Grants professionals collect and manage vast amounts of data and are often tasked with organizing information from multiple sources into coherent reports for boards and senior leaders. In this hands-on lookup training, we’re picking up where we left off at PEAK2025 with participants learning how to locate and combine datasets. We’ll cover the purpose and types of data merging, how to build unique lists, and how to use relative, absolute, and mixed cell references. Then, we’ll dive into lookup techniques within tables and across sheets. With tons of guided practice and grantmaking-specific examples, attendees will walk away with the critical, time-saving skills to confidently integrate complex datasets.
By attending this workshop, participants will develop the following competencies:
- Understand the purpose and types of data merging and when to use each lookup function—VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH—in real-world grantmaking scenarios.
- Apply Excel lookup techniques—including the use of relative, absolute, and mixed cell references—to accurately combine grant-level and grantee-level datasets.
- Streamline reporting and decision-making for grants professionals using Excel tables and cross-sheet lookups.