Guide to reviewing Rising Voices grant proposals using Bento.
From Global Voices Wiki
We keep the proposals for Rising Voices micro-grants in CSV format in order to maintain a large database of all the proposals which can be sorted based on location, topic, budget, applicant, etc.
The most common database program for both Windows and Mac is FileMaker Pro. There is a 30-day free trial. For Mac users I recommend the Bento version, which integrates the database program with your address book and calendar. In this page I will walk through step by step how import a CSV file into Bento and create a template to review a set of Rising Voices grant applications. The process is very similar if you are using FileMaker Pro or any other database program.
First you want to go to File > Import > File:
Select the file location, name your new library, and press Import:
After you press import you should see a screen that looks like this:
This is the template that you will be using to view all of the proposals. You can click on any of the fields to 1.) rename, 2.) move, and 3.) change the size of the field. For example, my template looks like this:
In my experience I've found that it is worth spending 20 minutes on setting up your database program and template in order to then quickly read through, sort, and compare all of the proposals.
If you would like to add your own notes and thoughts to the database, you can add your own field:
Select "Text" and name the field whatever you would like:
Then you can type in your notes for each proposal as you go along:
If you have any questions please write to David at outreach@globalvoicesonline.org
