Standard Fields

A standard field reflects a key field/question for which you want to capture an answer on all or most of your applications across all programs run through SmartyGrants.

Standard fields allow you to capture common information across applications, irrespective of what program or forms are used to capture that information.  This provides grantmakers with a means of developing common data schema for the grant information they capture about grants in SmartyGrants. 

It also allows for cross program reporting, as there is a known set of elements which can be used in reports, which will be common to all applications and programs in SmartyGrants. 

A grantmaker also has the ability to update/edit the standard responses that an applicant completes on a form - for example, poor spelling or ordinary project title. This will mean that reporting can be pulled from the latest updated standard response, however, you will always be able to pull a report based on the original responses that come through on a form.

Standard field responses can also be fed into other forms like assessment or acquittal. 

For example: an assessor would add their assessment form and fill it out, having to refer back to the original application form for details and responses given for particular criteria. When using Standard Fields, the response that the applicant gave for a particular area/criteria on a standard field can be inserted into the assessment form. This way, the assessor has the applicant's response and their assessment all on the one screen. This saves them from having to filter through the whole application form, although they still will have the ability to do so if they wish. 

Default standard fields

The SmartyGrants team have given users a list of common ‘default’ standard fields and standard categories.  This list aims to create a common data schema for the whole grantmaking industry.  Default standard fields cannot be deleted, if there are some you do not wish to use simply archive them.

The “C” icon indicates the question is a CLASSIE standard field. These cannot be edited or deleted. If you do not wish to use them simply archive them. They come "pre-loaded" with standard responses derived from an classification of social sector initiatives and entities. For more information on CLASSIE, click here.

The “GL” icon indicates the question is a Gender Lens standard field. These cannot be edited or deleted. If you do not wish to use them simply archive them. These questions help bring the gender agenda into focus for grantees to ensure the specific needs of all people are effectively addressed. For more information, click here.

Standard field categories

Categories provide a simple way to group common standard fields together, such as key ‘Project Details’.  These are grouped together and visible when building a form or building a report template.

See Standard Field Settings to learn how to create/edit Categories.

Custom standard fields

There may be questions/fields specific to your organisation or your grant program that you will ask/collect over years that have not been included in the list of default fields made available. You can create your own custom categories and fields in order to assist in adding to your own organisation's common data schema. Once a standard field has been used, you do not have the ability to delete it, but it can be archived. 

See Standard Field Settings to learn how to create/edit Standard Fields.

Standard choice Lists  

Standard choice lists are predefined lists of choices that can be used by either multiple/single choice Standard Fields.

Standard choices are the individual choices you want to make available in the choice list. This allows you to manage what choices are available over time and you have the ability to archive choices within that list that should they no longer be offered through a standard question field. 

See Choice Lists to learn how to create/edit Choice Lists.

Updating a Response to a Standard Field

When a response has been received through a standard field, that response may be edited.

For Example: An application is submitted, but the Standard Field 'Brief Project Description' has several spelling errors.  When I run a report I do not want there to be spelling errors. I can update the spelling errors through the application's 'Standard Fields' tab and fix the errors. This means that if I run a report based on the Standard Field responses I will always receive the latest update in my report (spelling mistake free). You will always be able to run a report based on the original version that was submitted by the applicant.

'Brief Project Description' is just one example, editing the response applies to any Standard Fields.

Rules around updating standard fields

There are a number of different scenarios about when changes to standard fields take place and how they affect forms/responses linked to those standard fields:

• Event: Standard field edited
  Any changes to a standard field are immediately stored against the standard field, plus any open assessment or administration responses where the response has that standard field in the form. The following rules apply when a standard field is updated by any means:

  • Previously submitted form responses - These form responses are never modified by any change to a standard field

  • Open application/acquittal forms - These form responses are NOT updated with the latest version of a standard field

  • Open administration/assessment forms - These form responses are updated with the latest version of a standard field

• Event: Assessment/Admin form with a standard field changed
  If the responses to a standard field is changed in an assessment or admin form, these changes are stored against that form and immediately propagated to the standard field and the above rules for editing a Standard Field apply.

• Event: Application/acquittal form added to an application or reopened
  If an application or acquittal form is added or reopened to an application, the contents of any standard fields in the form reflects the standard field as it was at the time the form was added/reopened. This means that if you have modified the standard field (for example the project description) after the applicant submitted their application form, but you subsequently reopen the application form, the applicant will see the amended project description not the original description they submitted.

  Furthermore, any subsequent changes to standard fields are not propagated to open application/acquittal forms. This is to ensure that the grant applicant/recipient does not have their response to a form continually overwritten with changes made by a grantmaker.

  Conversely the changes an applicant/recipient makes to their response to a form only updates a standard field when that form is submitted. This is done to ensure that the grant applicant/recipient can work on their application, without the grantmaker being able to view incomplete responses.

Standard fields and conditional logic

SmartyGrants conditional logic is set up for the use case where if some condition is not met, the user does not qualify for/need to answer some questions and therefore those answers are not recorded. The current (expected) behaviour when standard fields are placed into a conditional section – when those standard fields already contain data from a form or from the standard fields tab – is as follows:

1. Standard field data is DELETED in a conditional section when:

   1. “read only” is NOT enabled; and

   2. the conditional section is NOT enabled/shown.

2. Standard field data is NOT deleted in a conditional section when:

   1. “read only” IS enabled; or

   2. the conditional section IS enabled/shown.

3. The following scenario demonstrates why standard fields behave this way when used in conditional sections:

   1. There is a question in an application form that says: “Are you a registered charity?”

   2. On answering “Yes”, a conditional section is enabled asking for charity details.

   3. The applicant fills out the charity details in the conditional section, and then submits the form…

   4. A few weeks later, the form is re-opened for the applicant, as it has been discovered that the applicant organisation is in fact not a registered charity.

   5. The applicant then returns to the form, and selects “No” – as they are not a registered charity, and then re-submits the form without further changes…

On re-submission of the form, those charity details in the conditional section are deleted. Assessors and other users will not come across the charity details when reporting on the data, filtering on the data or viewing the data in a form or on the standard fields tab. There is no question when viewing the standard fields tab as to whether the organisation is a registered charity, because the charity details are no longer listed.

Read only option

When building a form you have the ability to set a Standard Field as 'read only'. If a Standard Field is marked as 'read only' in a form, then when the form is filled out by an applicant or an assessor and there has been a response to that Standard Field, it will be visible but will not be able to be edited. When a form is submitted, a 'read only' standard field will update the standard fields tab as the latest version of a standard field.

For example: I receive a submitted application that has a response for the Standard Field 'Project Title'.  I then build an assessment form and insert the Standard Field 'Project Title' into this form and mark this field as 'read only'. When my assessor goes to add and complete the assessment form, the response the applicant had given for 'Project Title' will be visible but cannot be edited.

Project Title is just one example we have used here, but this could apply to any Standard Field (for example 'Project Description'). This way the assessor does not have to flick back and forth from the application form to the assessment form as the responses appear in the assessment form.  Standard Fields can also be fed into an Administration form.

Converting existing forms to standard fields

Please see Convert existing forms to standard fields for more information on standardising previously used forms in you SmartyGrants account.

Standard Sections

Standard sections allow repeatable sections or grids to be defined as a standard field. This gives the section the properties of a standard field, meaning they can be edited via the standard field tab in the application, the responses can flow across Forms, and are available for multi-program reporting.

Please see Standard Sections for more details.

Default standard sections

Two default standard sections are available to be added to forms. The stantard sections are:

Project Budget Income

This standard section includes the following fields.

Project Budget Expenditure

This standard section includes the following fields.

Converting existing forms to use standard sections.

Please see Changing existing sections into Standard Sections for more information on standardising previously used forms in you SmartyGrants account.