Online Grant Portal FAQs

SC Humanities has a whole page with information about creating and managing an account for our online grants portal. Please visit it HERE for detailed information.

Not quite ready to apply? Do you want to preview the questions as you prepare?

A pdf document preview of each of our online applications (Major, Mini, Planning, and Fast Track Literary Grants) is available on our How to Apply page. You cannot use these pdfs as editable application forms; they are merely there to allow you to preview the questions on each application. When you are ready to apply, you will still have to create an account for the SC Humanities grants portal and apply online.

After creating your account and logging into the Grants Portal, click the “Apply” link at the top of the screen, to see currently-available grant opportunities.

Helpful Hint: To ensure the correct person is listed as the primary contact for your application, that person should be the one to log on and click the “Apply” button to start the application. The primary contact person for a grant application should be the person who will:

  1. edit and submit the grant application;
  2. manage this grant’s activities, and
  3. receive and respond to communications from SC Humanities about this grant.

Generally, this person is the Project Director.

Other users in the organization can view the application, but only the user whose name appears at the top of the application will be able to edit and submit. If you need your application reassigned to a different user within your organization, please contact SC Humanities (803-771-1477, tjwallace@schumanities.org) to request this change. (You may continue working in the meantime.)

  • If you have already begun the application process, you will find your draft application on your Applicant Dashboard (the first page after you log on, or click the “Home” icon at the top left of the screen).
  • Find your in-progress application, and click the “Edit Application” link to the right.
  • DO NOT click “Apply;” that will start a new application, instead of taking you to your application in progress.

The person who starts the application is the primary contact for that application, and the only user who can edit or submit. However, that user may allow others to work on their application by:

  • Downloading and sharing any of the spreadsheets within the application (for example, you may want your treasurer to complete the budget spreadsheet).
  • Sharing the questions (and character limits) for which you want others to draft the answers (which you can then copy and paste into the application online).
  • Allowing another person to log on to the system with the primary contact’s log on information. Please note that we do not recommend sharing your log on information with any more people than necessary, and only share your log on credentials with trusted individuals.

Click the “Historical Requests” tab on your Dashboard (reached by clicking the “Home” icon at the top left of the screen).

Our online grants management system allows us to handle most documents electronically, including your grant agreement form and final report, all of which are called “Follow Ups” in the system. 

These “Follow Ups” will be assigned to you in the grants portal if your application is approved. You can find them on your Dashboard (reached by clicking the “Home” icon at the top left of the screen) under the relevant open grant in your “Active Requests” tab.

The account holder who is logged on and begins the application will become the Contact Person for that grant application. When you begin your application, please review the “Applicant” information shown at the top of the page. The name and contact information should be that of the Contact Person for this grant’s activities. If a different person’s information is shown, we will need to reassign the application to the correct Contact Person’s account. Please contact SC Humanities (803-771-2477, tjwallace@schumanities.org) to request this change. (You may continue working in the meantime.)

The system works best with the Chrome and Firefox browsers. The Microsoft Edge browser is not recommended; it will not autosave and will not save data that is copied-and-pasted into fields.

The system will automatically save your work:

  • When you exit a field
  • Every 100 characters
  • When you click the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen. (It’s not necessary, but it never hurts!)

Exception: The autosave does not work in the Microsoft Edge browser. If using Edge, you must manually save your work by clicking the “Save” button often.

The grant portal system will give a warning message after a period of inactivity, letting you know it is about to log you out for security purposes. You can click to continue. If the system does log you out, it will save your work first.

  • Click the “Question List” button near the top right of the screen for a “blank” application or final report (so you can see what is required, and gather the information offline if you like).
  • Click the “Packet” button (e.g., “Application Packet,” “Follow Up Packet”) near the top right of the screen for a copy of your completed (or in progress) application or final report.

Both of these options will generate a PDF file of the document, which you may then print and/or save to your computer.

On the “Organization Summary” page, you can click the “Public Profile” button to access your GuideStar, 990, or other public information.

This system uses specific terminology that may be different from our usual language.

  • A “Request” is an application, which (if funded) becomes a grant. A Request record contains all pieces of that grant’s cycle (application, payments, reports, etc.).
  • A “Process” is the grant cycle for that year and category (e.g., “FY25 Fast Track Literary Grants”).
  • “Follow Up Forms” are all of the items which come after grant funding is decided, including grant agreements and final reports.
Status
  • “Draft” = The item has been started, but not yet submitted.
  • “Submitted” = The item has been submitted, but not yet reviewed by SC Humanities staff and Board.
  • “Undecided” = No decision has been made yet about funding for the Request.
  • “Approved” = The Request was funded.
  • “Denied” = The Request was not funded. It will appear in the “Historical Requests” on the Applicant Dashboard.
  • “Complete” = The item has been submitted, reviewed by SC Humanities staff, and approved; no further action is needed.
  • “Closed” = The Request record is complete, the grant period has ended, and the record has been closed. It will appear in the “Historical Requests” on the Applicant Dashboard.

During times of high traffic (e.g., deadline days), the system may take a little extra time to process your submission. You may see a message that asks if you want to wait, or if you’d rather stop or “kill” the process. We recommend clicking “wait” to allow the system to finish processing your submission. (The message may come up more than once; just keep clicking “wait.”) The system is checking your submission to be sure you haven’t missed any required questions, and/or if you’ve gone beyond the character allotment in any fields. If so, it should eventually provide you with a message to that effect, so that you can answer the missed question or retype your answer with fewer characters.