Contents 

• Overview
• What are Award Agreement Templates?
• Step-By-Step Instructions
  • Customize the Template
    • Rename the Template
    • Customize Fields
      • Hide Default Fields
      • Add Fields
      • Move Fields
  • Rich Text Editor Field
    • Add or edit contents in the Rich Text Editor
    • Personalize with Variables in the Rich Text Editor
  • Upload Required Documents Field
  • Progress Report Schedule and Disbursement Schedule Fields
  • Acknowledgment Statement
  • Additional Template Options: Budget & Goals/Milestones Feature Toggles
• Preview the Award Agreement Template
• Publish the Award Agreement Template
• Related Articles

Overview

This step-by-step guide shows Program Admins how to set up an Award Agreement. 

📌Note: Adding awards to a program cycle in Next includes two steps:

• Setting up the award details for the cycle: See ➡️Award Setup
• Setting the terms awardees must accept to receive an award (the focus of this article)

What are Award Agreement Templates?

An Award Agreement Template is the agreement you build to send to awardees. It sets the terms an awardee must accept to receive an award. Instead of writing a new agreement for every awardee, the template holds your standard agreement language. 

An award agreement can go to a single awardee or be reused for many, but every agreement needs its own template before you can send it. Create as many templates as needed for the awards in the cycle.

• Who can edit and publish Award Agreement Templates:
  • Organization Owners 
  • Client Admins 
  • Program Owners 
  • Program Managers

Step-By-Step Instructions 

Access Agreement Templates 

1. Open the program, then click the gear icon to the far-right of the cycle to open Cycle Settings.
   
   
    

2. In Cycle Settings, click Awarding in the top menu, then select Agreement Templates from the left menu. 

   

    

   3. Any templates you've already started (draft or published), show up here. 

a. To create a new template: Click Create New, then click Open on the new template that appears. 

b. To open a template you already started: Click Open to the far right of it. 

Customize the Template 

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Publishing is a separate step you take once the template is fully set up — see Publish the Template below. Once a template is published, it can no longer be edited, but you can duplicate it and edit the duplicated version.

Rename the Template 

1. All forms in Next are created with a default name — follow the steps in ➡️ Rename a Form if you want to rename the agreement template. 

   

    

Customize Fields 

Every agreement template starts with four default fields. Learn more about each one by clicking into the hyperlink below: 

• Rich Text Editor
• Upload Required Documents
• Progress Report Schedule
• Disbursement Schedule. 

Hide Default Fields

You can hide any of these if you don't need them, but you can't delete them. 

1. Click into the field, then click the gear icon in the upper-right corner.

2. In the panel that opens, toggle Hide field? to Yes, then click Done to close the panel. 

3. Click Save in the upper-right corner of the field. 

Add Fields

Adding fields to the Agreement Template works the same as other forms in Cycle Settings. Follow the steps in ➡️Add a Form Field and ➡️Customize Form Fields to add and customize form fields. For an in-depth overview of each form field type, see ➡️Understanding Form Field Types.


 

Move Fields

You can move a default field the same way you move any other form field — see ➡️ Move Form Fields.

Rich Text Editor Field

Use the Rich Text Editor to add details about the agreement's terms, including links or images. 

Add or edit contents in the Rich Text Editor

1. Click anywhere inside the box to make the field editable. When the field is editable, a dotted line and field label will appear around it. 

   

2. Add or edit the contents as needed.
    
3. When finished, click Save in the upper-right corner.
   
   

Personalize with Variables in the Rich Text Editor

You can add variables to the Rich Text Editor to fill in each recipient's details automatically, instead of manually editing every agreement.

Types of Variables

• Static Variables: Program-level details that stay the same across all agreements, like Program Name, Cycle Name, and Award Amount.
• Dynamic Variables: Applicant-specific details pulled from the Profile Form or an Intake Form, like text answers, multiple-choice responses, and dates.

To add a Variable: 

1. In the Rich Text Editor, click where you want the variable to appear.

   To add a Static Variable:

   • Select the program setting field you want to include (Program Name, Cycle Name, Award Amount)
   • The static value will appear immediately in your template

   To add a Dynamic Variable:

   • Select the form you want to pull from (Note: Profile Form will only be an option after the final review round) and the section (if your form has sections)
   • Choose the specific field you want to include from that form

📌Note: Variables appear in your template as a placeholder, like {{variable_name}}. When the agreement is sent, Next automatically fills in the actual data. 

4. When finished, click Save in the upper-right corner of the Rich Text Editor.

Upload Required Documents Field

Use the Upload Required Documents field to collect supporting documents from awardees, such as a "wet signature," tax documentation, or other documentation required for acceptance. 

Customize the Upload Required Documents field

1. Click anywhere inside the field to make it editable. When the field is editable, a dotted line and field label will appear around it. 
    
2. (Optional) Click into the field name box to rename it, as needed. (Example: "Proof of Enrollment")
    
3. (Optional) Enter help text to provide instructions to awardees.  (Example: "Upload a copy of your current class schedule or an enrollment verification letter from your school's registrar. This confirms you're enrolled for the term this scholarship covers")
    
4. When finished, click Save in the upper-right corner of the field. 

Progress Report Schedule and Disbursement Schedule Fields

These two optional fields let you set up reporting requirements and disbursement schedules for awardees. Your program may use one, both, or neither — if you don't need them, hide them instead (see Hide Default Fields above).

See ➡️ Set Up Progress Reports and Disbursement Schedules on an Award Agreement Template for full instructions on setting up either field.
 

Acknowledgment Statement

The Acknowledgment Statement confirms an awardee has read and agrees to the terms of the agreement. It's a required part of every template; it can't be moved or hidden, but the text is editable.

To edit the Acknowledgement Statement:

1. Click Edit above the statement.
   
   
    
2. Edit the text as needed in the textbox.
   
   
   
   Note: The text on the Decline and Accept buttons is not editable.
    
3. Click Save when finished.
   
   

💡 Tip: Want awardees to e-sign with DocuSign instead? See ➡️ Docusign Integration for Award Agreements.
 

Additional Template Options: Budget & Goals/Milestones Feature Toggles

At the bottom of the template, you may see two feature toggles, depending on what's enabled for your organization:

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Like the rest of the template, these toggles can't be changed once the template is published. 

• Include Awardee's Budget: Available if *Budgets is enabled for your organization. Toggle Yes if you want the awardee to see the budget they submitted in their intake form displayed alongside the agreement terms — useful if you want them to review their proposed spending as part of accepting the award.
  
  *Budgets is an add-on feature and isn't included in all plans. To add it, contact Customer Success.
  
  
   
• Include Goals & Milestones: Available if the Goals & Milestones feature is enabled for your organization. Toggle Yes if you want the awardee's submitted goals to appear in the agreement, so they're reviewing and accepting their stated goals alongside the award terms. Learn more: ➡️Including Goals & Milestones in an Award Agreement
  
  

Preview the Award Agreement Template

Preview lets you see how the agreement will look to awardees before you publish it. 

To preview a template: 

1. Click Preview in the upper-right corner of the screen. 
   
   
    

• The preview shows every field on the template that isn't hidden. 
  
  
  📌Note: The blank white spaces you see in the agreement text are variables. Hover your cursor over one to see the variable. 
   
• If you included Progress Report Schedules and/or Disbursement Schedules: 

a. Click the hyperlinked title in the Report Name column to view that report. 

b. Click the eye icon in the Dependencies column to view that disbursement's dependencies.

• Click anywhere outside of the Preview pop-up to close it. 

Publish the Award Agreement Template

Publishing your Award Agreement Template is what makes it selectable when you assign awards to awardees. As a best practice, we recommend not publishing your template until you've selected applicants to award — this way, you can still edit the content anytime before then.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Once published, a template can't be edited — but you can duplicate it and edit the copy. Review the template carefully before publishing. 

To publish an Award Agreement Template:

1. Click the Publish button in the upper-right corner of the screen.
   
   
    
2. On the confirmation popup, select the Submit button.
   
   

• A notification briefly appears on the screen confirming the publication of the template.
   

Related Articles

➡️ Set Up Progress Reports and Disbursement Schedules on an Award Agreement Template
➡️ Designate Award Offers and Agreements
➡️ Create New Post Award Report Form

 

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