ask:
- Pipeline by stage and expected decision date, so you can forecast revenue
- Awards by funder and by year, to see which relationships matter most
- Awarded versus received, to catch installments that are late
- Reports due in the next 60 or 90 days, by owner
- Restricted funds by purpose, for finance and audit
- Win rate, comparing applications submitted to awards received
If your org cannot run these today, the cause is almost always inconsistent data entry rather than a missing feature. Required fields, picklists instead of free text, and a short guide for staff solve most of it.
Common pitfalls
- Tracking in spreadsheets and Salesforce at once. Pick one source of truth.
- Too many stages. Six or seven is plenty.
- Free-text funder names. Link every grant to a funder record so you can see all activity in one place.
- No owner for reports. Each report due date needs a named person.
- Ignoring permissions. Grant agreements and budgets can be sensitive. Limit who can see what; our guide to Salesforce sharing model best practices covers the basics.
Frequently asked questions
Does Salesforce have a grants management feature?
Yes. Agentforce Nonprofit includes Grantmaking features for funders, and there is also a separate Grants Management managed package. Organizations that receive grants usually track them with standard fundraising objects.
Can I track grants in NPSP?
Yes. Many NPSP organizations track grants as Opportunities with a dedicated record type, stages and custom fields.
What's the difference between grants management and grant tracking?
Grant tracking is usually the applicant's view: what we applied for and what we owe. Grants management usually means the funder's workflow: reviewing applications, awarding and paying.
Do I need a developer?
Basic tracking can be built with point-and-click tools by an experienced admin. A funder portal or complex workflow takes more design work.
Is Salesforce too expensive for grant tracking alone?
Possibly. If grants are your only need and your team is small, a dedicated tool could cost less. The case for Salesforce is strongest when grants connect to fundraising, programs and reporting.
Get a grant tracker your team will use
We can review how you track grants today and suggest the simplest setup, in Salesforce or not. Book a free Salesforce health check.