PART III: Submitting, Updating, and Maintaining Information

Below are step-by-step instructions for submitting, updating, and maintaining grant information on the Grants Portal using an online form, WordPress plugin, and JSON file. Note that there is no approval workflow built into the Grants Portal. Grantmaking agencies should establish their own approval process for information posted on the site.

Online Form: Creating or Editing a Grant Opportunity Using the Online Form

Add A Grant Opportunity Using an Online Form (Forecasted and Active)
Follow the steps below to enter a grant opportunity into the Grants Portal using an online form. You may edit current opportunities by following the next sets of instructions.

• Step 1: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” tab. Select “Agency Login.”
• Step 2: Log into your account using you Grant Contributor credentials. Note that you will receive an email with a validation code which is part of the 2-factor authentication. Once you log in, you’ll see your Grants Dashboard.
• Step 3: Click “Add a Grant.”
• Step 4: Follow the steps in the online form to enter your grant information. The system will validate data entered into each field. See the data dictionary in Part IV for more information on the data elements.
  • Note: When you arrive at the final submission page, you can use your browser’s print screen function to create a PDF to share with colleagues before publishing. Note that the Grants Portal does not have an approval workflow. Your agency should determine an approval process internally.
• Step 5: Click “Submit.” You will be taken to your dashboard. You’ll be able to view the opportunity on you Grants Dashboard, and depending on the grant’s publish date, the opportunity will be published immediately or at the future scheduled time.
• After your grant opportunity is published, please review the opportunity’s Grant Details page to ensure that the information submitted and formatting is visually appealing for site users.

Make a Copy of a Similar Grant
Follow these steps to make a copy of an active or closed grant in order to create a similar opportunity.

• Step 1: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” tab. Select “Agency Login.”
• Step 2: Log into your account using you Grant Contributor credentials. Note that you will receive an email with a login confirmation code. Once you log in, you’ll see your Grants Dashboard and your previously submitted grant opportunities.
• Step 3: Select “Copy” next to the grant you would like to copy. You’ll see a copy of the grant.
• Step 4: Edit the online form to make any needed adjustments to the opportunity. Be sure to remove “Copy of” from the title of your grant. If the grant has the same title as a previous grant, include the year at the end of the title to ensure the title is unique.
• Step 5: Click “Submit.” You will be taken to your dashboard. You’ll be able to view the opportunity on you Grants Dashboard, and depending on the grant’s publish date, the opportunity will be published immediately or at the future scheduled time.
• After your grant opportunity is published, please review the opportunity’s Grant Details page to ensure that the information submitted and formatting is visually appealing for site users.

Edit Information about a Specific Grant Opportunity through the Online Form
Follow the steps below to update existing opportunities.

• Step 1: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” tab. Select “Agency Login.”
• Step 2: Log into your account using you Grant Contributor credentials. Note that you will receive an email with a login confirmation code. Once you log in, you’ll see your Grants Dashboard and your previously submitted grant opportunities.
• Step 3: Select “Edit” next to the grant you would like to edit (must be a currently open opportunity).
• Step 4: Update or add information as appropriate. Note: you must include Change Notes to update grantseekers on changes.
• Step 5: Click “Submit.” The system will update current or future grants accordingly.
• After your grant opportunity is published, please review the opportunity’s Grant Details page to ensure that the information submitted and formatting is visually appealing for site users.

Transition a Forecasted Grant to an Active Grant
If you’ve posted a forecasted grant that you’d like to make an active grant, follow the steps below.

• Step 1: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” tab. Select “Agency
• Login.”
• Step 2: Log into your account using you Grant Contributor credentials. Note that you will receive an email with a login confirmation code. Once you log in, you’ll see your Grants Dashboard and your previously submitted grant opportunities.
• Step 3: Select “Forecasted Grants.”
• Step 4: Select “Transition to Active” next to the forecasted grant you’d like to make active.
• Step 5: Update or add information as appropriate and click “Submit.” The system will update the grant opportunity accordingly.
• After your grant opportunity is published, please review the opportunity’s Grant Details page to ensure that the information submitted and formatting is visually appealing for site users.

Delete a grant opportunity on your user dashboard

Follow the steps below to delete an existing opportunity.

• Step 1: Select “Delete” next to the grant you would like to remove.
• Step 2: Confirmation will pop up for you to confirm that you want to delete this grant.
• Step 3: If you accidently deleted a grant opportunity, please contact CSL as soon as possible at CAGrantsPortal@library.ca.gov.

Navigation in the Online form

• You can ONLY navigate (jump around) the online form when you are editing a published grant that is NOT the following:
  • Being transitioned from forecasted to active
  • Being copied (forecasted, active and/or closed)
  • Is a draft (forecasted and/or active)
  • A grant opportunity being added for the first time (forecasted and/or active)

Grant Editor: How to Transfer Grants Between Contributors

Note Grant Editors cannot transfer individual grants between Grant Contributors. When grants are transferred, all grants under the previous Grant Contributor will be moved to the new Grant Contributor.

• Step 1: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” tab. Select “Agency Login.”
• Step 2: Log into your account using your Grant Editor credentials. Note that you will receive an email with a login confirmation code. Once you log in, you’ll see your Grants Dashboard.
• Step 3: Click “Users.” Here you will see all Grant Contributors in your organization.
• Step 4: Under Actions use the “Transfer Grants to” drop down option to move grants from the former Grant Contributor. Select the Grant Contributor who will now be managing the grants. (The new Grant Contributor must have an account prior to transferring grant opportunities.)
• Step 5: Click the blue arrow icon to confirm the selection.

WordPress Plugin: Creating or Editing a Grant Opportunity Using a WordPress Plugin

This option is best if your organization uses a public WordPress and has IT support in uploading grant opportunities.

Add Grant Information via the WordPress Plugin
Follow the steps below to enter a grant opportunity into the Grants Portal via WordPress Plugin.

• Step 1: Navigate to your organization’s WordPress admin dashboard and log in using your WordPress credentials.
• Step 2: Hover over “Plugins” on the left-hand toolbar. Select “Add New.”
• Step 3: Type California State Grants in the search box. When the California State Grants plugin appears, select “Install Now”. The installed plugin will appear in both the left-hand toolbar as well as under “Installed Plugins”.
• Step 4: Hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar and select “Getting Started”.
• Step 5: Select “Add First Grant”. This will take you to the grants submission form. Fill out the form per the definitions in the Data Dictionary.
• Step 6: Select “Save Draft,” or select “Publish” if you’re ready to post your grant on the Grants Portal. Note: Your published grants will not be posted on the Grant Portal until you submit the Endpoint URL and Authorization Token (per instructions below).
• Step 7: When you’re ready to post your first grant on the Grants Portal, make sure that you’ve published the opportunity on the WordPress admin dashboard.
• Step 8: To submit the Endpoint URL, visit grants.ca.gov in a separate browser page and select “For State Agencies” and then “Agency Login.” Log in using your Grant Contributor credentials.
• Step 9: When you arrive at your Grants Dashboard, select “Add Grant” and then “Submit an Endpoint”.
• Step 10: Return to your WordPress admin dashboard, hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar, and select “Settings”.
• Step 11: Copy and paste the Endpoint URL and the Authorization (Security) Token into their designated fields on the Grants Portal. Select “Submit”.
• Step 12: If there are any incomplete fields in your form, you’ll be notified at this stage. Make any needed changes to your grant in the WordPress plugin and follow step 11 to complete submission.  
• Step 13: Once any errors are corrected, you’ll see a summary of your grant. Review your grant and complete the consent agreement. Select “Submit”. Note: if you’re submitting multiple grants, you’ll only see a summary of the first grant. However, all published grants will be posted.
• Step 14: Once you’ve submitted your published grants, you’ll be taken to your Grants Dashboard. Any published grants should appear under the Forecasted, Active, and/or Closed Grants tabs. Note: You only need to submit the Endpoint URL and Authorization Token once. After, the Grants Portal will automatically sync every 24 hours. Grant Contributors can initiate a force sync if they’d like the Grants Portal to update immediately. See the following set of instructions for more information.

Edit Existing Grant Opportunities via WordPress Plugin

• Step 1: Navigate to your organization’s WordPress Admin dashboard and log in using your WordPress credentials.
• Step 2: Hover over “CA Grants” in the left-hand toolbar and select “All CA Grants”.
• Step 3: Select “Edit” under the opportunity you’d like to update.
• Step 4: Select “Update” when complete. The Grants Portal will automatically sync any changes once every 24 hours. You also have the option to force a sync. See instructions below for more information.

To Force Sync a Grant via WordPress Plugin:

• Step 1: Visit grants.ca.gov and select “For State Agencies” and then “Agency Login” on the homepage. After logging in using your Grant Contributor credentials, you’ll arrive at your Grants Dashboard.
• Step 2:  Select “force sync” next to any grant opportunity. Note that this will update all published grant opportunities, not just the grant opportunity “force sync” was selected on.

(Coming soon) JSON: Creating or Editing a Grant Opportunity Using a JSON File

This option is best for organizations with IT staff who are comfortable supporting JSON file development and currently do not use WordPress.

Add Grant Information via JSON File
Follow the steps below to enter a grant opportunity into the Grants Portal using a JSON file.

• Step 1: Reference the JSON specification provided on the Grants Portal. You can find this information by visiting the Grants Portal, navigating to the “For State Agencies” page and then navigating to the “JSON File” tab. Here you can download the API documentation and/or view a sample JSON file.
• Step 2: Generate a JSON file in accordance with the specification.
• Step 3: Enter your grant information into your generated JSON file.
• Step 4: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” tab. Select “Agency Login.”
• Step 5: Log into your account using you Grant Contributor credentials. Note that you will receive an email with a validation code which is part of the 2-factor authentication. Once you log in, you’ll see your Grants Dashboard.
• Step 6: Select “Submit an Endpoint” in the top right hand corner of your Grants Dashboard.
• Step 7: Submit the endpoint URL and security token (if applicable). The system will validate submitted data. You’ll be able to view the opportunity on you Grants Dashboard, and depending on the grant’s publish date, the opportunity will be published immediately or at the future scheduled time.
• After your grant opportunity is published, please review the opportunity’s Grant Details page to ensure that the information submitted and formatting is visually appealing for site users.

Edit Existing Grant Opportunities via JSON

• Step 1: Edit or add data for your grant in the original JSON file that you created at the endpoint. The Grants Portal will sync with the provided endpoint every 24 hours, updating the grant information as necessary. After your grant opportunity is published, please review the opportunity’s Grant Details page to ensure that the information submitted and formatting is visually appealing for site users.

Submitting the Number of Applications Received for Each Grant Opportunity

14 days after your active grant opportunity closes, the Grant Contributor who submitted the grant will receive a notification to submit the total number of applications received to the State Library. This is necessary data that the State Library must collect in order to create the mandatory reporting required in statute. Follow the steps below to submit the number of applications for a specific grant opportunity.

• Step 1: Visit the Grants Portal and navigate to the “For State Agencies” page.
• Step 2: Log into the grant management dashboard. Here you will see all closed opportunities.
• Step 3: Select “Submit Application Count” next to closed opportunities.
• Step 4: Input the number of received applications and click “Submit.”

Once this information has been submitted, grantseekers will be able to view the number of applications received when looking at closed grants.

Last Updated on 2/16/2022