We believe the grant-making community itself should determine whether new grants management software is needed and what functions it should perform. That's why we're conducting an open, community-based process to develop consensus on both the need and feasibility of a community-supported grants management system. This Discovery Exercise will take place over a six-month period, beginning in September 2007 and continuing through March 2008. Our final report will be delivered by April 31, 2008. We will conduct research in five key areas in order to inform our overall assessment of the need and potential for a community supported grants management system. In addition to reviewing existing publications and data in these areas, we will gather new data using surveys, site visits, and interviews. The five focus areas are as follows:

1. Customer Analysis - We will go directly to the source by interviewing foundation staff who have intimate knowledge of their organization's existing internal processes and how well their currently installed grants management software supports their organization's business requirements. At a minimum, we will answer these questions:
   
   
   • What types of foundations use grants management software?
   • How many foundations are in each segment of the market? (e.g., community foundations, large private foundations, etc.)
   • What are the grants management software trends within the market segments?
   • How satisfied are foundations with their current grants management software solutions?
   • Do foundations perceive a need for new grants management software alternatives?
   • Which segments of the market have the greatest need?
   • Would foundations consider installing open source grants management software?
   • Would foundations considering purchasing software as a service?
   • What are the obstacles to adopting open-source software or software as a service?
   • What are the opinions of key stakeholders?



2. Vendor Analysis - We will analyze the landscape of current vendors, gathering information on pricing, market share, trends, financial health, and user satisfaction through a combination of market research and one-on-one interviews. At a minimum, we will answer these questions:
   
   
   • Who are the major vendors?
   • Are they financially healthy?
   • What are their products?
   • What are their plans for new products and services?
   • What are their licensing and software delivery models?
   • What are the market dynamics? (e.g., new entrants, failures, company acquisitions, market consolidation, etc.)
   • What challenges have these vendors faced?



3. Sustainability Options - To determine whether there would be continuing support for an open source grants management software product, we plan to review the sustainability models of other open source software projects to determine whether they apply to the philanthropy sector, and to identify realistic models of support for a self-sustaining, open source foundation. A few successful projects that could provide key insight into our sustainability planning are Kuali, a community developed software suite for higher education, Tessitura, an enterprise software solution for performing arts organizations, and SugarCRM, an open source customer relationship management suite. Possible revenue models include:
   
   
   • Voluntary contributions from consortium members
   • Fees for software as a service (a software application delivery model where an organization hosts and operates a web-based software application for use by its customers over the Internet.)
   • Fees from implementation and/or customization assistance



4. Inventory of Custom Grants Management Software - Foundations have devoted significant resources to developing their own custom grants management systems. In one case, three private foundations collaborated to develop a grants management system (GrantSQL, circa 1993). This core system has since been heavily modified by its owners and those derivative systems have been shared with other foundations. Within the last three years at least three large private foundations have built entirely new grants management systems at great expense. An essential component of the Discovery Phase will be to inventory and analyze these systems. We will gather high level lessons learned from their sponsors and assess whether components of these systems could be incorporated into a communitysupported grants management system. At a minimum, we will answer these questions:
   
   
   • How many foundations run custom software? Why?
   • What types of custom software have foundations built to meet their individual needs?
   • What led to the decision to develop a custom system?
   • What levels of resources were required to develop and maintain these systems?
   • What technology platforms do these systems run on?
   • Would these foundations be willing to contribute their code or other intellectual property (data models, planning documents, designs, etc.) to an open source foundation?
   • Would these foundations participate in the planning stage of the project?



5. Legal Analysis - We plan to identify any legal obstacles or best practices that would impede or enhance the ultimate success of the project from the very beginning, including:
   
   
   • What type of license or licenses would ensure that the intellectual property created by the project always remains the property of the grant-making community?
   • What is the best way to structure Solpath as an organization?