The Rensselaerville Institute and Versaic Partner to Drive Impact Initiatives for Grantmakers

Mar 11, 2015 9:00 AM ET

DELMAR, NY and SAN MATEO, CA, March 11, 2015 /3BL Media/ – The Rensselaerville Institute (TRI) and Versaic announced a partnership today that will bring new capabilities to grant makers committed to building and improving impact through their philanthropic giving. The shared vision for this partnership is that every giving organization gets the highest impact for every dollar that goes out the door. Together, the two organizations offer a manageable, results-driven approach that enables giving organizations and those they fund to define, track, and achieve impacts and keep improving their return on charitable investment over time.

The Rensselaerville Institute and Versaic have already implemented a full results framework, architecture, and software solution for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Kristin Meyer, Vice President, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Foundation, Inc., said, “At Starwood, we invest in social change with a results orientation. Through the system conceived and implemented by The Rensselaerville Institute and Versaic, we’re able to communicate effectively with our grantees and use the reporting functionality to have more collaborative conversations about their successes and challenges. We’ve streamlined administration so our team is more focused on the big picture. The customizations we were able to make within the Versaic system have helped advance our ability to effectively measure our efforts to affect social change.”

TRI is a national leader of improving outcomes in all fields of human achievement. TRI is the creator of a funder to investor mindset for outcomes achievement in many aspects of philanthropic giving – including employee engagement and collective impact initiatives. Their fifty plus years in the field offers both breadth and depth of experience with philanthropy clients and those that they fund – including private, corporate, family, and community foundations of all shapes, sizes, and focus. TRI offers a set of results framework methods, tools, and protocols that bridge the outcome “gap” between funders and nonprofits.  

Versaic is a leading provider of donation and sponsorship software solutions and has recently introduced its grant management system to excellent reviews and customer response. They offer cloud-based software solutions that streamline the entire grants lifecycle from requests through process management and impact reporting. Their patented architecture allows Versaic to quickly configure and, as needed, reconfigure a system to meet each client’s unique needs.  

Gillian Williams, President of TRI said, ”Versaic is that rare breed of software company that focuses on how their tools help clients make decisions and achieve outcomes – not just what the software actually does. They see their platform as the vehicle for grantmakers and their grantees to make behavior changes that achieve and improve results. Both TRI and Versaic share this definition of success as the behavior changes that occur from our respective interventions. TRI takes the time to help clients define a results framework and integrate it into all aspects of their efforts for higher levels of achievement. The Versaic team takes the time to understand their clients' business approach and pain points, and then configures a solution to address it all. Together, we can help funders become successful investors in both mindset and action."

Burt Cummings, CEO of Versaic, said, “We come at it from different angles but Versaic and TRI share a common goal – helping our clients build greater impact through their grants and giving. We thoroughly appreciate the collaborative approach taken by the team from TRI. They are great strategic thinkers who roll up their sleeves and get down to business. We believe that together we have the right approach to help clients, whether they’re just starting to track their impact or trying to move their program to the next level.”

About Versaic
Versaic is the only online solution for grants, sponsorships and donation management that works precisely the way clients want. With Versaic’s patented, flexible software and market expertise, clients save time, gain insights, increase their impact and build their brands.  Versaic’s clients include many of the most influential brand leaders among the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.versaic.com.

About The Rensselaerville Institute
The Rensselaerville Institute is “The Think Tank With Muddy Boots”. We achieve clear and quantifiable outcomes for human gain by training, supporting, and partnering with the innovators who are the sparkplugs for change in nonprofits, schools, communities, universities, corporations, foundations, and government agencies. Our mission is not simply an idea, but rather a tangible promise whose results are seen in people and places throughout the country. The Rensselaerville Institute’s home offices are located in Delmar, NY.  For more information, visit www.rinstitute.org.