2024 Chesapeake & Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund Walkthrough

I'm the Strategy and Application Lead at the Commons.

We're a nonprofit shop that built and manages the FieldDoc platform.

I'm joined here today by my executive director John Dawes

and our software development team. We're excited to focus on helping all

for the 2024 Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund

get oriented with the new FieldDoc system.

Our goal today is to familiarize you with the new application process

and build confidence in navigating the updated platform.

A few housekeeping items before we get started.

If you have questions, please enter them into the chat.

And if you think of follow-up questions afterwards,

you can reach our team at support@fielddoc.org.

When you log into FieldDoc, you'll notice some significant changes to the

These updates come with a host of new features designed to expand use of Field

These changes do impact all applicants sharing records with funding

Today, I'll walk you through the major changes,

followed by a live demo where we'll prepare a sample application

to the Trust Fund program managers to review.

Let's look at some of these key changes in the new system.

One of the biggest changes in FieldDoc is to the data model.

Previously, you had to create a project within a program before entering any

All of your records were automatically visible to the program managers.

Now, you'll create all your records within your organization account first.

When you're ready, you can select what you want to share with a funding program

So if you have multiple funders using FieldDoc,

you won't need to create duplicate records.

It also improves data entry and management, which I'll demonstrate shortly.

Finally, it also encourages data autonomy and increases the value of using your

to enhance visibility and tracking for your own purposes,

Next, let's look at how you submit your application to funders,

Now, you'll create activities previously called practices within your

Once your activities are ready, you'll package them into a pact,

which represents an agreement, such as a grant, between third parties.

Activities shared via a pact include programmatic metrics or model metrics

that reflect the work and impact that your organization plans to achieve

Once configured, you'll submit your pact to the Trust Fund for review.

Importantly, funders cannot view data that is not linked to a pact

Next, let's look at environmental models.

We've also updated how environmental models work.

Previously, models were automatically enabled.

A few requirements, a few of the models required additional configuration to

but they were still turned on automatically.

Now, models are disassociated from activity types.

This change accommodates users who prefer to input their own estimated sediment

and nutrient load reductions, avoiding double counting.

Specialized models, such as those for stream restoration,

oops, such as those for stream restoration and stormwater performance standards

Now, they have a cleaner, more user-friendly input process.

And if you ever need to, you can just clear out the data and start again.

Beyond these key updates that impact the application process,

the new FieldDoc system includes features designed for expanded use.

These are optional for applicants, and you can choose to use FieldDoc

We encourage you to continue using the platform to explore additional

Next, let's dive into a live demo that shows you exactly how these changes work

We'll walk through the process of creating activities,

packaging them into a pact, and submitting your application to the trust fund.

Along the way, I'll highlight best practices.

The first thing you have to do is log into FieldDoc.

If you don't have an account yet, you sign up for FieldDoc to get started.

Make sure to use your work email, and a critical step is assigning your user

If your organization is not in FieldDoc yet, that's okay.

Just email support@fielddoc.org, and it will help you complete the

For my home page, I can first take a look at my account and different settings

One option is to look at your organization account, and take a look at the

other members who will be able to see the activities that you create.

You can invite members, but they have to have already started to configure

their FieldDoc account in order for the invitation to work.

Okay, from our home page, we're going to start creating activities.

Activities are the Basel unit within FieldDoc to share what work is going in on

the ground with third parties such as investors and funders.

Projects are now just an organization unit.

You don't have to have a project in order to create those activities, and we've