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User Permissions

Learn how to manage account access and control by assigning specific roles to your team

Kyle Ward avatar
Written by Kyle Ward
Updated over a week ago

Instrumentl's User Permissions feature allows you to limit access based on roles, ensuring that each team member only sees what’s relevant to them. This can be especially helpful if you're working with multiple teams or clients across different projects and initiatives.

Your Instrumentl team members can work directly within your account, or they can collaborate on grant requests via task emails exclusively outside of the Instrumentl platform.


Plan-level Availability

Beginning on the Professional Plan, all institutional, nonprofit & consultant accounts include external Collaborator seats (in Beta).

User Permissions controls for core account users are available beginning on the following plan levels:

  • Nonprofits on the Pro Plan: Grant managers can invite program staff or other colleagues to join projects relevant to their work. They can also invite external stakeholders as grants Collaborators who can complete tasks without needing to learn the Instrumentl platform.

  • Consultants on the Advanced Plan: Grant consultants can invite clients or other individuals to projects that pertain only to them, while keeping other client work private and secure.

    • Note: Consultants can still invite external grant Collaborators on the Pro Plan.

  • Universities: Grant prospectors can invite faculty to projects specific to their research areas.

Note: For accounts that do not have access to User Permissions, all users added to the account are granted full access to account data as a member. The account owner will automatically be designated as an admin.


Team Roles and Access Permissions

Your team members can perform grants work directly within your account as a "Core User" under three distinct access roles, or they can work externally as a "Collaborator".

Core Users — Internal team

When you set up User Permissions for the "Core Users" who have login credentials to work within your Instrumentl account, you’ll have three roles to choose from:

  1. Admin: "Admins" should be individuals responsible for overseeing your entire Instrumentl account, including user management and other administrative duties. The main Account Owner will always be an admin.

  2. Member: "Members" are typically team members who need access to multiple projects but don’t need to manage the account’s billing or user roles.

  3. Project Member: "Project Members" are ideal for users who only need access to specific projects, such as program staff, clients, or faculty members working on particular research areas.

Please note: Consultant accounts can use the User Permissions feature to set roles & access controls for Core Users starting on the Advanced Plan.

Collaborators — External team (in Beta)

On the Professional Plan and above, You can also add a teammate as an external grants Collaborator. A "Collaborator" can complete task assignments without ever logging in, making it the optimal cross-collaborative role for finance teams, directors, and other external stakeholders.

Collaborator seats are distinct from core user seats and allocated separately. A team member associated with your account cannot simultaneously be a Collaborator and a Core User.

Learn more about how Collaborator Access works here.

The table below outlines user permissions & access for all team roles:

Role

What They Can Do

What They Cannot Do

Account owner & admins

  • Access everything within the Instrumentl account, including billing and all projects.

  • Add new users to the account.

  • Change the permissions of other users (e.g., promote a "Member" to "Admin").

  • Can view users's MFA status on the Team Page.

  • No limitations for account owners — full control over the account.

  • Admins who are not the account owner cannot manage their plan's subscription.

  • Non-account owners will not receive subscription-related emails unless explicitly requested.

  • Cannot change personal information on behalf users (name, email address, etc.)

Member

  • Access all projects within the account.

  • Create, edit, and delete projects that Project Members can access.

  • Add new Members and Project Members (if there are available user seats).

  • Change the roles of others to Project Member or Member roles.

  • Manage integrations and custom fields.

  • Cannot view or manage the subscription.

  • Cannot change their own permissions or those of other users.

  • Cannot add or manage Admins.

  • Cannot make changes that impact billing.

Project Member

  • Limited to specific projects they are assigned to.

  • Within their projects, can add opportunities, edit project details, and generate reports.

  • Can access documents and generate reports for the projects they are assigned to.

  • Cannot access or manage projects they’re not assigned to.

  • Cannot add or manage other users.

  • Cannot pull reports that include data from projects they don't have access to

  • Cannot add spenddown data for unassigned projects.

Collaborator

  • Receive & complete tasks assigned to them by Instrumentl users externally via email.

  • Correspond with the task assignor, share attachments, and mark tasks as complete within the task email thread.

  • Set up one-click Calendar Integration to sync any assigned tasks & view deadlines on their own calendar.

  • Can simultaneously be a Core User on one account and a Collaborator on a separate account.

  • Cannot log into the Instrumentl account (no login credentials).

  • Limited to external tasks only — Cannot access or view any account data unless explicitly sent to them by a Core User.

  • Can be converted to a Core User.


How to Set Up User Permissions

If your plan includes User Permissions, the Account Owner & admins can easily manage team members' access. Just go to Account > Manage Team to review and update roles & project access for each teammate.

When inviting a new user, you'll add them as either a Core User or as a Collaborator (External Collaborators are available on the Pro Plan and above). A member's designated "Role" and "Project Access" can be adjusted under the respective columns next to their name.

To convert a Collaborator to a full-time user with access to Instrumentl's platform, open the dropdown menu to the right of their name and select "Upgrade to Core User":

Learn more about inviting teammates here.


Is there a limitation on the number of teammates?

Every account comes with a baseline limit for both Core Users and external Collaborators, depending on your plan (you can confirm your plan's details here).

Your Team page displays your account's current user makeup:

Core Users: All internal users count toward the total number of core user seats. You may also purchase additional core user seats for $5/user per month ($60/user per year when billed annually).

  • Learn how to purchase extra user seats for your current plan here.

Collaborators: External Collaborators cannot access your account, but can be assigned Instrumentl tasks, and complete them directly via email.

  • Professional Plan: Includes 10 Collaborator seat spaces.

  • Advanced & University Plans: Custom amount (or 20 default) — This can be discussed with an account executive when signing up, or with your account's designated Customer Success Manager.


User Permissions allow you to control what information team members on your account can access, keeping data secure and organized while ensuring focused involvement.


Contact Us

Reach out to our friendly Support team if you have any questions about User Permissions and setting team roles & access controls. Message us via the chat bubble when you're logged in, or email us at hello@instrumentl.com.

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