Direct Awarding is a feature that allows Program Owners/Managers (PO/PMs) to import existing grantees/awardees into the system for continued progress reporting without requiring them to apply. This feature bypasses the traditional pre-award process, creating a streamlined workflow that focuses entirely on post-award management. This is ideal for renewal grants where previous awardees are continuing their projects, or when awards have been predetermined through external processes and you simply need to manage the post-award phase in Next.

Step-by-Step Guide to Direct Awarding

Step 1: Enable Direct Awarding

Navigate to the Cycle Setup page and toggle "Enable Direct Awarding" to ON. When you do this:

• The "Enable Rolling Application" toggle is disabled, with a tooltip: "Rolling Applications is not supported in a Direct Awarding cycle."

Once you save your changes, the system will lock the Direct Awarding toggle (it cannot be turned off) and make several important changes:

• The following navigation links are hidden: Eligibility, Intake Forms, Feedback Forms, Workflow Builder, Intake Rounds, Review Rounds, and Review Assignments
• The Cycle Status updates to "Awarding in Progress" on the All Award Cycles page
• The "Import Awardees" button appears on the Award Recipients page

Step 2: Import Applicant Profiles (if needed)

This step is only necessary if you don't already have all your awardees in the system. For instance, if this is a regrant of all grantees from last year, they will already be in the system and you can skip to Step 3.

Before you can assign awardees, you need to get their profiles into the system. Navigate to the Participant Network and use the import functionality to add your existing grantees/awardees to Next.

For detailed instructions on this process, see our dedicated article on importing applicant profiles.

Step 3: Select Awardees

Once your applicant profiles are in the system, go to the Award Recipients page and click the Import Icon in the top right corner. 

This allows you to search for and select awardees and assign them to the current program cycle as awardees.

Note: This step technically assigns awardees rather than importing new data since the profiles from Step 2 already exist in the system.

Step 4: Assign Award Agreements

For each awardee, you'll need to assign their award and award agreement. Before proceeding, ensure you have created an Award and an Award Agreement Template, including any post-award reporting requirements.

1. Select an awardee from the Award Recipients list
2. Select the Award Agreement
3. Configure any specific terms or reporting requirements for this awardee within the Award Agreement

For detailed instructions on this process, see our article on Designating Award Agreements

Step 5: Notify Awardees

Click "Accept and Notify Recipient" to send awardees an email notification about their award status and next steps.

Step 6: Awardee Submits Progress Reports

Once notified, awardees can log into Next, navigate to "Your Awards," and follow the standard post-award workflow to submit their progress reports.