About the Pennsylvania IOLTA Board
Client: Pennsylvania IOLTA Board
Industry: Private Foundation
Key Stakeholders: Jim Swoyer (Grants Manager)
Client Since: 2018
Tools Used: SmartSimple Cloud
Overview
The Pennsylvania Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (PA IOLTA) Board administers funds to provide civil legal aid to low-income Pennsylvanians. Despite overseeing one of the largest IOLTA programs in the U.S., the organization operates with a lean, six-person staff. Facing the increasing administrative burden of managing $28 million in annual grants, the Board sought to automate its highly detailed and recurring compliance processes. By implementing SmartSimple Cloud for Government Funding, the PA IOLTA Board replaced a fragmented, manual system with a unified platform for client service reporting, compliance management, and contract administration, dramatically improving efficiency, accountability, and user satisfaction.
Challenges
With more than 280 grantee performance reports reviewed annually, the Board relied on a disconnected network of Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and email chains to administer its complex, quarterly grant compliance reviews. Manual preparation, distribution, and tracking of reports consumed significant staff time, increased the risk of human error, and created barriers to real-time insight and accountability, especially critical when administering publicly funded legal aid.
Solutions Implemented
After evaluating nine vendors and consulting with peer IOLTA programs and Idealware’s Consumer Report, the PA IOLTA Board selected SmartSimple Cloud as the only platform that could fully support their complex requirements, including:
- Quarterly compliance reporting
- Year-to-date financial views
- Post-award data collection
- Grantee-facing portals
- End-to-end contract administration
SmartSimple Cloud provided a secure, web-based platform that connected grantees and internal staff in real time, replaced outdated tools, and offered robust configurability to match the Board’s workflow needs.
Impact & Outcomes
- Fast, Responsive Implementation
- SmartSimple’s team completed implementation in just three months, tailoring the system to fit PA IOLTA’s exact compliance workflow. Staff feedback helped shape platform features in real time.
- Zero Complaints from Grantees
- Once the system launched, grantees immediately embraced the new application and reporting experience, with no reported issues.
- Streamlined Compliance Reviews
- What once required tedious manual prep and email distribution is now handled automatically. Grantees access their portals, complete reports, and submit them in one place, while staff reviews data in real-time, cutting down turnaround times.
- Contract Management Made Simple
- With SmartSimple Cloud, the PA IOLTA Board now generates, stores, and distributes grant contracts within the same system, saving administrative time and ensuring accurate, trackable record-keeping.
Client Testimonials
“We’ve only used a small portion of what was built out, and the platform has exceeded my expectations.”
— Jim Swoyer, Grants Manager
“We didn’t get a single complaint after implementation.”
— Jim Swoyer, Grants Manager
Key Takeaways
Through SmartSimple Cloud, the PA IOLTA Board has built a centralized, automated system that saves time, improves accuracy, and strengthens transparency. With fewer manual processes and better tools for data collection, compliance tracking, and communication, the Board is delivering on its mission to support justice and equity more effectively than ever.