# Page 2 | Instrumentl Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 2 - Is Instrumentl the right Grant Management solution for you? Explore 179 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/233384/Instrumentl/reviews --- Instrumentl 5 (179) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/233384/Instrumentl/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Page 2 - Reviews of Instrumentl ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 26-50 of 179 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Megan D. Grant Manager Higher Education Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Perfect tool for grant tracking and collaboration! " January 23, 2026 5.0 I have had a more than satisfied experience with Instrumentl's products and team. I really enjoy participating in the webinars. The public-facing team is also welcoming, friendly, and very supportive. Pros Instrumentl's Dashboard is so user friendly. The the layout of the custom home dashboard is especially useful because it can be filtered to show the opportunities by deadline, allowing for grant mapping for the calendar year. I also appreciate the status updates. Cons I'm not sure if this is more user error or not a function, but being able to remove a grant after further research would be helpful. There is the "abandoned" status, but in my experience, sometimes clearing the grant entirely from the tracking history would be preferred. Review Source Response from Instrumentl February 6, 2026 Hi Megan! It's wonderful to read that you're benefiting from a variety of features on our platform, like the custom dashboard, status updates, filters, and so on!  I completely understand why you'd want to remove a grant from your tracker. The "Abandoned" Status is great when you might reconsider applying to this grant in the future, but if you're certain you won't, then the best step is to remove it. The biggest difference between removing it from your Tracker completely vs. marking it as "Abandoned" is whether you want to continue receiving email notifications about that opportunity's future deadlines. To remove a grant from your tracker, you can follow these steps: https://help.instrumentl.com/en/articles/9124319-removing-an-opportunity Thanks again for the kind words of your experience with our team and platform, we appreciate it! If anything comes up, we're here for you! :) DB David B. Grants and Development Manager Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 2+ years ### "An Effective Grant Researching Tool with Endless ROI" November 14, 2025 5.0 I've relied on Instrumentl.com for the last 5 years to help boost overall grant funding for a wide variety of nonprofit missions including arts & culture, basic needs, environmental, food security, and Native American services. While I've primarily served Utah nonprofits, Instrumentl.com has helped support my small business in which I provide grant support in Colorado, California, and New York. Pros I like how in-depth I'm able to research a funder before I even attempt an outreach, allowing me to best utilize my time and resources to ensure that I am making the most of all grant/stewardship opportunities. Because of Instrumentl, I've been able to impress donors with an in-depth knowledge of their funding priorities, history of giving, and preferred geographic range. I also enjoy the "Funder Matches" section because it helps spot many local opportunities that may not seem obvious at first glance. While many funders have direct websites, grant portals, and deadlines - Funder Matches helps to locate family foundations that often require more personal engagement. Cons All of the nonprofits I've worked at/collaborate with already have their own internal system for following and tracking grants, in which I've actually never had to use any of the grant management tools on Instrumentl. I'm sure it's a great management tool, but we've always tried to maintain our grants on an organizational Drive rather than 3rd party software. Review Source Response from Instrumentl December 15, 2025 Hello David, Than you for leaving this review. It's amazing to hear you've been with us now for 5 years, and you've continued to derive value from our platform to boost your consultant business with nonprofit clients in several states around the US! It's wonderful that you have impressed funders with in-depth knowledge gleaned from our database. I especially love reading about how the Funder Matches have been so impactful on your prospecting. Thanks for your perspective with clients who have their own unique grants tracking systems. I can see how our Tracker may seem unnecessary when your clients prefer their own internal system. There's precedent for nonprofit clients adopting Instrumentl and adding consultants like yourself as freelancer user, but I know this isn't always feasible with client preferences. We're committed to helping you make the most out of our platform regardless of your clients' tracking system! Thanks again, David :) We're here for you if anything comes up! RK Richard K. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Instumentl is an amazing tool!" November 13, 2025 5.0 My experience has been extremely positive. I have introduced Instrument at three different organizations, and all continue to use is. Pros Instrumentl is one stop shopping for everything we need for researching, cultivating and submitting proposals to foundations--990s, information on grants/year, openness to new grantees, annual grant levels, and more. It is very intuitive and easy to use. The search/project builder tool is excellent, as is the reporting function, which allows us to track/report on tasks, prospects, grants received, etc. It also allows us to upload communications and grant proposals and LOI, so everything is on one place. Cons No "cons" except that Instrumentl does not yet integrate with our CRM, NEON. When that occurs, we will give it six stars! Maybe 7! Alternatives considered [Foundation](https://www.capterra.com/p/10019344/Foundation/) Reason for choosing Instrumentl Much broader functionality, more intuitive to use. Review Source Response from Instrumentl November 14, 2025 Hi Richard! Thank you for taking the extra time out of your day to leave a review of your experience utilizing our platform. I love reading how not only you've benefited from the various tools, but other orgs whom you've referred to Instrumentl are also utilizing the platform - hopefully with the same benefits you've cited! Speaking of which, we're thrilled that you find our product features easy to use and intuitive. The fact that you think of our platform as "everything in one place" is absolutely a goal we want to achieve -- making the full grant lifecycle easy, effective and all in one place. That being said, I recognize you utilize a CRM (NEON) that we don't integrate with. We've built out integrations with others like Salesforce, Raiser's Edge NXT and Virtuous, so I know our Product team and engineers are capable and interested at helping customers like you integrate all your tools to make life easier. I'll share this with them right away! Thanks again! Best, Nate Dr. Shahnazz B. Director of Development and Administration Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Outstanding " January 4, 2026 5.0 Amazing experience. All information needed in one place that allows me to delegate task effectively. Pros Instrumentl is a top-tier, comprehensive grant management platform that modernizes how nonprofits and consultants find, pursue, and manage funding. It merges research, collaboration, AI assistance, tracking, and post-award tools in one place, replacing a patchwork of spreadsheets, calendars, and separate systems with an integrated workflow. If you regularly pursue multiple grants and need centralized control with automation and intelligence at each stage, Instrumentl is one of the strongest options available today. Cons Sharing with other Team members is a little tough due to them not knowing everything I know about Instrumentl. Review Source Response from Instrumentl January 9, 2026 Hey Dr. Shahnazz, We're humbled to read that you see our platform as top-tier and comprehensive. It's wonderful that you're benefiting from the variety of features on our platform, like the AI grant writing "Advisor", Tracker, AI "Award Assistant", and so on. I appreciate that you mentioned the difficulty in sharing with your teammates outside of Instrumentl whay you're doing it in the platform. We certainly want to make team collaboration seamless, including for those without user accounts. I'll be sure to pass that feedback along to our Product team. Thanks again for the testimony of your experience with our team and platform! We're here for you as you need ;) LV Laquisha V. Grant Fiscal Manager Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Work Smarter Not Harder" October 23, 2025 5.0 I am very happy that I chose this software and program. The experience with the representatives has been very helpful and became a major go to resource. Pros The first thing I did when I became a fiscal manager was search for tools to help me with managing my grant budgets. Instrumentl was my choice after researching two other vendors. The feedback was great and the email responses and availability were in a timely manner. Representatives were very helpful with getting me started with the software. It took me a while to get comfortable with using it only because my new role was already very demanding getting up to speed... to say the least. The Instrumentl software is very easy to use. Even if you are not familiar with the website and its content, they offer tons of tutorial videos to walk you through each tab, step by step. The Instrumentl team members have been extremely helpful with implementing new procedures for me as it pertains to the document and financial portions. They are always creating new features to make the product work better so that you are working smarter and not harder. I had the pleasure of working with \[sensitive content hidden\] over the summer and he was a huge help with me being able to manage my grant budgets in this software. With the latest features of individual expense reporting and document summary scanner, I am super excited for this grant cycle. I no longer have to depend on the system my business office uses to manage and track our spending. The software is worth it once you take the time to explore all that it has to offer. Cons I did not like the fact that I had to download an expense template, add my information to the sheet and then upload it. Now, with the new feature, I can go into the actual grant and enter each expense without uploading a document template etc... Alternatives considered [Submittable](https://www.capterra.com/p/158382/Submittable/) Reason for choosing Instrumentl It was over 2 years ago, so I cannot remember specifically, but I am sure it was the pricing and not having to pay a renewal fee every year. Review Source Response from Instrumentl December 15, 2025 Hi Laquisha, Thank you so much for leaving us a review! I'm so happy to hear you've found our platform easy to use thanks to the resources and team members you've worked with along the way. You said it best: work smarter, not harder. I hope we can continue to save you time while improving your grants management & funding endeavors! I appreciate what you shared about the expense template import workflow. Thanks to your feedback, we've been able to make improvements here as you alluded to. Should more feedback come to mind, please let us know! We're here for you :D Danette F. President Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The “Stop Starting From Scratch” Tool" December 22, 2025 5.0 Overall, it’s been a strong experience. Instrumentl has helped me work faster, stay organized, and keep funding research actionable. I’ve also had a positive working relationship with the team, which makes the platform even easier to use and trust. I am impressed by its genuine, intentional effort to keep its clients informed about best practices and related topics. I recommend Intrumtl to all of my clients. Pros Instrumentl helps me turn grant research into a real system. I like having funders, deadlines, notes, and opportunities in one place so I’m not reinventing the wheel every time. It supports consistent prospecting and follow-through, which is half the battle in grant work. Cons Like any matching tool, it still requires human judgment. Not every opportunity is a perfect fit right out of the gate, so you may need to filter, refine, and do a quick reality-check before investing time. There’s also a slight learning curve up front to get your settings dialed in, but that is with any grant search system. Review Source Response from Instrumentl January 9, 2026 Hi Danette, Thank you for leaving this review of your experience with our platform! I'm so happy to hear that you've found the features within the Discover and Manage grant lifecycle stages helpful! I appreciate your honesty about there being a learning curve for some new users at first. It's great that once you got acclimated, you've since been working faster and more organized! Mentioning your positive relationship with our team is such a joy to hear. We're grateful for your trust in our team and our efforts. If there's anything we can do to help you further along the way in your pursuit of grants funding, let us know :) EW Eddie W. CEO Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "A newbie at fundraising" September 24, 2025 5.0 Very good. I've even found a family foundation in my own town that I didn't know existed, applied, and received funds! Pros I like the ability of finding donors and foundations that can ultimately help my non-profit. I have a part-time employee and a team that are learning about grant writing and using the AI component to go along with it. Cons There seems to be a pretty big learning curve, so it is taking me a while to figure the software out. (For example, no one at InstrumentL told me about just searching my state within the software. I saw a google link to "Mississippi Foundations in Instrumentl" outside of your platform. Alternatives considered [Candid](https://www.capterra.com/p/237107/Candid/) Reason for choosing Instrumentl The price and the online sales person that talked me/us through the use of the product. Review Source Response from Instrumentl September 30, 2025 Hi Eddie, Thanks so much for taking the time to leave us a review. It is such an awesome testimony to hear that you found, applied for and won a grant in our platform - woohoo! I love reading that your team is learning about grant writing from using our product and AI tool ('Apply + Advisor'). I appreciate your honesty that there can be a learning curve - being a full grant lifecycle platform means we have many features to account for all that goes into searching for, managing, applying for, and reporting on grants. Your feedback around finding the Foundation Directory outside of our platform is truly helpful! We try to put our Matches algorithm front and center so that you find best-fit funders and grants, so I can see how the directory of foundations was not easy to find. I will be sure to pass that onto our Product team as feedback! A big thank you again for sharing your experience publicly so others can learn more about us and our platform. Best, Nate CR Colette R. Institutional Giving Officer Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Where Have You Been All My Life?" October 6, 2025 5.0 The platform is great; the team is outstanding. I think the thing that sets Instrumentl apart from other vendors I've worked with is that they are sincerely engaged with their customers. They work with us on our individual questions, and if the platform can't do something we need, they help us find a work around while the team looks for ways to make updates that customers request. They want us to succeed and they are so responsive I honestly don't know how they do it. It's not the cheapest program out there, but if you can swing the money, you won't be sorry. You'll be working with more clarity, more efficiency, and more success, almost from the start. I haven't seen anything that can compete with it for ease of use, power of the platform, and off-the-charts customer service. Pros Instrumentl is the best investment we could have made. It's intuitive and easy to use, and if you do have a question, the customer service is phenomenal. You get tremendous support as you set up your account and learn to use the product. It offers excellent features for both pre- and post-award grants management, including detailed spend-down charts, excellent, targeted prospecting to help us find well-aligned funders, an AI feature, and documents management. It helps our team work together to stay on top of a busy grants calendar, and the calendar is fully integrated with Outlook. The Instrumentl team continues to create improvements constantly, and are receptive to suggestions for ongoing enhancements. It's a secure platform that lets me search for funders I would otherwise miss, based on targeted project organization. I couldn't be happier. Cons There's honestly nothing I don't like. There are areas where the company is constantly improving, e.g., reporting, which we've asked to be more customizable. But in the less than one year since we've gotten it, they have already made multiple improvements. Switched from [Google Drive](https://www.capterra.com/p/161425/Drive/) Not an option above, but we were using GrantHub Pro by Foundant, which was sunsetted. After switching, we feel we got a much more comprehensive program. Review Source Response from Instrumentl October 14, 2025 Hey Colette, Wow! Your words are so moving and humbling for our team to read :') Our Product, Engineering and Design teams are over the moon knowing that you've found our platform intuitive. I will relay your kind words to our Customer Success team as well! It's so cool that you've benefited from both pre- and post-award features, as well as integrations like with Outlook. The Apply + Advisor feature is relatively new, so it's great that you've already derived value from this tool! Our team does try to be receptive to and actionable on feedback from customers like yourself, so we're relieved to know that's your impression as well! I see you're a former Granthub Pro user. I hope your transition to Instrumentl was/has been smooth! We can help with Data Migration or any other needs you may have. If you have any more feedback for our team, ideas, questions, etc. please don't hesitate to reach out! Thank you SO much again for taking the time to leave this review <3 ~Nate CG Cole G. Director of Special Projects and Grants Health, Wellness and Fitness Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Best Grant Tool I've Found! " October 6, 2025 5.0 it has been great there was no pressure to sign on which was really amazing and they let you use the software for 14 days for free! and even if you don't use the software you can still attend the trainings! It's been a game changer for me and my team to keep organized and stay on top of our goals. Pros It's easy to use and has so many features that has made grant research so much more efficient! All the free trainings have been so helpful and they are actually very useful! Cons I wish I could refine my matches a bit more to more accurately reflect my projects (this could be user error). Alternatives considered [Grant Lifecycle Manager](https://www.capterra.com/p/122147/Grant-Lifecycle-Manager/) Reason for choosing Instrumentl Instrmentl was the most intuitive and up to date tool. Review Source Response from Instrumentl October 14, 2025 Hi Cole, Thank you SO much for sharing about your experience with Instrumentl! I love seeing that our training events have proved useful for you. It's music to our ears learning that your grant research has been so much more efficient as a result of your utilization of our platform! I really appreciate your honest feedback around refining opportunity/funder matches. Whether it is user error or product limitations, it's up to us to make it intuitive (prevent user error) and effective (unlock any product limitations), so we want to partner with you and figure out how to improve your searches! Please reach out to us via chat messenger or email (hello@instrumentl.com) and/or come to our next Customer Office Hours on the Customer Events page where you saw trainings. I'm glad that you feel zero pressure from our team to subscribe. We want our platform to be accessible, and ultimately we want nonprofits and grant writers to succeed! Thanks again! Best, Nate DS David S. Assistant Professor Medical Practice Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Instrumentl has been great to work with" November 19, 2025 5.0 Pros Our institution needed help finding available grant funding, primarily for smaller grants than those traditionally available through the National Institute of Health. Instrumentl finds grants from many routes that newer institutions qualify for. We have had many users across our institution use Instrumentl to apply for several grants over the past two years. The price for this service was far lower than their competitors. Cons Different users can see your searches for grants. While this is beneficial to ensure you are not overlapping grant submissions (the likely reason this feature was implemented), it is possible to mistake which one is your query and edit someone else's by mistake. Review Source Response from Instrumentl December 15, 2025 Hey David :) We can't thank you enough for the time you took to write about your experience using our platform. I'm thankful to hear your org has been able to find grants from new funders and pathways. It's great that so so many team members applied for grants found in Instrumentl the last couple years. We really appreciate your feedback around the collaborative aspect of the platform. I can see how it may be confusing or frustrating when making changes to a different user's saved funding opportunity by mistake. Did you know that you can actually assign opportunities to team members? In the top-right-hand corner of the saved grant page, you can open a dropdown menu and assign the grant to a user on the account. This may help prevent those accidental edits. Filtering your Tracker by Opportunity Owner is one way to only see those that you own :) If more questions or feedback come to mind, please let me know! VR Verified Reviewer Senior Grant Writer Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Senior Grant Writer " July 28, 2025 5.0 "Instrumentl + ChatGPT = smarter, faster grants. Game-changer for grant writers -- If you’re looking for a grant discovery platform that evolves with you, and integrates beautifully with next-generation tools like ChatGPT & Instrumentl is the gold standard. It's not just a search tool; it’s a strategic partner for organizations serious about growth, funding diversification, and impact. Pros Instrumentl allow me to learn skills: search functionality, tracking and document management. By pairing Instrumentl’s filtered, funder-aligned search tools with ChatGPT's drafting capabilities, I’ve been able to accelerate narrative development, synthesize funder priorities, and customize applications with greater precision. This AI-enhanced approach has enabled me to move from research to proposal in a fraction of the time—without compromising quality. Cons Nothing. I just wish there wasn’t a minimum character requirement for my response to complete this question. Review Source Response from Instrumentl August 15, 2025 Hello there, Thank you so much for writing this review of your experience with Instrumentl! It's so cool to hear that you're growing professionally from your usage of our product features, such as our Apply Advisor AI tool. Our mission is to be a force-multiplier for nonprofits, so knowing you are able to work so much faster is amazing news for our team! I hope Capterra reads your 'Cons' remark about not wanting a minimum character requirement ha! In all seriousness, if any "cons" or areas of growth for our team come to mind, please let us know. We LOVE feedback and want to continue to improve our platform informed by what our customers want. We're cheering for you to win those grants you're finding and writing on our platform! Thanks again :) VR Verified Reviewer Grant Consultant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Finally... A Grant Platform That Actually Saves Me Time!" January 6, 2026 5.0 I tried another software after using Instrumentl because I thought I could save money. I came back to Instrumentl because it is much more efficient and saved me so much time. Pros It is user friendly. The search functionality is great and I love that it continues searching and recommending new grants. It is really easy to organize and maintain different projects. Cons It is a little costly for a small business owner. After using it for one year, I came back to it because it saves so much time and the search features were far superior Review Source Response from Instrumentl January 9, 2026 Hi! Thank you for leaving a review here about your experience using Instrumentl for your org's grant management tool. We're thrilled that you find our product to be user-friendly with great search functionality (like the weekly New Matches email digest you alluded to). I totally hear you with regards to the cost, and I'm sorry that it costs more than some other platforms out there. It's great, though, that you came back because the value is there for you despite the financial investment. In the long run, our hope is that any money you spend subscribing to our platform comes right back many more times as you discover and win grants! If you have more feedback for our team, or need help with anything at all, just let us know :D JM Jennifer M. Director of Programs Civic & Social Organization Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Instrumentl Rocks!" July 10, 2025 5.0 I've been very happy with Instrumentl, we really need to grow our grant funding and it's helping me find new opportunities. Even if I don't have time to reach out to the funder before applying, I've at least applied and can do the diligence and reaching out before the next cycle starts. I've actually shared our account with others at our company so they can grow their own programs and departments as well! Pros Simple, but thoughtfully laid out and organized Helps find and keep new and current grant applications and tasks on track Cons I'm still new, so I forget I have to switch between my project and matches to continue to research new opportunities sometimes. Once I've hidden an opportunity- usually it doesn't apply to us- it keeps reappearing on my matches so I often feel like I'm looking at the same opportunities. Switched from [CommunitySuite](https://www.capterra.com/p/171719/CommunitySuite/) They were going out of business. We were not using it prior to the switch, but we lost a team member and I was suddenly managing her grants along with mine and I needed more help managing them all, so we got started with Instrumentl. Review Source Response from Instrumentl August 15, 2025 Hi Jennifer, Thank you so much for taking the time to leave an honest review of our platform. I'm so glad to see that you find the product simple and well organized for you to discover and track funding opportunities. I totally hear you in reference to forgetting to return to your Matches to prospect further opportunities/funders. It's easy to get boggled down in the tracking, applying and reporting steps of the grant lifecycle! We do send out a weekly New Matches email digest; hopefully this is a helpful reminder for you to continually check new funding opportunities as they go live. If you're not receiving those, please reach out to us at hello@instrumentl.com. You mentioned you're seeing previously-hidden opportunities among your Matches. That is definitely possible if the 'show previously hidden opportunities' filter is enabled. If you don't wish to see opportunities that you've hidden from other projects, then you can toggle that filter off :) Thank you so much again! NB Niki B. Director of Philanthropy Performing Arts Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Intuitive, Collaborative, Organized" January 23, 2026 5.0 It's been a satisfying experience that has brought clarity to our process. Having everything in one place is incredibly helpful, and their support team is always responsive. Pros Instrumentl is intuitive and makes collaboration easy. It centralizes our funder searches, document storage, and deadline tracking so our team can stay on the same page in one place. Cons The initial data migration was a bit time-consuming. However, the Instrumentl support team was helpful in guiding us through the transition. Review Source Response from Instrumentl February 6, 2026 Hello Niki - Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review! We're happy to hear you have found Instrumentl useful and it has brought clarity to your process! If you ever have any questions about any steps we are here to help you and make it as easy as possible!  Please feel free to reach out if you need anything! :) CS Christiann S. Grant Developer Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Why I love Instrumentl" March 17, 2025 5.0 I have worked with Instrumentl at three different organizations now - each of them used Instrumentl with different focuses. Instrumentl has been a game changer for all three. What I'm trying to say is that if you research, write, manage or otherwise interact with grants of any type, Instrumentl is going to be a tool that you want to invest in. Pros I love Instrumentl's vast database of opportunities! It makes grant research so much easier and accurate. I also very much appreciate the custom fields ability - it allows our organization to better track success. I also love the ability to project manage, through the tasks and ownership assignments is key! Lastly, and most importantly - the customer service is top of the line. If I ever have a question or suggestion to make the product better for our organization, the staff at Instrumentl are thoughtful, open, knowledgeable and responsive! Thanks to the staff also for the trainings you all provide! Cons Hmmm...I honestly can't think of anything I don't like! Review Source Response from Instrumentl March 21, 2025 Hi Christiann! Wow - so cool to read about all the features on the Pro Plan that have been "instrumental" to your work with the past three organizations (pun intended!). Your creative use of our custom fields feature to fit your org's needs is exemplary. Collaboration within grants teams is something we really want to promote and simplify. While I know we still have lots of product improvements on the roadmap, it's comforting to know that it's been so impactful for your team :) Your words about our team here mean so much. We try to be helpful however we can - you all are the true superheroes! A big thanks to you for taking the time to leave this review. Best, Nate MM Mary M. Business Development, Nonprofit Consulting Philanthropy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Instrumentl Is An Excellent Nonprofit Resource" March 17, 2025 5.0 There are many aspects of the platform and I've used it for a long time with nonprofit clients. The platform features have grown tremendously so if I haven't used it in a while, there are new things to learn. In my experience, they have produced many training videos and also have customer support for in person if needed. Pros I've used the Instrumentl platform frequently since it was launched, which I think was about ten years ago (writing review in 2025). It is quite intuitive and always works extremely well in sourcing grants. The platform is really an ecosystem of all dimensions of : grant sourcing based on your criteria, guidance in grant writing, and tracking and compliance. I am not a fulltime grant writing professional, but have consulted with many nonprofits and found Instrumentl to be so valuable in the grants I have worked on. It is always my #1 and only platform I recommend to clients and friends in the nonprofit space for the purpose of grant discovery, research, drafting and compliance. Cons I think this is an excellent platform, and cared for by a team of real professionals at Instrumentl. I don't have any complaints about the service and utility and while not a complaint, there are many things to learn about the platform to get the greatest benefit out of it, so there is a learning curve, like with any new platform. Review Source Response from Instrumentl March 21, 2025 Hi Mary :) Thank you so very much for giving up your time to share about your experience with our platform. It's truly amazing that you've been with us for so long. I appreciate how you spoke to the various stages of the grant cycle that our platform attempts to simplify and bring about success. While prospecting is a huge component we've invested in (and continue to build out thanks to our awesome Content team), the other components of the 'ecosystem', as you put it, are top of mind for our Product team. We're so grateful that you recommend us to so many clients of yours over the years. Also, I'm glad you're transparent about our platform having a bit of a learning curve like any new tool. We pride ourselves in the vast offerings, but we're continually working to make it intuitive and simple (i.e., less of that learning curve!). When any feedback comes to mind, we're all ears! Warmly, Nate CL Cindy L. Specialist, Grants and Government Relations Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Exceeded all of my expectations!" March 5, 2025 5.0 Staff were super supportive during my initial inquiries about becoming a customer, then through the onboarding experience. Exceeded all of my expectations! Pros I attended free subject matter webinars for a year. Our previous platform wasn't meeting our organizational needs, and then I also attended webinars specific to Instrumentl's platform demonstrating how to use, integrate, and implement. I was so impressed that I convinced my organization to make the switch! I've discovered so many new funding opportunities, love that I can easily access 990s, and even peer institutions! I love the email reminders, notices of new matches, and the ease of using the platform. Cons I haven't found a downside. So far, it is exceeding my expectations. Reason for choosing Instrumentl I had a one year free trial of the product. While it is a good product, I was more drawn to Instrumentl after a 2-week trial period. Switched from [Metabase](https://www.capterra.com/p/176651/Metabase/) The former product I used, FoundationSearch, is not listed. The question is forcing an incorrect response. FoundationSearch by Metasoft did not meet my needs for management or even prospecting. It was also expensive. Review Source Response from Instrumentl March 10, 2025 Hey Cindy :) Your words jump off the page to me--I can feel the excitement and relief you must feel in being able to discover several new funding opportunities and peer institutions. I know what it's like going from one platform that didn't quite meet my needs (and was expensive) then discovering an alternative that just straight-up delivered (and saved me money). We want to be that for you and all nonprofits looking for funding. Any feedback that comes to mind along your journey we are stoked to hear! Your experience is not only what care about when building our features, but also what we depend on to make it better. Anyways, I send my utmost gratitude on behalf of our whole team here for your review. May you continue to discover great-fit grants and win them to fund the awesome work you do! Warmly, Nate TM Teri M. Grant Writer Administrator Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "What a wonderful World!" February 20, 2025 5.0 My experience with Instrumentl has ben exceptional. The onboarding was great and quite informative. Their customer service is great, immediately responding to issues I have. I love their search engine and match capabilities - it makes my life easy. I love the fact that they pull from private foundations, federal and state government opportunities - it's a lot and that's a good thing! Pros What I like the most is the research they do on potential funding opportunities that match my organization needs. I can set my organization projects with defining characteristics and they send potential matches to me almost daily. It decreases the time I spend doing research and more time to do the vetting. I also like that 990 information is located on the site for funding. Cons There is such a thing as too much information. Also, it is confusing that I can select funders for more than one project. I'm sure I can figure out a method to reduce this pain point. But haven't so far. Review Source Response from Instrumentl March 10, 2025 Hi Teri! I appreciate you so much for taking the time to share about your experience with us. Wonderful to read that you've benefited from the matched funding opportunities for your projects. Time and labor saved is indeed valuable! I agree that there is such a thing as 'too much information', at least displayed all together in one place can be overwhelming. We hope that the "Hide" feature for opportunities and funders as well as filters in the matches view can help reduce the overload of info you find. Thank you for the feedback around your experience with saving funders to multiple projects. Every organization's needs are different, and we find that many have 2+ projects that both could use funding from the same source. In your case, I'd filter out We're full of gratitude for your affirmations - we try hard to ensure you're being taken care of and set up for success :) Cheers! Nate FP Francne P. Grants Manager Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "I Love Instrumentl" November 18, 2025 5.0 My overall experience has been extremely positive. At this point in time, I highly recommend Instrumentl. Pros I love the prospecting feature - saves me a ton of time! There are many ways to view your grants pipeline. I am a fan of the calendar view, as it clearly shows me what I've got to do for that month. I wasn't accustomed to organizing my funders by project, but have found that to be extremely useful, as well. I have found the customer support to be very, very good, in terms of responsiveness and knowledge. Cons Honestly, I'm still learning, but so far nothing jumps out at me as a negative. I'm happy to update this review if/when that occurs. Review Source Response from Instrumentl December 15, 2025 Hi Francine, Thank you for sharing about your experience with Instrumentl! I love that you touched on the many ways one can view their grants pipeline, such as the Calendar View, which you're a fan of. I appreciate your honesty around the adjustment to thinking of prospecting and grants management in terms of "projects" in Instrumentl. It sounds like you've found it to be useful. As always, we're humbled and grateful to hear you've had a great experience with our Customer Support. It's something our team puts immense value in. We know we're not perfect, so please let us know if we can improve in any way. We're here for you if issues and questions arise! Thanks for entrusting us with your grants management! It's an honor :) LL Laura L. Director of Development Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Instrumentl is a game changer for grant writers! " June 13, 2025 5.0 Our overall experience with Instrumentl has been excellent. The platform helped us identify and successfully acquire new funders, streamlining our grant research and tracking process. It’s user-friendly, efficient, and a valuable tool for growing funding. Pros It makes grant research and tracking very streamlined! It is easy to navigate and set up several program projects to isolate research and tracking. Cons There are no complaints about Instrumentl—It has been a very helpful tool! The only thing to make it better would be if it were free! But, nothing worthwhile is free! Review Source Response from Instrumentl June 20, 2025 Hey Laura, Thank you so much for writing this review! It's humbling to see you benefit so much from our platform in organizing funding efforts in different projects. Yes, free everything would be great! Maybe someday... Congrats on identifying and acquiring new funders!! It makes our day to hear such impact stories from our customers. It's a reminder of our mission: to be a force-multiplier for nonprofits... to do the amazing work you do! As always, we are here to listen to your feedback, offer assistance when needed, and cheer you on as you shape the world for the better! Warmly, Nate NM Nancy M. Grant Writer Mental Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "10/10 Highly Recommend" January 8, 2025 5.0 Instrumentl is easy to use: love the project tracking and reporting features. As a contract grant writer who has used many different grant tracking options, Instrumentl is far and away my favorite. Pros Instrumentl is user-friendly, great for use by multiple people on the grant writing team, and helps keep everyone organized and on-track! Cons We have experienced some small glitches; for example, every grant we enter has a default submission date of August 9, 2024. I absolutely love Instrumentl for grant tracking; it hasn't been as effective for me as a research tool, but I think I just need to spend more time exploring that side of it. Review Source Response from Instrumentl February 21, 2025 Hello Nancy! Thank you so much for sharing about your experience with Instrumentl! Our Product team will sleep well knowing you find the platform to be user-friendly. Team collaboration is something we really want to help promote and make easy, so I'm ecstatic to know your team has been organized and on track using our tooling! I'm sorry to hear that the researching aspect of the platform haven't been as fruitful for you. We would love to set up some time to look at your projects and even offer some trainings around some prospecting features you might not've explored, as you pondered. Any bugs or glitches are top priority for our Engineering team to address, so if you haven't already, please share your experience with our team at hello@instrumentl.com - we're here for you! I can't thank you enough for your honest review of your experience with us. I hope you continue to find value from our service! ~Nate KK Kelly K. Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Instrumentl Rocks" March 4, 2025 5.0 I started using Instrumentl in 2019 at The Open Door in Gloucester MA. I was blown away with the ease of using it. And staff are so willing to listen to feedback to improve the system. Pros The ease of researching new grant possibilities. In a short while, it is easy to determine if the grant maker's funding history is a match for our organization. Cons I really never warmed up to the AI feature. Review Source Response from Instrumentl March 10, 2025 Hi Kelly! Thank you so much for writing this review - time is precious so using yours to share about your experience with others here on Capterra means a lot to our team. It's awesome to see you find it easy on our platform for you to discern a funder's fit! Prospecting or grant discovery can be overwhelming an inefficient, so it's all the more impactful to know you're finding this grant life cycle stage to be made easier from our product. We really appreciate your feedback around your experience using our AI grant-writing tool, 'Apply'. It's still in Beta, as you probably know. Our team is constantly working to improve it by real-time feedback from customers like you! We look forward to hearing more feedback from you, namely around the 'Apply' AI tool so we can make our platform better for you and others in the nonprofit space <3 Best, Nate EB Elisabeth B. Executive Director Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Instrumentl is key to our grant writing and research" March 4, 2025 5.0 The platform is intuitive, extensive, and the customer service is phenomenal. The extras you provide with webinars and email updates are invaluable. Pros It streamlines the work I have to do in researching, tracking, and cultivating relationships with foundations and grant makers. Cons We are gratefully grandfathered into a yearly fee that is less than $1000 and if it were to be higher we might not be able to use the platform. Review Source Response from Instrumentl March 10, 2025 Hello Elisabeth! Wow, thank you for these kind words of affirmation for our customer service. It's meaningul for us to read that you find the platform to be intuitive and extensive -- out Product team will love to know this! We strive to streamline work and just make your life easier when looking for grants and all the subsequent grant lifecycle stages. Thank you for your honest feedback around pricing - we know the nonprofit space is not the most lucrative when compared to, say, the private sector, and each organization has it's own financial constraints to operate under. Our team is very thoughtful around our pricing and plans, and we update it to be in alignment with our product improvements as well as the industry at large. Ultimately we want to work with each of you to make sure you're getting the value you pay for. I'm relieved to hear that's been the case with you :) If any more feedback comes to mind, let me know! Ciao, Nate KB Kelly B. Prospect Research Strategist Education Management Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "High Praise for Instrumentl" February 10, 2025 5.0 It has been amazing. I can't tell you the hours I have saved with this product. I finally am able to see a concrete picture of everything our Corporate and Foundation Relations Department has going on in our fundraising space. Pros Instrumentl is basically one-stop shopping. I can do everything in this one product that I used to do in multiple spreadsheets and three different products. It has saved me countless hours of cutting and pasting into excel spreadsheets, sending emails about opportunities. Our team is spread out and with this product we can all work seamlessly. On top of that, Instrumentl is reasonably priced and we have canceled 3 subscriptions and just use Instrumentl now. I would highly recommend checking it out to anyone who is working in the Corporate/Foundation grant space - it is a timesaver and lifesaver for me. Cons The only thing that bothers me is that if I find a grant and save to a project, and the officer decides not to apply, there's no way to just remove the grant. You can abandon it but it will still show. If you delete it, then it won't show any other grant information for that project. Switched from [Candid](https://www.capterra.com/p/237107/Candid/) Those products did not offer what Instrumentl does - so we canceled those and just use Instrumentl now. Review Source Response from Instrumentl February 21, 2025 Hi Kelly, Thanks for your elaborative and honest review! It is so cool and rewarding for our team to learn of your testimony - getting rid of several platform subscriptions to have all you need in one place, hopefully saving you money on top of time and hassle! I totally hear you regarding what you said about grants you decide not to apply for. Apart from hiding the opportunity from a given project, you can indeed change its status to 'Abandoned'. If you don't want to have it showing on your Tracker, you can filter your Project Tracker to only include opportunities with statuses other than 'Abandoned'. I hope this makes it easier for you! I'll pass on this feedback to our Product team regardless ;) Appreciate you again for sharing your Instrumentl experience with others! ~Nate CC Christine C. Chief Operating Officer Management Consulting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Instrumentl as a Partner in Creating a Better Grants World" January 14, 2025 5.0 Instrumentl allows us to track a lot of grants information in one place so that we can be efficient and organized with our clients and among our grant writers. Pros Instrumentl saves us time on researching myriad potential grant funders and helps us stay very organized with our grants calendar, tracking awards, declines, etc. Cons Adding information in the opportunity screen can be a bit clunky. Review Source Response from Instrumentl February 21, 2025 Hey Christine! Our whole team is so appreciative for the time you took to share about your experience using our platform. Saving you time prospecting is a major win and goal of ours, as is making organization & collaboration seamless with our tooling. Thanks for being honest about your experience with adding info to the fields in a funding opportunity page. I'm going to make sure our Product team is aware of this feedback! I hope you can derive more and more value as our platform features expand and improve :) ~Nate Similar Products Featured