Grants Management Software: Comparison Matrix

Both Foundant and Submittable make grant and submission management software for nonprofits, grantmakers, scholarship providers, and relief aid organizations. 

Submittable is best known for its easy-to-learn features and quick-to-implement solutions that have supported over 145,000 programs and 11,000 clients. 

Foundant is a deeply customizable solution, but you often need to engage their customer service to make changes on your behalf. This deep customization comes at the expense of ease-of-use.

Methodology: This analysis was compiled from publicly-available information on Foundant’s website (accessed January 23, 2024), news publications, independent software review sites, and other resources, as well as Submittable sources, including customer testimonials and data from Submittable’s annual customer survey. 

Capabilities at a glance: Foundant vs Submittable

4 reasons people choose Submittable over Foundant

Submittable and Foundant both share many of the same functionalities to enrich your grant management solutions, so here’s a brief deep dive comparing the two to save you some time. The main points we will touch on are:

1. Submittable is quick to launch
2. Submittable is built on Microsoft Azure
3. Submittable prioritizes agility
4. Submittable is innovating through full-suite funds tracking and distribution

1. Submittable is quick to launch

Submittable is an intuitive, yet powerful plug-and-play solution that allows administrators to build their programs on their own and launch quickly. In fact, 75% of Submittable customers launch their program in two weeks or less. 

Foundant is just as powerful in some areas, but not as quick to launch. It often takes months to get your program up and running and you have to lean on IT personnel or customer support for help along the way.

While Submittable is intuitive enough to be self-serve, our implementation services are on-hand to help you move even faster. 98% of Submittable clients that used it would recommend our implementation services to get up and running quickly.

Part of what makes quick implementation possible is Submittable’s two-way API, which smoothly integrates with your existing tech stack. Our drag-and-drop form builder also has a role to play. It makes it easy to build accessible applications that are simple for your applicants to fill out. 

“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.”

– Maggie M. Non-Profit Organization Management. (Submittable Customer)

Foundant is known for being a deeply customizable grants management solution popular among foundations soliciting applications from other organizations. This comes with a trade-off, though, where deep customization without a simple UI can create bottlenecks and frustration. According to Foundant users, these bottlenecks become an issue when you want to dig into reports or open up your applications to individuals.  

“It’s starting to feel like you need to be a techy to use some features, especially reporting.”

–Joan S., Operations Manager NPO

“Issue we run into is when we accept applications from organizations as well as individuals, because the system is really only designed for organizations to apply.”

– Beth N, NPO Executive Manager 

These issues contribute significantly to Foundant’s time-to-launch. You need to think through all the details before you launch, otherwise you’ll create a program that’s difficult to report on, or a program that’s not user-friendly for applicants.

Both Submittable and Foundant offer customizable solutions to meet your grant management needs. With Submittable you’ll launch and already have applications before you have learned how to build your application in Foundant.

2. Submittable is built on Microsoft Azure

Organizations need to be confident that data is secure on their chosen platform. Submittable is built on Microsoft Azure and Foundant is built on Amazon Web Services, both leading cloud software providers in consumer and data privacy. 

Submittable, and more than 95% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Microsoft Azure to provide best-in-class security and compliance certifications.

Foundant is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the leading cloud computing providers. AWS is a good product, but many companies, such as Walmart, are choosing to forgo it due to its ties to Amazon. They’re going so far as to require their tech providers to build services on Azure or other AWS rivals.

Because we’re building Submittable on Azure, Microsoft’s Cloud Defender service secures and protects your data privacy against emerging threats. This security combined with Microsoft’s lead in AI development and its ecosystem of business technology makes Azure a uniquely future-proof cloud computing provider.

Foundant’s use of AWS also features strong data security. But, again, the Amazon brand name can cause issues. AWS stores data on Amazon systems which can be an issue for companies like Target and Walmart as they remove themselves from the Amazon associated platform.

Submittable’s partnership with Microsoft allows us to work seamlessly with Microsoft products and give us an inside track on AI developments in a way tools built on AWS can’t match at the time of writing this piece.

3. Submittable prioritizes agility 

Submittable continues to innovate and act on our clients’ requests. You can see for yourself in our public roadmap and all throughout our website.

Foundant is also moving forward, but not in the same direction. Their clients indicate that their voices are not always heard and Foundant’s roadmap is not public.   

Submittable’s commitment to innovation allows you to run your social good program exactly as you intended with software that simply works as it should. We want to make it easier for foundations to do good through simplifying the processes that bog everyone down: assigning reviewers, creating forms, and getting approvals.

“Pretty much every Submittable 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.”

– Marketing Director

Foundant offers a community forum named Compass that provides active customers with the opportunity to share their pain points and roadblocks with other active Foundant users. While it’s a great service, some foundant users note that customer feedback is often overlooked or disregarded. 

“The continuous improvement efforts can lead you to feel out of touch with functionality if you don’t have the time to attend very frequent webinars about the changes.”

– Kristen, Grant Manager

We listen to the feedback of our customers because they are the ones doing the work. In fact, we meet with a select group of customers quarterly to get direct input. Their ideas on how to advance the platform to meet their needs not only advance their impact, but the impact of other programs we support. 

4. Submittable’s automated full-suite funds tracking and distribution

Submittable offers full-service funds tracking and delivery tools. Program administrators can distribute payments directly to recipients with the click of a button all from within the platform. Along the way, you can report on your budgets, transactions, funds, and more.

Foundant also offers a tool that allows you to distribute or receive grant funding, however the process of accepting or distributing money is not automated like it is in Submittable. They focus on the funds accounting with automated balance sheets and tracking based on the inputs you add to the software instead.

Rather than writing checks and wrangling tedious paperwork, you have more time to focus on your important mission-driven work with Submittable.

 “Submittable is the only platform out there that can truly manage a grant from the beginning to the end without headaches and disorganization. We are so grateful for this program and it has saved us literally thousands of hours.”

– Emily L. Vice President of Marketing & Promotions

If you need grant management software that allows you to track, manage, and disburse funds from one spot, Submittable is your best bet.

Learn more about Submittable

Want to learn more? Check out our other comparison articles or contact one of our product experts to see how Submittable can simplify and improve your application process. 

If you’re looking for an alternative to Wizehive, or are a current user exploring other solutions, here are the top reasons to consider Submittable.

Submittable and Wizehive are both robust application management solutions. Organizations use them to manage grants, emergency relief funding, scholarships, awards programs, and more. 

Both have rich feature sets that span the full lifecycle of grant and award programs. This includes online form creation, in-app communication, side-by-side review, and impact reporting.

But there are important differences between the platforms. If you’re comparing Submittable vs. Wizehive, here’s everything you need to know.  

Features at a glance

The top reasons to choose Submittable

These key differentiators may help you determine if Submittable is the better choice for your organization. 

1. Submittable can launch your program much faster

Submittable is an ideal solution to launch a new program fast.  

In fact, the average time to launch the first program on the Submittable platform is two weeks. Contrast that with Wizehive, whose website states that “Most clients are up and running in six weeks” (emphasis added). 

This quick time to launch has been a crucial factor for many Submittable customers. With the onset of COVID-19, for example, large grantmakers seeking to distribute billions in funds have relied upon Submittable to get emergency relief to individuals and businesses.  

The State of Montana, for example, was able to launch a program to distribute 1.25 billion in CARES act dollars very quickly:

“I’ve worked with different application softwares over the years for both grant management and for other purposes in the office. Submittable provides quick turnaround when you can edit your own forms—and it doesn’t require a lot of training to learn how to do that.”

Angie Nelson, Senior Budget Analyst, State of Montana

If getting your program launched efficiently with an easy-to-use platform is important to you, Submittable is the obvious choice. 

Submittable was awarded the Fastest Implementation award for grant management software in Spring 2020 by G2.

2. Submittable is more intuitive

Submittable was designed with ease of use in mind—for administrators, reviewers, and applicants. 

Customers appreciate the simple, drag-and-drop form builder and the intuitive tools that make it easy to accomplish complex processes. 

“Form creation was easy to figure out. I was a little filled with dread the first time, but as soon as I started working in the form builder, it was just really intuitive. Same with the response templates—it’s simple to find everything I need. As only a semi-technical person, that’s empowering.”

Mariah McPherson, Executive Director, New Belgium Family Foundation

Wizehive, on the other hand, often requires confusing steps and plugins to accomplish basic tasks. 

For example, a user must set up a “Process” in the “Program Manager” before setting up a review workflow, which in turn requires setting up a plugin to set up a “Review Portal.” Additionally, the Portal, for its part, must first be “authorized” before use. 

“[Wizehive] feels over complicated at times and could be more intuitive.”

Customer review on software review site G2

“The [Wizehive] user interface was really cumbersome.” 

Customer review on software review site Capterra

The result of these usability challenges can be a frustrating experience. 

“[Wizehive] is the least intuitive interface of a system I have EVER used. It is extremely frustrating. You think you remember how to change a setting or edit a direction somewhere, and you realize it could be in one of a ton of different places.”

Customer review on software site Capterra

Customers rate Submittable more highly for ease of use across the major software review sites.

3. Submittable is more customizable out-of-the-box

Submittable is a highly customizable solution. It’s also an all-in-one, out-of-the-box product. 

Wizehive relies on “plugins” to customize accounts and accomplish core tasks. On Wizehive, users have to set up a plugin for features including but not limited to:

• Auto emails 
• Bulk emails
• Charity check
• Third-party references
• Assignments management
• Submitter and reviewer “portals”, or points of access

All of these capabilities are preloaded in Submittable, and can be easily customized according to your organization’s needs.

“[Submittable] is intuitive to use and offers a great deal of flexibility and customization. From an operations perspective, we love the time it saves us!”  

Debi Graci, Sr. Program/Project Manager, Dell Technologies Education Services

4. Submittable can track disburse awards

Grantmakers using both Submittable and Wizehive track funds awarded to applicants using the platform. 

But only Submittable has built-in award distribution capabilities. Through Submittable’s partnerships with trusted global and domestic financial institutions, foundations, governments, and other funders can get funding to awardees quickly, and securely—in as little as 48 hours.

5. Submittable provides a better applicant experience

Modern philanthropists are laser-focused on applicant experience, rightly so. After all, the easier, clearer, and faster it is for grantees to use your grant management solution—from the initial application to in-app communication to progress reports, and everything in between—the more time they can focus on doing their important work. 

There are a number of areas where the Submittable applicant experience outshines that of Wizehive: 

• Submittable offers real-time applicant collaboration

Sometimes, it can be helpful for a group of submitters to collaborate on an application. This could be a student and teacher for a scholarship, or a team of remote grant writers working for the same nonprofit. 

Submittable makes real-time collaboration easy with its collaborative submissions tool. Applicants can see each other’s real-time presence and work, just like in Google docs. Organizations can correspond with all collaborators, keeping everyone in the loop.

Wizehive does not offer applicant collaboration.

• Submittable supports rich text instructions

Clear, precise instructions help applicants put their best foot forward. They also help ensure an accessible experience for applicants of differing abilities. 

Submittable allows you to incorporate rich text instructions, not only in your program guidelines, but for each individual question on your form. The easy-to-use, WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) rich-text editor makes it easy for you to adjust formatting or include hyperlinks.

Wizehive does not support rich text instructions throughout their application forms.

• Submittable streamlines the applicant experience

Applicants on Submittable can begin filling out a form almost immediately. All they need to enter to create a profile and begin is their name, email, and a password. This approach helps eliminate any barrier to beginning an application.

Applicants on the Wizehive platform, by contrast, must first create a “profile” before they can move forward to filling out an application. 

• Submittable accepts more file types

One principle of reducing burden on applicants is not requiring them to recreate all of their materials according to a narrowly defined format. When it comes to file types, applicants use different programs, applications, and hardware which may impact the makeup of their application materials. 

Submittable allows for 69 different types of files, including 10 types of video files which will all stream within the platform. While as an administrator, you can still choose which ones you’ll accept, you’re empowered to be as accommodating toward applicants as possible. 

Wizehive only accepts 12 different file types—and that includes two types of video files that will not stream within the reviewer portal.  

In a recent survey of grant applicants, 95% said they would recommend Submittable to funders. 

6. Submittable automates eligibility screening

In Submittable, eligibility quizzes automatically screen applicants for flexible criteria, including their IRS nonprofit status. 

Eligible applicants are immediately forwarded to your main application; others will receive a custom message that you specify. No more wasting your time—or applicants’ time—on unqualified applications.

In Wizehive, an eligibility screening requires a manual vetting from a reviewer. The reviewer can then choose to send the applicant, if eligible, the next part of the form, or to mark them as ineligible. 

7. Submittable can display submissions in an attractive online Gallery

Submittable offers a visually engaging Gallery tool that will automatically upload photos, videos, and other submission data into an online Gallery. 

Perfect for internal or external audiences, visitors to the gallery can browse among submissions and optionally vote. It’s an ideal venue to spread awareness of your program, host voting on an awards program, or to share testimonials in your community.

Gallery can also be leveraged to democratize your grantmaking process, such as by: 

• Engaging your community in learning about or voting on proposals
• Collecting testimonials from grantees to spread the word about their important work

Wizehive does not have a comparable Gallery feature. 

8. Submittable can collect fees and payments from applicants 

Certainly, some programs don’t require fees or payments from applicants. 

But for contest and admissions programs, for example, Submittable allows you to accept fees and payments. That means you can handle events with registration fees, collect membership dues, sell merchandise, and more. 

Plus, many customers unexpectedly find uses for Submittable’s payment features. For instance, some grantmakers end up using Submittable to sell tickets to fundraisers. Nonprofits use it to accept donations. 

9. Submittable can collect budget information in an embedded spreadsheet

Submittable customers use the Table form field to embed CSV or Excel files so applicants can enter budget data into a preformatted spreadsheet. Tables within forms can even perform many mathematical functions. This feature helps Submittable users gather precisely the information they need, in their preferred format.

Wizehive does not allow for the embedding of a spreadsheet in an application form. 

10. Submittable is a better value

One third of Submittable customers end up finding an unexpected new way to use the platform, making their dollars stretch further. 

For example, a grantmaker may use Submittable to accept volunteer applications and event registrations. A corporation running their CSR program on Submittable may leverage the platform for internal processes such as expense reports and IT requests. The possibilities are endless.

At Submittable, this expansion is included—and highly encouraged! We want our customers to get as much value as possible out of our platform, and take pride in being a flexible solution that can solve many of our customers’ problems. Run as many programs—and types of programs—as you’d like, all included in the price.

Wizehive, on the other hand, limits your pricing options based on the number of programs you’ll run. For organizations that know exactly what program they want to run, and aren’t concerned with seeking more value in the future, this pricing model can work well. But many Submittable customers appreciate that over time, their investment in Submittable brings greater and greater returns. 

It’s easy to switch—and bring your data with you

Considering switching, but concerned about interrupting your program—or worse, losing access to historical data that helps you see your program holistically? 

Submittable offers Data Import Services. Import historical applications, and even create accounts for awardees that empower you to use in-app communication and send Additional Forms to gather progress reports.

Learn more about Submittable

We’d love to learn more about your program and see if Submittable could be a good fit. Schedule a demo with our team today.

Methodology

This analysis was compiled from publicly-available information including Wizehive’s website, Knowledge Base, webinars, and other resources, as well as independent software review sites, customer testimonials, and customer surveys conducted by Submittable.