To install the Open hGrant Plugin, first download it here.

You can then either unzip the archive and manually upload the ‘/wp-hgrant/’ folder into your ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory, OR go to ‘Plugins > Add New > Upload’ in the WordPress admin menu and select the .zip archive for installation.

Once the plugin is installed you may activate it from your Plugins page.

Before first using the Open hGrant Plugin, go to hGrants/Grantor Settings/ in your Dashboard to set the plugin defaults. Required items are listed in bold green text.

The data you enter under Grantor Settings will be included in the feed shared with the Foundation Center and, by default, the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

Setting the defaults on this screen will pre-populate fields on grant entry pages. These default settings can be overridden on a grant-by-grant basis simply by editing the fields on any grant entry page.

• Default Duration sets the standard length of your organization’s grant period. For example, if you regularly fund programs for one year, you can set that period here to pre-populate date fields in grant entry pages. This default duration period can be overridden for any grant with a non-standard duration.
• Each Taxonomy check box you tick will create an additional category you can use to define, sort, and organize your grants. Settings for each selected Taxonomy type will appear under hGrants in your Dashboard after you click ‘Save Changes’ on Grantor Settings page. These Taxonomy types are configured in the same way as Program Areas.
• If you select ‘Enable End Date Warning’ then users will get a pop-up asking them to verify before they record any edits to grants with end dates that have already expired.
• If you select ‘Initial Geo Area’ then you will limit new grants to a single set of Geographical Area fields.

The Open hGrant Plugin includes a number of optional categories you can use to organize your grants: Program Area, Support Type, Strategy, Initiative and Theme. The Program Area category is active by default. To activate the others, tick the associated check box in your Grantor Settings screen and click ‘Save Changes.’

All of these categories can be configured and used in the same way as the ‘Program Area’ category.

To add a new Program Area, click hGrants/Program Areas. Enter a name, edit the slug if desired, select a Parent category as appropriate, and enter a description.

Once you’ve entered any desired Program Areas, you will be able to assign your grants to them on any grant entry screen. You can also quick-add a new Program Area directly from grant entry screens. To edit Program Area listings, use the fields on the Program Areas screen.

To add a new grant, select hGrants/Add New Grant. All fields labeled in bold green type are required by hGrant specifications. It is strongly recommended that you provide values for all of these fields.

Default values for some Add Grant fields can be set under hGrants/Grantor Settings. All values, regardless of their default setting, can be overridden on a grant-by-grant basis simply by overwriting the entered text.

Descriptions for these fields are provided directly within the plugin, as necessary.

To assign a grant to specific Program Areas (or Support Types, Strategies, Initiatives, or Themes), use the entry boxes provided. If these are not visible in your Add New Grant screen, confirm that they are set to be displayed in the Screen Options at the top of the page and that you have selected their inclusion in your Grantor Settings. You can assign a single grant to any number of Program Areas (and/or other categories).

When you are finished entering grant data, save the entry as draft, as pending review, or publish it as you would any other WordPress post. Once published,  the grant is added to your searchable index and to your grants feed automatically.

To add a number of grants at one time, use the hGrants/Bulk Add Grants link from your Dashboard. This screen presents you with an abbreviated selection of grant entry fields, all of which it is recommended that you complete. Click the ‘Add Grant’ link at the bottom to generate new sets of fields for adding additional grants.

You can enter as many grants as you like using the Bulk Add Grants screen. When you are finished, click the ‘Save Grants’ button to save all of the entered grants. These grants will be saved as ‘Draft’. To publish them, use the All Grants screen to sort for draft grants and then use the Quick Edit feature to set the grant’s status to ‘Published.’

Before you do you’ll need to do some advance work:

1. Run a report in your grants management system that pulls hGrant fields (here’s a handy list). You may not have data for every field, and that’s OK.
2. Export the report to a spreadsheet in CSV format.
   Most grants management software packages have this option. Check back here for step-by-step instructions from the most common software packages.

Now you’re ready to import.

1. From the WordPress dashboard, go to hGrants/Import CSV.
2. Click the Choose File button to find your CSV spreadsheet and click Open
3. Click Map Fields and use the dropdown boxes to match column headings in your CSV file with hGrant fields.
4. When finished mapping, click Import Grants. The screen returns with a listing of how many grants were just imported.
5. To see the imported grants, go to hGrant/All Grants and click Drafts. Each grant can be reviewed and edited, if necessary, prior to publishing.

Go to hGrants/All Grants to review the grants entered into the system. The entries here are sortable, searchable, and editable just as normal WordPress posts.

The Open hGrant Plugin publishes all grants set to ‘Published’ in an XML file accessible to open data initiatives.

The feed address is: {your WordPress URL}/grants/feed/

For example: www.haassr.org/grants/feed/

Your grants feed is pre-formatted to hGrant specifications and nothing further needs or should be done to it.

Your default index of searchable, sortable grants is located at: {your WordPress URL}/grants/

For example: www.haassr.org/grants/

This index will be formatted as per your WordPress template stylesheet. To specify which fields are displayed or to adjust the formatting,  edit the stylesheet template and CSS files using Appearance/Editor.

Once you have the Open hGrant plug-in working on your site, fill out this form so we can keep you in the loop with updates.

The Foundation Center is ready to use your grants data feed in its eReporting and open data initiatives. Go to hGrant/Tools and click Activate Feed after you have configured Open hGrant, published at least one grant, and are ready to share your grant information with Foundation Center.

Having a searchable grants database on your website is a great resource for your community. Check out GrantCraft’s Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparency to learn how this new feature on your website, and a handful of other simple practices, can strengthen credibility, improve grantee relationships, facilitate greater collaboration, increase public trust, reduce duplication of effort, and build communities of shared learning.