New Forms - Previous organisation and contact details are not retained for subsequent applications

Liz Gearing · March 12

We are using the new application forms. When an applicant creates a new account, they can search for their organisation and if not found, add a new one. Nice.

However, when the applicant gets into the actual application form, none of the organisation information they have literally just entered one second ago is pre-populated and they must enter ALL their organisation information a second time - only this time without the ability to search for the organisation which has now disappeared, and so now it must be manually entered (go figure!).

Now they have entered their organisation info in twice. Not so nice anymore.

Worse though, is what happens when that same applicant wants to put in a second, or multiple applications. NONE of the information they have entered previously is carried across to the new application, and they have to enter EVERYTHING again from scratch - TWICE! Imagine doing that for 10 applications. Ridiculous!

This is extremely time consuming and very frustrating for the applicant, and definitely a backward step from the old system.

I'm sure that there are many organisations out there who have applicants making multiple applications and this is going to rapidly become very unpopular!

Tonya Conaway · March 12

@Liz Gearing yes I feel the same way!

Nick Mills · March 12

@Liz Gearing

When you start an application, if your program is set up for organizations, you first search for an organization in the NPO Connect database. If you don't find what you're looking for, you can add one (if that option is enabled in the Program settings). The selected information will display on the Applicant's “My Applications” page, showing the name of the organization for which the application was submitted.

If you don't add Organization Fields to your form, the information from the NPO Connect database will be used as the Organization information when considering an application. If you do add Organization Fields, they are not connected to the NPO Connect database, but the information entered in those fields will take precedence over the data available in the NPO Connect database when searching for an organization.

You don't need to add additional Organization fields to your application, but doing so gives you better control over the data that comes into the system. The NPO Connect database is comprised of various international databases, and updates to a record (like mailing address) can take some time. If you don't include additional Organization fields on your form, you will get the information available in the NPO Connect database at that time, which may not always be up to date and may have different formatting (for example, the organization name may appear in ALL CAPS).

If you include Organization fields on your form and have enabled the ability for applicants to copy a previous application (again, in the Program settings), then the information submitted in the previous application will copy over to the new application, including any Organization information submitted in Organization fields.

Liz Gearing · March 17

@Nick Mills.

Thank you for your answer. I can see how this would work if we remove the organisation fields from our application form. However it doesn't alter the fact that none of the contact details are carried over to a new application and there are many organisations who have one applicant making numerous applications on behalf of different clients. All these details used to be carried across - now they have to be filled in each time.

Also, there is a risk with allowing applications to be copied, in that the full application will be copied and details may remain that aren't relevant to the new app. This would work well if there was a way of restricting what information was copied across, but there isn't.

Natalie Smith · March 31

@Liz Gearing I completely agree that the supposed new functionality of NPO connect is not helpful at all. We have grantees that are religious organizations without a tax ID and this is causing major concerns as well. The NPO search really is a burden on our grantees and we want to ability to turn if off completely.

Monica Jordan · March 31

@Liz Gearing Yup! I've had applicants inadvertently submit the same application twice due to the ease of copying the whole application. I agree with your suggestion of limited the info that can be copied.

In terms of submitting dupes, I think it's harder for the applicant to catch as the “My Applications” page list the program name and Application ID, but not the Project Title. Most applicants include unique project titles, so including the Project Title (or allowing the grant manager to edit the info that appears on the “My Applications” page) would be helpful.

Monica Jordan · March 31

@Nick Mills is there the option to accept applications from organizations and skip the NPO search step? Thank you!

Nick Mills · March 31

Hi @Monica Jordan – Unfortunately there is currently no way to bypass the NPO Connect search for organization based applications. I would encourage you to search for and/or add an Idea regarding this desired functionality.

Hannah McCourt · April 9

@Liz Gearing This is becoming a real problem for us, we only open for applications for 2 months of the year and at this stage last year (been open for 1 week), we had received 89 applications, to date we have received 10… My inbox is flooded with emails from military personnel with various issues where they cannot proceed to the physical application form, all centered around the NPO Connect Search with Organisation ID's and Government Tax ID's

Liz Gearing · April 9

@Hannah McCourt We are also finding issues with incorrect addresses in NPO Connect for Australian charities. Some have been in new premises for over 5 years with their correct details registered with all government bodies, yet their address details are still showing as their old one. It's becoming a real problem for us too. Blackbaud - you need to find a way of turning this off.

New Forms - Previous organisation and contact details are not retained for subsequent applications

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