Submittable

Vorteile

Submittable is a very intuitive platform that allows every employee to use - no matter what their skill level with technology. Adjustments to forms or applications can take mere seconds.

Nachteile

I wish we were able to search applications by more than just names. And, I wish we were able to compare applications with previous applications for similarities or duplicates.

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Vorteile

Submittable's application forms are very customizable and they allow for a multi-step application process and submitting grant reports.

We're able to create customized reports and export the data easily, although there is a bit of a learning curve to set up the reports.

Collaboration is built-in, allowing reviewers and admins to leave notes for each other and see reviews. We also liked that that collaboration can be locked down so that applicants can either see or not see that feedback.

The implementation team that worked with us was great and provided very valuable training as part of our implementation project.

Nachteile

We've found the email's generated by Submittable have formatting issues and are often blocked by anti-spam software, so there have been some deliverability issues and some problems with reading the system-generated emails. The development team is aware of the issue (for 2 years) but nothing seems to have been done about it.

Documentation is limited, and they charge for support after your initial setup period.

We end up having to pay for 10 extra user licenses for our grant reviewers beyond the 2 months those licenses are really used. This is because only 10 user licenses are available in our subscription tier, and you can only purchase extra licenses in block of 10 (not individually). So far, Submittable has worked with us on the pricing to be affordable but it would be nice to have the option of adding on temporary licenses for reviewers, or even not having to pay for that level of user since they are typically only needed for 1-2 months.

Vorteile

I love the way that multiple people can view the submissions and be able to rate the proposals.

Nachteile

It seems like it is more for writers than arts organizations.

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Vorteile

Ease of use for applicants, volunteer reviewers, and administrators.

Nachteile

Not being able to talk live with support when needed. I really don't like that.

Vorteile

Making the decision to shift our application process to online, I was concerned that it would meet the needs of the artists and writers applying and also ease transition for a middle to senior aged office team with varying degrees of electronic saavy. Needless to say we continue to remark on an almost daily basis how we LOVE Submittable. Ease of use was foremost and the Submittable staff are always right there with customer support. Any concerns or suggestions were addressed and often appeared as Submittable staff tweaked and updated the software. Likewise input from customers is often solicited. This open process continues to make the software better and better as new features are added and functionality is streamlined. Over the years Submittable continues to be software service and customer oriented. From staff and applicant feedback, I understand that Submittable greets anyone from neophyte to expert electronic guru users with the same degree of respect, patience, expertise and professional service. I especially appreciate the ease in navigating the software features. Ease in accessing and reviewing all areas of our applications, accessing correspondence with applicants and reviewers, sending out requests for character statements automatically, controlling access to all areas of the application and processes as needed have streamlined the time and task of handling actual materials. No more incomplete applications. Electronic deadlines hold fast.

Nachteile

Do I miss having USPS delivering stacks of applications for weeks on end around deadlines, when apps just pop up on the list in Submittable? Do I miss the file prep for each application as materials dribbled in little by little and were sometimes incomplete even after the deadline due to weather etc. when that is all tracked by the software? Do I miss handling over and over sections of the application and loosing track when interrupted in the process when a click of a mouse brings me right back? Do I miss being stuck at my desk surrounded by stacks of applications when I now access the applications anywhere there is wifi...even 12 time zones away which is what I did for the last batch of applications? Do I miss being burdened by attempts to streamline or simplify a labor intensive process only to discover all the benefits of using Submittable? Do I realize how staff are freed up to manage more productive tasks in the office than pushing files and paper? Do I realize that the staff team are excited to see applications appearing on their screens, versus groaning when the USPS truck drove into the parking lot? Do I realize how much more economical Submittable is versus staff time and energy factored in with hand processed applications? Do I realize how much more fun it is to problem solve around tailoring the software with Submittable staff to address a need? Do I wish our staff team had transitioned to Submittable sooner? Yes, no regrets we are HUGE Submittable fan

Vorteile

I like that it's a fairly easy platform to collect contest entries (which we have a lot of!). I like that I can set up an automated response (even though it's not always easy to figure out how to do that). I like that the personalized responses can add applicant's name.

Nachteile

I don't find Submittable to be very intuitive. I find myself having to google answers to my question- I'm usually able to successfully find the answer but it isn't user intuitive. Particularly, I think that setting up automated responses should be easier to find. Also, I often make the mistake where I click on a project and it takes me to the description of the form rather than what I'm looking for, the entries. I find myself scared to use the back button because it re-directs me to pages I'm not trying to go to. It's more of an issue on our end but people put so much weight on the "in progress" status etc which we just don't use so I wish there was a way to turn that off.

Vorteile

We can filter applications, see applicants in real time, and distribute reviews to separate team members to streamline efficiency of grant application reviews.

Nachteile

Pulling reports can be a chore, and labels shouldn't be accessible to all users doing reviews. Sometimes there are duplicate labels which creates confusion.

Vorteile

Easy to build custom submission pages and link them on main sites or landing pages. Assignment is also very simple, as is setting up new users.

Nachteile

I'd love it if there were the option to pay per added user over the minimum. We're on a grandfathered plan, which is AWESOME, and I very much appreciate the kindness offered to online literary magazines, but to get up to the 10 user plan we would more than double what we're paying.

Vorteile

Submission list organization w/ labels and other organization (projects, forms, etc.) to manage multiple projects at once.

Nachteile

It seems difficult for applicants and reviewers to use at times.

Vorteile

1. Submittable is user-friendly.
2. Preparing to receive new documents for new projects is not time-consuming.
3. Submittable makes it easy to reach a broader audience by making projects searchable within the platform.
4. Readable for users.
5. Ability to generate reports.

Nachteile

1. Window to reply to submitters is too small.
2. Difficult to deactivate payment feature if a submitter has paid.

Vorteile

Our team loves the ability to make each form and application its own. This platform has allowed us to expand greatly the number of applications we can process and it has made the review process much smoother.

Nachteile

Despite it being a great platform, we find it difficult to keep up with the expense. For what it provides and the way in which we use it, it's a very costly platform.

Vorteile

Implementing this product was simple. It makes it seamless to use on the administrative end, and rarely do applicants have questions when applying. Having all data and messaging in one place is especially important so that multiple admins can access this easily.

Nachteile

Changing information on forms can be improved. It would help to have a 'Hide Question' option so we can take out a question yet retain the data from past applicants without deleting the question and answer entirely.

Vorteile

Submittable makes the grant process incredibly easy for applicants and for our reviewers. We have improved our efficiencies greatly since implementing this product.

Nachteile

I wish some of the features had greater customization.

Vorteile

I am very used to having to learn new software, through out my positions in the last several years. The reason I love Submittable, not because it's easy for me, BUT BECAUSE it's easy for submitters and judges to use. If I had to review the how-to's prior to every season to a new set of judges, it would take so much time and energy. That only is worth the fees we pay!

Nachteile

I do wish the forms had a little more ability to make them a bit prettier to look at. The size of the fonts is either super small, or HUGE. It would be nice to make the page look a bit prettier and closer in line with our branding.

Vorteile

Submittable is easy to use and intuitive. With drag-and-drop options, creating an application takes minutes. Logic branching also helps when you want to gather more info based on an applicant's response. The file upload features are also very helpful.

Once your application is live, you can track and label applications as they come in. This is helpful since a quick perusal of an application can determine eligibility. One quick label and you can filter it out during the full review process.

The reviewer portal is equally intuitive. With side-by-side views, your reviewers can read and answer questions or rate the application without having to switch screens. You can also set certain application fields (such as name, gender, etc.) to blind so that there is no bias based on these questions.

Overall, Submittable is a great application portal and get your money's worth.

Nachteile

Recommendation letter request emails don't get sent out until AFTER the applicant submit their application. This is fine in most cases but you do have to offer a small grace period to recommenders. It would be great if applicants can enter a recommender and hit a button "Request Letter."

The forms can also become rather long if you have a lot of questions. It could affect completion rates.

Finally, just as you are able to remind reference letter writers through the portal, it would be great to be able to remind those with incomplete application about the upcoming deadline. Right now, you can request a list of incomplete applications but you only get name and email addresses. It would be good to see some of the data that the applicants have completed so far.

Vorteile

As an administer of grant funding to artists, this software works great for tracking, reporting and collecting data from artists who apply to our programs.

Nachteile

A lot of the times I'm unable to edit the content if needed when an application is live already. Which is understandable however. I have to duplicate and make additional forms which takes longer. It's also hard to assign team members or jurors and help them use the software when I can only see it from an admin's point of view so it's hard to let them know how to navigate the software.

Vorteile

It really allows me to collect and manage information and input from so many of our members and stakeholders for many different purposes. My members and applicants find it very easy to use.

Nachteile

We always seem to bump up against one or two little issues that make any form less than perfect. For example, applicants attaching new files with their submission, or exporting notes from an application.

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Vorteile

I am able to manage my submissions quite easily with Submittable. It has many sorting options, and several tools to make reading a large amount of work manageable. Working collaboratively with other editors is possible and efficient because of the filtering functions (such as the use of labels, storing submissions, ordering them by date, alphabetically, etc.) and team management tools (such as the assigning of certain tasks to certain individuals, easy messaging, dissemination of work, etc.) I like the basic look/visuals of Submittable, as it is relatively intuitive to use. Furthermore, when I encountered troubles or had questions, I was given friendly and quick help over the telephone, as well as through their chatlines. Editing our site is also very easy.

Nachteile

I don't like that some services are offered to certain levels of subscriptions and not to others. I'd rather have a good, fair price for the use of Submittable's full functions. It's not always clear to me what I have in my subscription, even though not too hard to check, I suppose. Also, to "test" how forms will look to submitters seems a little complicated, but not too bad once going through it. I feel a little "blind" when sending out ACCEPT/DECLINE. Not sure what the solution is, however, and really does not present any real trouble for me.

Vorteile

I'm new to this platform when I made my multiple submissions of poems to the different online magazines worldwide. I never thought it would be like an automatic forms to be filled up and there is nothing to worry about doing it all over again since I'm not used to it. I'm glad that I can avail a free version on such and do the submissions clearly.

Nachteile

I don't have much anything to say about the lacking but I would like to commend that it must be all for free of use as much as I would want to. However, it is not possible then.

Vorteile

The product covers all the bases, ease of use for staff, review panel, and applicants. They are always listening and improving their product

Nachteile

Any questions we have are always addressed. Support is amazing and we cannot praise them enough

Vorteile

Submittable really does the job for what we need it for most- reviewing grant applications. We have a diverse and busy review team and this tool allows them to do their work efficiently.

Nachteile

Although it is fairly simple to use, it is not entirely intuitive. Some of our users have required a bit of coaching to make it work for them.

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Vorteile

Pretty much every feature is a lifesaver. The workflows, templates, ratings, comments, etc. It's all very well thought out and makes collection and responding to submissions of any kind super easy. The ability to collect payment for contests or other submissions is also invaluable.

Nachteile

Honestly, there's nothing I dislike about this software other than maybe the cost. It's one of the few tools that I think is pretty much perfect as it is.

Vorteile

It allows the applicants to easily submit their portfolio material in a large variety of file types.

Nachteile

Of late, it has become less user friendly with the by dividing into project and program, and having a separate qualification step. Mostly I have had tech help when I needed it within a day, but in the beginning this assistance was much quicker and more helpful.

Also, this could be a useful platform for research, especially surveys, if there were more ways to analyze the data.

Vorteile

This software is easy to understand, easy to deploy, and intuitive for guest users who help us to evaluate the submissions that we receive. From there, it's easy to filter, sort, review and revisit the applicants that have made submissions, and keep track of where they are at each stage of the process.

There are so many functionalities that are useful and I'm certain I'm only using a small portion of all that's available! I highly recommend this software as a solution for tracking submissions!

Nachteile

Everything that I've experienced with submittable has been a plus.

Vorteile

Relative to other grant management software solutions we looked at Submittable was the most modern and professional in terms of look/feel and the easiest to use both from an administrator perspective and grantee perspective. Plus, Submittable was by far the most affordable solution and offered the best value for money in our opinion.

Nachteile

The only real downside was in terms of features/functionality; Submittable does not offer automated initial screening of applications. With that said, however, we were able to meet our specific business requirements with branching and Submittable was always willing to help us find workable solutions.

Vorteile

I started it three years ago, and it is very user-friendly. Has helped our group grant, review team.

Nachteile

For what we use it for (3 grants) it is very expensive.

Vorteile

Submittable is very easy to use both on the end of the administrator and the individual submitting. People who have used it a lot or are only using it for the first time all express ease at getting their submissions in.

Nachteile

There are only a limited number of times that you can export your data per month on the basic plan.

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Vorteile

I like the transparency and the ease with which we were able to implement the software into our grant management procedure. The forms are easy to build, I can create a lot of them to cover the gaps for subsequent applicant communication. We were also able to do blind review to eliminate biases and separate groups of reviewers with different sets of questions.

Nachteile

1) The number of seats comes expensive. As a charity, we have a pool of scientific volunteers who give back to the community by reviewing grants with us. But with the limited number of seats, we had to narrow down the pool to the bare minimum and restructure the whole review process in order to fit in our tight budgets.
2) There isn't an open API available for us to integrate into our mobile app. There is only a read-only API that we were able to connect to but it gives limited connectivity and doesn't allow us to sync the internal grant management process with external-facing community commitments.

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Vorteile

Easy to use, and can be used very broadly. Great customer service. Great design. Feature rich.

Nachteile

Managing other users and exporting info can be better.

Vorteile

Submittable can handle so many different document types that we never could ourselves. They listen when we have suggestions/requests. Everything can be tracked - no more lost manuscripts! They've made it possible for us to offer books at the same time someone makes a submission, a great option for us. And they can issue refunds with ease.

Nachteile

Searches (especially across a lot of categories) sometimes are a bit slow, but we do have a LOT of categories and a LOT of submissions for the software to sort through. We're so glad to have Submittable, a respectable and caring group that has the ability to keep up with technology challenges so we can do the work we love doing.

Vorteile

This product is really easy to use and is super intuitive. The reporting feature has made it so much easier for our external reporting process.

Nachteile

There are a few features that are lacking. We wish there was a way to weight the scores/questions. It would also be nice if the people who are writing the letter of reference could actually see the application.

Vorteile

It is easy to use, and if anything happens that we are unsure about, the support team replies quickly and provides incredible instructions!

Nachteile

There is nothing that I dislike about Submittable.

Vorteile

Clean, efficient interface. Great customer service. Excellent outreach to the customer base. I have used Submittable for years now and almost no problems. The once or twice that I did have a problem, I reached out and they solved it within half-a-day.

Vorteile

Submittable seems to have anticipated just about all the issues that I might have encountered in designing and running a contest. The software is very easy to figure out and runs without a hitch. And the customer service team, which helped me get started using the Gallery function, is beyond compare -- incredibly friendly and helpful. This team is a total pleasure to work with.

Nachteile

There's really nothing that I don't like about using Submittable. I am 100% satisfied.

Vorteile

It's easy to use with a minimal learning curve, and has good customization. It allows you to tailor auto responses, email the submitter, and comment all in one place. everything you need to make a decision is there, and you can archive for easy retrieval.

Nachteile

Tags could be expanded to include all book genres to enhance the calls for submissions when setting up a category (form). Wish they left forms named as categories, it made more sense, the terminology change from category to forms is confusing.

Vorteile

This was our first effort at an online application and it went off without a hitch. It is intuitive to both readers/reviewers and applicants. We were able to learn how to manage the application and review process in a few calls to the fabulous Gold Level Support folks. After using paper applications, it was amazing to have all of the information ready to go to readers by the next day. It is also very reasonably priced compared to other solutions so it fit our budget.

Nachteile

It would be great if reviewers could highlight or tag parts of the application as they read. We had to do some tweaking to be able to close the application at 5:00pm instead of midnight but Submittable has since added this feature. It takes a few steps to generate reports but it is manageable.

Vorteile

The organisational aspect is a life saver. All our subs in one place, easily seen and a very easy interface. Using submittable gives you an edge. Creatives know that Submittable is used by the very best who will pay a bit extra for a superb, efficient, friendly and professional service. Customer Service is exemplary. Always get back to you quickly and nothing is ever too much for them. Thank you!

Nachteile

Not really a con but a nitpick. Trying to find the 'send to kindle' button was a bit of a challenge but really good service when used.

Vorteile

The ease of jurors to communicate during the initial review process is one of the most attractive features. Creating forms is easy. Many of the jurors that have engaged this platform have commented that it is a better platform than others that they've used.

Nachteile

Not much to complain about regarding this software, other than it can be pricey if you only need to engage it once or twice a year.

Vorteile

As someone who writes a lot and wants to be published in the future, I think sites like submittable where you can see all the offers, contests etc available to you is a really easy way to find opportunities. Makes the process of finding it really easy.

Nachteile

I had no problems submitting something in, however I don't organise anything on there either so I can't really say any negatives.

Vorteile

Ease of use. Great way to receive and evaluate grant applications.Friendly support from Submittable.

Nachteile

Not sure at this juncture. Pricing could be a challenge in the future as we're a small foundation. So far that has been manageable.

Vorteile

Submittable is simple to use and understand, and has a great knowledge base for any questions that come up.

Nachteile

The only thing that could make Submittable more appealing as a customer is if it were free. The limited/basic package for a small non-profit literary magazine is reasonable, however, and payment plans are available.

Vorteile

We use this software for our annual scholarships and awards. This is a great product, with a lot of options to customize.

Nachteile

Nothing so far! Ease of use and ability to charge a small fee to our applicants makes this software a go to!

Vorteile

The ability to design the forms is well done and easy to use.

Nachteile

I find it difficult to makes sense of how to navigate the platform after creating the forms.

Vorteile

Moved our scholarship applications completely online. Able to have reference letters uploaded directly to the system. Almost all elements (uploaded transcripts, etc.) are available to view within the system -- no additional software needed.

Really like the "design your own review" option.

Nachteile

Letters of reference require a .pdf or .doc software to open/read, where other files are view-able from within the system. *I have seen that they are hoping to incorporate the within system view for the letters at some future point.

There are a few things that I wish were easier. A couple of the fields are hard to view as you create an application, and don't offer as much word processing options as I would like--but that's being a little picky.

Vorteile

Submittable is user-friendly, and easy to learn

Nachteile

there is always cost associated with adding minor features

Vorteile

I like how user-friendly this software is - the customization of applications is great with the build your own features.

Nachteile

I do not use the judging component of the software, only the application management so that would default as the thing I like "least" about the software but it is personal preference due to the use.

Vorteile

Submittable is a versatile one-stop software where you can submit and handle submissions with relative ease.

Nachteile

The business end of Submittable where submissions are handled is more complicated than using the software to submit.

Vorteile

This program makes it so much easier to assign tasks to my team. It's all right there at my fingertips. No more email attachments!

Nachteile

Submittable can take some time to get used to. I had to go through the webinars to actually figure out the whole system.

Vorteile

Ease of use and functionality. Helps group everything in one place.

Nachteile

Nothing comes to mind. I guess the cost could be lower but that's nitpicky.

Vorteile

I really like the ability to change our service based on our current demands (e.g., we can downgrade when we are in our off season and upgrade during the peak times).

Nachteile

Sometimes I find the software interface can be tricky to navigate. There are certain instances where I would like a more comprehensive navigation station/ task bar to make the back end creation easier.