Immigrants Rising

Empowering undocumented young people in the United States to achieve educational and career goals

Nonprofits
Salesforce

Supporting Immigrants Rising through a pivotal transition

In 2024, Immigrants Rising began transitioning from a fiscally-sponsored project of Community Initiatives to an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Immigrants Rising approached Fíonta to set up systems and processes, which its fiscal sponsor had previously managed, that made grant inbound tracking centralized, reportable, and scalable.

Challenges

Grants managed in spreadsheets
Disconnected historical data
Small staff with limited capacity

Solutions

Configure grants management in Salesforce
Migrate historical data to Salesforce
Create intuitive, accessible systems with enhanced functionality

Results

Increased visibility into program data and outcomes
Increased quality and usability of historical data
Improved staff capacity to track and report on inbound grants

Project highlights

Configured grants management in Salesforce

Developed a custom process to support the full lifecycle of inbound grants, from application to award to closeout. Used a combination of standard and custom fields to capture details such as proposal type, deadlines, application websites, and reporting requirements.
Created dashboards and reporting views

Designed a grants dashboard with key metrics, including awarded grants by fiscal year, open opportunities, and giving trends by foundation type. Developed two grants reports, a list view for reporting deliverables, and a homepage component showing assigned tasks and upcoming deadlines.
Built tools to support the grant lifecycle

Enabled tracking of research, application, decision status, and installment-based payments. Added functionality to monitor available funds throughout the grant period.
Imported and cleaned historical data

Migrated 18 years of grant data and cleaned legacy data, correcting errors such as misplaced address fields.

Project Summary

Fíonta worked with Immigrants Rising to configure a grants management system in Salesforce that met both immediate needs and long-term goals. The project focused on building a strong foundation within Salesforce to reduce reliance on spreadsheets and increase operational efficiency.

Outcomes

With the new system in place, Immigrants Rising gained visibility into every stage of their grant pipeline. The team can now manage applications, track awards, and ensure compliance with grant requirements from a single platform.

This solution prepared the organization to transition to independent nonprofit status by establishing a strong internal structure for grants management. The tools have created a sustainable process that supports informed decision-making, reduces manual tracking, and builds capacity for future growth.