Matching Grants Process Discovery — 2026-04-05

Overview

Discovery call with Erika Miller and Christina Jester (WI Masons) to map the current manual matching-grant workflow and define the target automated process. Mark Hope facilitated; Adam Rigden attended as client lead.

Goal: Reduce the 1.5 FTE workload consumed by grant administration so staff capacity can be redirected to new programs, and more funds flow directly to lodges and their communities.

Attendees:
- Erika Miller — erika@wimasons.org
- Christina Jester — christina@wimasons.org
- Adam Rigden — adam.rigden@wimasons.org
- Mark Hope — Asymmetric

Grant Program Details

Parameter	Value
Annual limit per lodge	$4,000 (unrestricted as of last board meeting)
Fiscal year	May 1 – April 30
Eligible recipients	501(c)(3) organizations or government agencies
Tracking system	^[1] — Ninox database

How Ninox tracks balances: Lodges start at $0 and accumulate toward the $4,000 cap as grants are entered. There is no automatic reset; staff manually manage the fiscal-year rollover.

Grant types on the application:
- AED (automated external defibrillator)
- FST (first aid/safety kit — confirm acronym)
- Jump bag
- Act of Kindness Matching Grant
- Medical Fund (now folded into the unrestricted $4,000 pool)

Current (Manual) Workflow

Lodge fills out online application at wimasons.org
        │
        ▼
Lodge mails physical check + application simultaneously
        │
        ▼
Erika manually checks lodge's running total in Ninox
        │
        ├─ Funds NOT available → return check, deny grant
        │
        └─ Funds available → approve
                │
                ├─ AED / FST / Jump Bag → Erika emails vendor with shipping details
                │
                └─ All other grants → Christina mails physical check to recipient org

Pain points identified:
- Lodge sends a check before anyone has confirmed funds are available — creates rework when grants must be rejected and checks returned.
- Every fund-availability check is a manual Ninox lookup.
- Vendor notification emails are written and sent manually.
- No automated confirmation loop back to the lodge.

Target (Automated) Workflow

Lodge fills out online application (includes shipping address field)
        │
        ▼
System queries Ninox → checks lodge's remaining annual balance
        │
        ├─ Funds NOT available → automated rejection notice to lodge
        │
        └─ Funds available → lodge prompted for online payment (CC or ACH)
                │
                ▼
        Payment confirmed
                │
                ├─ AED / FST / Jump Bag → automated email to vendor with shipping details
                │
                └─ All other grants → automated notification to Christina to mail check

Key design notes:
- The shipping address field already exists on the payment links Adam built; it captures where the item should be delivered (not necessarily the lodge address).
- For non-vendor grants, the lodge uploads a photo of their own check (e.g., $500 to a school); the Foundation then matches with its own check mailed by Christina. This physical mailing step cannot be eliminated.
- Approval criteria are simple: recipient must be a 501(c)(3) or government agency. No discretionary review board — Erika confirms eligibility and enters into Ninox.

Key Decisions

$4,000 unrestricted pool — As of the most recent board meeting, all grant types draw from a single $4,000 annual limit per lodge. Application form language and any program-specific caps need to be updated to reflect this.
Two fulfillment paths — Automation will branch on grant type: vendor-fulfilled (AED/FST/jump bag) vs. check-mailed (everything else).
Fund check before payment — The new flow inverts the current sequence: system checks Ninox before the lodge is asked to pay, eliminating returned-check rework.

Action Items

[ ] Mark Hope — Build process map from this recording and share for review
[ ] Mark Hope — Design and implement online CC/ACH payment integration for the grant application
[ ] Mark Hope — Integrate grant application with Ninox for automated fund-balance check
[ ] Mark Hope — Build vendor email automation (AED/FST/jump bag fulfillment path)
[ ] Mark Hope — Build internal notification automation (Christina check-mailing path)
[ ] Adam — Email Tom Stevens to confirm DNS issue is resolved

Open Questions

What exact data does the vendor email need to contain? (Lodge name, contact, shipping address — confirm full field list.)
Does Ninox need to be updated automatically when a grant is approved, or does Erika continue to enter grants manually after the fact?
Should the system send a confirmation email to the lodge after payment is received? (Assumed yes — not explicitly confirmed.)
Fiscal-year rollover: who resets (or initializes) lodge balances in Ninox each May 1?

^[1]

Sources

Index