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Custom fields

Create your own customized fields and columns to track the information that matters most to your organization.

Written by Kyle Ward

Custom fields allow you to create additional personalized data fields and columns that appear on Opportunities or Funders.

Once created, you can display these fields in your tracker, use them for filtering, and include them in reports.

Note: Custom fields are available starting with the Pre-Award Plan and select legacy plans.

Why use custom fields?

Custom fields help you:

  • Track internal or supplemental data not included in Instrumentl's default fields

  • Standardize how your team captures key information

  • Filter and report on data specific to your workflow

  • Customize your Tracker view for better organization

How to create custom fields

You can create and manage custom fields from your 'Account' menu or directly from your Tracker view.

Step 1: Navigate to Custom Fields

There are two ways to access Custom Fields:

From the 'Account' menu:

From Your Tracker

Step 2: Complete the Required Fields

Field Name
The name of the field (e.g., “Priority,” “Win Probability,” “Internal Grant ID”).

Type
Choose the format of your field:

  • Short Text

  • Long Text

  • Number (allows for numeric calculations and works with CRM integrations!)

  • Amount ($)

  • Date

  • Dropdown (single select)

  • Dropdown (multiple select)

Appears On
Choose whether the field applies to Opportunities or Funders:

  • Opportunities (grant-specific):
    Track information that may differ across applications. For example, you might track an Internal Grant ID that is unique to each application.
    ​

  • Funders (apply across all opportunities from that funder):
    Track relationship-level or organization-wide information. For example, you might track a funder’s Preferred Communication Method (email only, phone, mail) since that preference applies to all grants from that funder.

If you want the same Custom Field on both Opportunities and Funders, create two separate fields—one for Opportunities and one for Funders—then click Save.


Once you've completed all required information, you're ready to utilize the Custom Fields you created for opportunities and/or funders!

Where do custom fields appear?

Custom fields appear in three places:

1. Saved opportunities

When you click a saved grant, you'll see a separate tab called "Custom Fields."

2. Your tracker

Click the pencil icon (Edit Columns) at the top right of your Tracker to check off and display Custom Fields as columns.

Once the field appears in your tracker, you can add and update data directly within each opportunity row.

For certain field types, such as Dropdown (single or multiple select), you can also filter your opportunities based on the selected values.

3. CSV Reports

Custom fields are included in Opportunities, Awards, and Funders CSV reports.

Use cases & examples

Below are examples of how organizations commonly use Custom Fields. You can input emojis to color-code & draw attention to Custom Fields that are especially important to your organization!

Funder field examples

Basics

  • Relationship standing

  • Responsiveness

  • Growth Prospects

  • Preferred Communication method (e.g., enter email/phone/mail only)

  • Repeat recipient

  • Last contacted date

Funder insights

  • Average grant amount

  • AI stance

  • Average giving

  • Geographic focus

  • Mission

  • Link to 990

Opportunity field examples

Prospecting

  • Priority (High / Medium / Low)

  • Fit score (Good / Medium / Poor)

  • Win probability

  • Ease of application

  • Eligibility/restrictions notes

  • Reporting requirements

  • Expected outcome

  • Grant focus/funding uses

  • Key points of feedback from leadership

Grant attributes

  • New / Renewal / Reattempt

  • Likelihood of reapplying

  • Grant type: General operating, capital, matching, sub-grant, etc.

  • Grant contract number

  • Source

  • Internal Grant ID #: Short-text

    • E.g., RENXT Constituent ID #

  • Use of AI

Financial

  • Yield for revenue planning and projections

  • Outstanding balance

  • Award vs. budget

  • Payment frequency: One-time, 4x/year, etc.

  • Expected outcome

  • P.I. / Principal Investigator Sign-off: Yes / No

  • Award Agreement review

Consultants

  • Client pricing per grant proposal

  • Relevance for multiple similar clients

  • Client priority & interest

  • Notes/thoughts from client

  • Expected time/effort

Cultivation & stewardship

  • Relationship liaison

  • Warm connection

  • Tracking correspondence

  • Preferred communication method

  • Last contacted date

  • Growth prospects & standing

  • Thank you letter sent: Yes / No / In Progress

FAQs

Can I use Custom Fields to add my own "Status" to the built-in Tracker Statuses?

Not quite—Custom Fields let you store and track statuses for various data types to suit your needs. These are your own statuses "by proxy" and don't have the same functionality as Instrumentl's built-in statuses. They are not added to the default list of application statuses (researching, planned, in progress, LOI submitted, etc.).

Why isn't my Custom Field showing up on my Tracker?

After you save a new Custom Field for opportunities, go to the top right of your Tracker and hover over the pencil icon to add the field to your Tracker view. From there, you can add, remove, or adjust other fields as needed to customize your Tracker columns.

Is there a maximum character count for the 'Text' Custom Field type?

For 'Short Text' Custom Fields, the character count limit is 255. For 'Long Text', there's no character limit.

Contact us

Reach out to our friendly Support team if you have any questions about using Custom Fields! Just use the Messenger launcher when you're logged into your account, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.

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