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Auditor & Funder Portal

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TLDR

An Auditor & Funder Portal solves the access-without-accountability problem. Instead of emailing files or sharing a folder, the organization defines the scope, sets the clock, and gets a permanent log of what the reviewer saw.

An Auditor & Funder Portal is how a nonprofit gives external reviewers what they need without exposing everything else. Emailed ZIP files or a shared drive with no expiry and no view log create an accountability gap that shows up in audit findings and funder compliance reviews.

Why the category exists

When an auditor or program officer asks to review grant records, most nonprofits respond in one of two ways: they email files, or they share a folder. Both approaches have the same problem: no one can prove what was shared, when it was accessed, or whether the reviewer saw the current version.

A dedicated portal addresses that problem directly. The organization controls the scope, controls the clock, and gets a permanent record that exists independent of the reviewer’s inbox or the organization’s shared drive.

What makes a portal different from shared access

Three things separate a portal from general file sharing:

Explicit scope. The organization selects which grants, funds, and documents are visible. Nothing outside that selection is accessible through the portal link.

Automatic expiry. The session expires on a date the organization sets. There is no ongoing access that the reviewer might use after the review is complete.

View logging. The portal logs every document the reviewer opens and every file they download, capturing the reviewer’s name and a timestamp. That log is part of the permanent audit trail.

See Also

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Q&A

Is an Auditor & Funder Portal the same as a shared cloud drive?

No. A shared drive gives the reviewer broad access without a view log and with no automatic expiry. A portal is scoped to specific records, logs every access event, and expires on a date the organization controls.

Q&A

Do auditors need a login to use a portal?

Not in systems like GrantPipe. The reviewer receives a signed link by email and accesses the portal without creating an account. Access is controlled by the link itself, which expires on the date set by the organization.

Q&A

What is the difference between a portal session and a team role?

A team role grants ongoing access to a signed-in GrantPipe user, typically a staff member. A portal session grants time-limited access to an external reviewer through a signed link, with scope limited to the specific records chosen at the time of invitation.

Frequently asked

Frequently Asked Questions

The most common triggers are annual financial audits, federal single audit requests, funder compliance monitoring visits, and board committee reviews where members need grant-level detail without full account access.
Typically the grants under review, the restricted fund summaries tied to those grants, the expenditure and narrative reports for the audit period, supporting award documents, and the activity log export. The exact scope depends on what the auditor or funder has requested.
Yes. Every document view and file download in the portal is recorded in the audit trail with the reviewer's name, the timestamp, and the specific item. The log is append-only and cannot be modified.

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