Siloed Teams and Fragmented Tools Are Slowing Everyone Down

Value Stream Consulting
Apr 27
5 min read

How Initiative Management Transforms Grantmaking Operations and Powers the Foundation Management System (FMS)

In More Than Money: Why Foundations Must Sell Impact, Not Features, we made the case that foundations are not just funding entities, they are strategic actors, shapers of systems, and stewards of long-term change. Yet even mission-driven organizations can fall short when internal teams are misaligned, tools are disconnected, and execution happens in silos.

The root cause isn’t people, it’s the absence of an organizing structure that unifies strategy with action. That structure is Initiative Management.

When done right, Initiative Management becomes the operating system that enables a foundation to translate mission into measurable outcomes through well-orchestrated, synergistic programs. It connects strategic intent to individual grants, and ensures that every part of the organization is moving in sync.

Where Initiative Management Fits: Connecting Mission to Grants

Most foundations are clear on their mission, the long-term societal goals they strive to achieve.

And they’re very good at managing grants, the transactional mechanisms used to distribute funding.

But what’s often missing is the connective tissue: Initiatives.

Initiatives are the strategic containers that organize grants, programs, and partnerships into cohesive efforts aimed at achieving real-world impact. They sit below mission and above grants, bridging the gap between vision and action.

Mission defines why the foundation exists.
Initiatives define how strategic goals are operationalized.
Grants define what is being funded in support of that strategy.

Without this layer, grantmaking becomes fragmented. Foundations risk funding in parallel rather than in unison, dispersing resources rather than concentrating impact.

The Problem: Fragmented Tools, Goals, and Metrics

When initiatives aren’t explicitly defined and managed, internal teams default to working independently.

Programs focus on thematic outcomes.
Grants managers ensure compliance.
Evaluation teams measure results, but often in isolation.
IT supports tools, not strategy.

Each department works hard, but not always together. And that leads to redundancy, delays, and inconsistent learning.

The Solution: Initiative Management as an Internal Grant Discipline

Initiative Management solves this by introducing a structured, organization-wide framework for how initiatives are:

Proposed and justified
Approved and scoped
Resourced and executed
Tracked and adapted
Evaluated and learned from

Just as external grants are assessed for feasibility, alignment, and outcomes, internal initiatives must be treated with the same rigor. This includes strategic planning, multi-stage approvals, outcome tracking, and value stream analysis.

This process elevates every initiative to the level of a funded, managed, and measurable endeavor.

Embedding Initiative Management with a Multi-Stage Approval Process

Every initiative should move through a clear lifecycle that includes five checkpoints:

Strategic Justification – Is this initiative advancing our mission?
Design & Scoping – What activities, resources, and capabilities are required?
Execution Readiness – Are we aligned internally? Are our partners equipped?
Monitoring & Learning – Are we on track? What are we learning?
Evaluation & Closeout – What impact did we achieve? What will we do differently?

These checkpoints ensure that strategy is shared, resources are allocated effectively, and course corrections are built in.

Measuring What Matters: Outcomes and Value Streams

Initiative success depends not just on activity but on value delivered. Foundations must move beyond grant-by-grant measurement and assess how initiatives perform across a range of outcomes.

This requires identifying each initiative’s value stream, the flow of efforts and resources that deliver impact.

We recommend foundations track four types of value:

Funding Value - Were funds allocated strategically and efficiently? Did the dollars reach the right partners, at the right time, to achieve impact?
Expertise Value - Did the foundation provide guidance, resources, or technical support that enhanced outcomes? Were staff and external experts effectively leveraged?
Catalyst Value - Did the initiative inspire policy change, unlock new funding, or shift norms in the field? Was the work a spark for broader impact?
Synergy Value (Only Measurable at the Initiative Level) - Did the initiative connect efforts across departments, partners, programs, and grants into a cohesive strategy? Were grantees working in coordinated ways that multiplied impact?

Synergy does not happen grant by grant. It can only be created, managed, and measured at the initiative level, where multiple grants, stakeholders, and activities converge toward a shared purpose.

If synergy is absent, a foundation is not functioning as a strategic actor. It’s simply a general contractor, managing disconnected projects without ensuring they add up to something more.

This multi-dimensional view allows foundations to ask not only, “What did we do?” but “What did it lead to?”

Process and Technology: From GMS to FMS (Foundation Management System)

Traditional Grant Management Systems (GMS) are effective at tracking applications, disbursements, and compliance, but they fall short of strategic enablement.

A FMS (Foundation Management System) goes further. It supports:

Strategy development
Initiative oversight
Cross-functional collaboration
Value measurement
Institutional learning

The most critical differentiator between a GMS and a FMS is Initiative Management.

Without initiative management, you have a transactional system. With it, you have a strategic engine.

How to Add Initiative Management to Your Existing Tools

You don’t need to start over. Initiative Management can be layered into your current infrastructure in two ways:

1. Enhance Your Current GMS

If you’re using Salesforce, or another customizable platform, you can:

Create an initiative object linked to grants and outcomes
Add stage-based internal workflows
Define which of the four value areas are enhanced
Build dashboards that reflect value streams and synergy
Track grantee alignment to initiative goals

This option works best with systems that allow flexible data modeling and integrations.

2. Integrate a Purpose-Built Add-on

If your current GMS is rigid, consider implementing a supplemental no code platform, like Monday or Softr, focused on initiative planning and management. This external system would:

Track initiative goals, phases, and learnings
Integrate with your GMS to associate grants with initiatives
Serve as the collaboration space for cross-departmental work

This modular approach allows for agile adoption without disrupting existing processes.

Conclusion: Initiative Management Is How Foundations Achieve Mission Through Coherence

Every foundation is judged not just by the grants it awards, but by the change it enables. That change requires more than funding, it requires alignment, synergy, and strategic coherence.

Initiative Management is the missing link between vision and action. It sits directly beneath the mission, and directly above the grants. It’s how strategy becomes measurable, how teams become aligned, and how value becomes visible.

When Initiative Management is embedded into your systems and culture, you no longer manage grants in isolation. You manage for impact. You fund for momentum. And you lead with intention.

This is the heart of the Foundation Management System, and the future of strategic philanthropy.