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CHOOSING A GRANT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE TO HELP YOU #FIXTHEFORM


EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO TAKE ACTION ON FIX THE FORM, INCLUDING A HANDY
CHECKLIST TO DOWNLOAD.

Natalya DeRobertis-Theye

08/06/2021

Fix The Form is a movement focused on reducing the burden on grant seekers and
improving equity in the granting lifecycle. 

#FixTheForm is spearheaded by Kari Aanestad, Co-Director of GrantAdvisor.org and
Director of Advancement at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Laura
Solomons, Head of Donor Relations for the Sutton Trust and incoming Chair of the
Peter Minet Trust. In late 2020, they launched a survey seeking to identify the
top applicant pain points, ranked by the impact they have on nonprofits. After
all, every extra minute spent navigating grant applications is a minute not
spent on important mission-driven work. 

> Making the application process pain-free and user-friendly will lower the
> barriers for the organizations that need your support the most.
> 
> #FixTheForm survey respondent

Over 500 grantseekers, spanning nine countries and every area of the nonprofit
sector, responded. The movement is now a call to action for grantmakers
everywhere: are you creating unnecessary burdens for applicants? The findings
can be used as a checklist for conscientious funders as they evaluate grant
management software. (Fix The Form created a checklist for your team too—find it
here, made available by the Peter Minet Trust.) 

Download our free checklist to help you choose a grantmaking platform that will
help you #FixTheForm.

Here, we’ll break down #FixTheForm’s survey results, in order of the top
offenders, and guide you through how to create better, more thoughtful, and more
equitable grant applications (and how Submittable can help).

The #FixTheForm survey invited respondents to pick their top three pain points,
and rate their negative impact.

#FixTheForm pain points

 1.  Not being able to see the full application ahead of time (i.e., surprise
     pop-up questions)
 2.  Time taken disproportionate to funding amount awarded
 3.  Forms you can’t save and return to 
 4.  Repeating same or similar questions and expecting different answers
 5.  Word/Character Limits
 6.  Poor and nonsensical formatting (e.g., requiring manual entry of each board
     member)
 7.  Not being able to use your own templates for attachments (e.g., budgets,
     board members, etc.)
 8.  Not having the application in an easy to edit and share document
 9.  Unclear eligibility requirements
 10. Online form doesn’t save formatting (.g., bullets and numbering)
 11. Questions are different between online form and downloadable version
 12. Requiring information that’s already publicly available
 13. Fixed multiple choice options/fields with no “other” option to explain or
     self-describe
 14. No one to answer the phone or email (technical assistance, priorities
     clarification, etc.) 
 15. Needing to register/create an account to apply
 16. Use of jargon or uncommon phrases


PAIN POINT #1: NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE THE FULL APPLICATION AHEAD OF TIME (I.E.,
SURPRISE POP-UP QUESTIONS)

The number one pain point identified in the survey both received the most votes
and was rated the highest in terms of negative impact. The consensus is clear:
grant seekers want access to the full application ahead of time, such as in a
downloadable version of the form. This allows them to prepare fully, gather
needed resources, and manage their time efficiently. Without access to the
application ahead of time, unexpected questions can create a serious log jam,
taking extra time and causing unnecessary stress. 

It’s important that your software can make your full application visible to
applicants in a downloadable version—including questions that may or may not be
relevant based on conditional logic. Extra bonus if the downloadable version is
available to applicants who are not logged in or before they have created an
account. 

In Submittable, you can add a link to a PDF downloadable version of your full
application form to your project guidelines, which can then be accessed by all
applicants—including those who are not logged in or have not created an account.

More Fix The Form, Live

In this webinar, Submittable will facilitate a conversation and live form
assessment with Kari Aanestad, Co-Director of GrantAdvisor.com and co-founder of
#FixTheForm

Watch On Demand


PAIN POINT #2: TIME TAKEN DISPROPORTIONATE TO FUNDING AMOUNT AWARDED

This is a meaty one. An evolved generation of funders take care to follow
trust-based principles, focusing on building meaningful relationships with
grantees as opposed to the transactional, compliance-obsessed approach of the
past. The central tenet as relates to this pain point is to only ask questions
on a need-to-know basis. 

Several of the principles of trust-based philanthropy provide guidance to help
you keep questions that qualify as “need to know” limited in number, including:

 * Multi-year, unrestricted funding: Eliminating questions regarding
   program-specific work as well as the need to reapply year after year
 * Do the homework: Putting the onus on grantmakers to put in more of the work
   in the vetting process
 * Simplified and streamlined paperwork: Accepting proposals in diverse media
   formats (e.g., video or audio) and those prepared for other funders, as well
   as employing a screening process

To address this pain point, look for a grant management solution that leverages
integrations to reduce the need to ask certain questions, such as data that can
be provided by Guidestar. You’ll further want technology that allows for
internal forms, accepts diverse file uploads, includes form logic, and screens
for eligibility. 



Submittable offers several key features that help you keep forms concise and
quick for applicants:



 * An integration with Guidestar means you only need to ask the applicant for
   their EIN number to receive and validate nonprofit information. 
 * Internal forms allow you and your team to upload and store data yourselves.
 * Accepting 69 file types empowers you to accept virtually any proposal
   prepared for another funder, as well as accept recordings of conversations
   and other media.
 * Eligibility screening keeps applicants that don’t qualify from wasting their
   time.
 * Form logic allows you to branch questions, keeping each question relevant.

 A chart of the full #FixTheForm survey results from the GrantAdvisor blog.


PAIN POINT #3: FORMS YOU CAN’T SAVE AND RETURN TO 

Anyone who’s ever had their computer crash knows how frustrating it is to lose
their work. A grantmaking platform that saves drafts for applicants to return to
gives them necessary  flexibility. It also protects them from unforeseen
interruptions, such as being suddenly called away for an urgent meeting—and
auto-save will provide further protection from a sudden internet outage. 

Submittable automatically saves drafts for applicants as they work.


PAIN POINT #4: REPEATING SAME OR SIMILAR QUESTIONS AND EXPECTING DIFFERENT
ANSWERS

Asking your grantee the same question isn’t just a time waster, it’s
disrespectful—it shows them that you didn’t listen the first time. A grant
management software that automatically organizes all of your various forms
(i.e., the LOI, eligibility forms, internal forms, application forms, reference
forms, and follow-up forms) in the same place allows your whole team to ask each
question only once, knowing you can easily find and access that information
throughout the grant lifecycle. 

Submittable houses all of your forms within a single application portal, which
can easily be navigated side-by-side with reviews, messages, and funds tracking
for ultimate convenience.


PAIN POINT #5: WORD/CHARACTER LIMITS

Many funders may believe that imposing word and character limits helps prevent
applicants from investing too much time on a written response question. However,
in reality, it often results in more time wasted right-sizing written responses
for every single funder. This word-smithing—replacing “and” with “&” and other
tedious space-saving techniques—is frustrating and unnecessary. A better way?
Allow your applicants to submit responses to common questions, such as around
program objectives or measurement, in whatever format and length they already
have it (such as something prepared for another funder).

In cases where you must impose a word or character limit, at the very least,
ensure you use a software that exposes the limit and the current count to
applicants.

When you must impose a character or word limit, at the very least, choose a
software such as Submittable that displays both the limit and the current count
to applicants. 


PAIN POINT #6: POOR AND NONSENSICAL FORMATTING (E.G., REQUIRING MANUAL ENTRY OF
EACH BOARD MEMBER)

When creating your form, apply common sense, and don’t skip a careful proofread.
Your platform should have a preview tool that makes it easy for you—as you build
it—to experience your form as an applicant would and make adjustments when
necessary. Preview can also help you double check that your conditional logic is
working as intended, that your instructions are clear, and that all required
questions have been marked as such. It can help provide extra peace of mind if
the preview tool is available before you launch your program.

> I have literally lost hundreds of hours to troubleshooting and navigating
> poorly designed grant applications and portals.
> 
>  #FixTheForm survey respondent

A grantmaking solution that includes many question types that can clarify
precisely the information requested can also help—for example, a date field,
URL, or number field that allows you to set parameters or apply a format, such
as currency. 

Submittable offers a Preview tool so you can go through your full form just as
an applicant would before going live. Submittable also has 20 distinct question
types, several of which include data validations and customizable parameters—all
to help you design a crystal clear form.


EXPERT GUIDANCE TO HELP YOUR APPLICANTS THRIVE

At Submittable, we’re just as committed to helping your applicants be successful
as you are. 

GET A DEMO


PAIN POINT #7: NOT BEING ABLE TO USE YOUR OWN TEMPLATES FOR ATTACHMENTS (E.G.,
BUDGETS, BOARD MEMBERS, ETC.)

Your grant seekers almost definitely have all of the information that you need
from them. So why require them to recreate the wheel? Addressing this pain point
requires a two-pronged approach: 

 * First, you must adopt an ideological openness that your templates are not the
   only, or necessarily the best, options. This includes accepting that allowing
   for grantee templates will result in some variation among applicants.
 * Second, you’ll need a granting technology that accepts many media file types,
   as each organization uses those that are best for them. Be sure to look for
   one that not only accepts the files, but makes them viewable by your
   reviewers without having to download them—otherwise, you risk setting your
   review team up for a frustrating experience. 

Submittable accepts 69 file types, all of which can be consumed by review teams
without downloading right alongside their review.


PAIN POINT #8: NOT HAVING THE APPLICATION IN AN EASY TO EDIT AND SHARE DOCUMENT

Editability and shareability are both important ways you can empower applicants
to put their best foot forward. Each can be addressed by the right solution:

 * Choose a platform that allows applicants to make edits when necessary.
   Ideally, applications should lock by default, but your team should be able to
   open them for editing upon request. This will help both facilitate
   transparency and avoid confusion throughout the process.
 * Find a granting technology that allows for applicant collaboration. Given the
   wide adoption of remote work, if the collaboration can happen in real time,
   including field presence, all the better.

Submittable allows you to open applications to editing upon request, as well as
provides for real-time applicant collaboration, including field presence.


PAIN POINT #9: UNCLEAR ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Making sure that your guidelines outline your eligibility criteria is a must.
Take it a step further by choosing a grant management software that includes
eligibility screening through an upfront quiz. 

This ensures that ineligible applicants waste minimal time on your opportunity.
The right solution will then give you a chance to point them toward other
resources or programs for which they may be eligible. It’s also key that the
information you gather in the eligibility form be stored with the full
application, so that you don’t need to ask the same questions twice. 

Submittable makes it easy to screen applicants with an eligibility form,
including based on IRS statuses as validated by Candid (Guidestar). You can
customize the message that ineligible applicants will see, as well as access the
eligibility data right next to the full application.


PAIN POINT #10: ONLINE FORM DOESN’T SAVE FORMATTING (E.G., BULLETS AND
NUMBERING)

Rich text formatting makes it so much easier to communicate a message and be
understood. That’s why a platform that allows for rich text formatting in your
long answer written response questions is such a winner with applicants (not to
mention your review team). 

Look for one that has an easy-to-use “WYSIWYG” (what you see is what you get)
style text editor for maximum user-friendliness. 

Submittable allows you to enable rich text formatting in long answer questions,
which will prompt applicants to use the simple WYSIWYG editor.


PAIN POINT #11: QUESTIONS ARE DIFFERENT BETWEEN ONLINE FORM AND DOWNLOADABLE
VERSION

This one is on your team—make sure that as you edit your form, you update your
downloadable version. Again, it’s also important to make sure that you include
any questions behind conditional logic in the downloadable version (see pain
point #1 above).  

> Making the application process pain-free and user-friendly will lower the
> barriers for the organizations that need your support the most.
> 
> #FixTheForm survey respondent


PAIN POINT #12: REQUIRING INFORMATION THAT’S ALREADY PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

Back to the principles of trust-based philanthropy, it’s important to do your
homework. This means that your team plays an active role in the vetting process
and doing the research that is available to you: for example, if full board bios
and photos are available online—which they typically are—there should be no need
to ask for them in your form. 

Where your technology can help is when it comes to making all of the data,
including data sourced by your team, available to your review team. Look for a
platform that includes internal forms, which you can design according to your
needs in order to input and store data from your team within the reviewer
portal. Bonus if the internal forms feature allows for file uploads, so that
your team can upload conversations with grant seekers and other media.

Submittable‘s internal forms feature includes the same helpful question types
available in application forms for the exclusive use of your team to supplement
applications with additional information.


PAIN POINT #13: FIXED MULTIPLE CHOICE OPTIONS/FIELDS WITH NO “OTHER” OPTION TO
EXPLAIN OR SELF-DESCRIBE

This one requires humility. To address this pain point, you first need to
embrace the fact that you won’t always know the correct options for every
grantee. Including an “other” or “prefer to self describe” option not only helps
applicants feel included, it also ensures that the data you collect is
accurate—just think, if none of the options applied to an applicant, but the
question was required, they would be forced to select an inaccurate response (or
forego the opportunity). 

The use of conditional formatting helps to create a streamlined applicant
experience, where only those who choose to self-describe will be prompted to do
so.

Submittable offers customizable branching, where follow up questions are only
visible to those who make a certain selection. It’s a great way to provide a
self-describe option.


PAIN POINT #14: NO ONE TO ANSWER THE PHONE OR EMAIL (TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE,
PRIORITIES CLARIFICATION, ETC.) 

Not providing appropriate support to grant seekers during the application
process is setting the stage for a rotten relationship. There are two varieties
of assistance you should be prepared to provide:

 * Substantive assistance: Questions may come up about the kind of information
   you are asking for, eligibility, or others related to the application itself.
   You need to not only have a dedicated team member ready and willing to answer
   these questions, you also need to provide their contact information in your
   guidelines. (Pro tip: As questions come up, edit and improve your form and
   guidelines to create a better experience for applicants and reduce the burden
   on your team!)
 * Technical assistance: Even with an intuitive platform, technical questions
   inevitably pop up. You can ease this friction by choosing a solution with a
   robust help center that includes video tutorials, as well as human support
   for your applicants. Beware of solutions that will only help your team, and
   leave it to you to help your applicants with technical questions. 

Submittable provides friendly and fast technical assistance to both your team
and your applicants in addition to a fully searchable Help Center.


PAIN POINT #15: NEEDING TO REGISTER/CREATE AN ACCOUNT TO APPLY

This pain point is a bit of a mixed bag. As addressed earlier (and therefore of
higher priority), grant seekers desire several features that are best made
available through the existence of some kind of account. These include:

 * The ability to save and return to a draft
 * The ability to edit applications
 * The ability to collaborate with others

Additional functionality that requires an account includes in-app messaging,
which facilitates transparency and relationship building. What to do then, if
the very need to register is considered a hurdle?

The key here is to find a grant management software that makes the “create an
account” step as quick and painless as possible. This means requiring only bare
minimum information: generally, a name, an email, and a password. Even better is
allowing for sign-in with a major platform that many grant seekers will already
have a profile with, such as Google. 

> These changes will really help us be able to spend less time and money on form
> filling and more on the causes and people we support.
> 
> #FixTheForm survey respondent

Beware of systems that require applicants to create a full profile before moving
forward—or that claim no registration is needed, but fail to offer the other,
more important features identified above. 

It’s also helpful if, referring back to pain point #1, you can make your
downloadable version available to applicants before they need to create an
account, so that they only have to go through the registration step when they
are ready and sure that they’ll apply. 

Account creation in Submittable requires just a name, email, and password—no
profile setup. Alternatively, applicants can choose to sign in with Google or
Facebook. Submittable also allows you to make your downloadable application
available in your guidelines, which can be viewed by applicants without an
account or who are not logged in.


PAIN POINT #16: USE OF JARGON OR UNCOMMON PHRASES

Only you can ensure that your application uses accessible language. (But
Submittable’s Ultimate Guide to Creating Accessible Submission Forms can help.) 


LEARN MORE ABOUT SUBMITTABLE

At Submittable, we’re just as committed to helping your applicants be successful
as you are. And our implementation team members are experts at helping you
create a form that captures everything you need to know, without introducing
unnecessary burden for applicants. Get in touch with us for a free demo to learn
more. 


LEARN MORE ABOUT FIX THE FORM

Kari Aanestad and Laura Solomons have continued to build off the #FixTheForm
movement’s momentum: GrantAdvisor.org and the Technology Association of
Grantmakers (TAG) partnered to launch “100 Forms in a 100 Days”. The campaign
successfully urged over 100 foundations to make their grant applications
publicly available within 100 days. Learn more on the GrantAdvisor blog.


Grants
Natalya DeRobertis-Theye

Natalya is a product marketer at Submittable focused on helping organizations
get a ton of value out of the platform. She is a bookworm, adventure enthusiast
and card-carrying cat lady as well as a writer and yogi.


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