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Understanding Member Types: Roles & Permissions

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Micall Searles
Micall Searles
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Contents

Overview 

Submittable Next uses Member Types to control what people can access and do within your organization and programs. 

Who is this guide for? 

  • Organization Owners and Program Owners (these are the members who can assign roles in Next).
     

Key Terms 

Here are a few terms you'll see throughout this guide:

Term What It Means
Organization

The home for your entire account. All programs you create live under your Organization. 
Program

A single opportunity that your organization runs (e.g., grant, scholarhip, fellowship, award).
Member Type

A role that defines what a person can see and do inside an account. 

Quick Reference: Who Does What?


Click any Member Type to jump to its full description.

Member Type What They Can Do Best For  Typical Users
Organization Owner Access to all Programs + Organization Settings Someone needing org-wide control Executive leadership, system administrators
Program Owner Full control of a Program + finalizes awards Someone leading a Program end-to-end Program leads, directors
Program Manager Same access as Program Owner; cannot finalize awards or change Program Owner Someone managing the Program setup but not final decisions Program coordinators, operations staff
Program Staff Has view-only access to program; cannot access Program Settings Someone who helps with day-to-day Program tasks Assistants, support staff
Reviewer Reviews assigned applicant submissions only Someone who only evaluates applications Volunteers, committee members
 *Approver

*This role is only available if approvals are enabled for your organization. 		Reviews assigned approvals only, such as awards and disbursements Someone who only needs to approve awards or disbursements External approvers (e.g., Finance, Compliance, Grant Director)

📌 Important Notes

  • Program Members can be added or removed at any time. 
  • Every Program can only have ONE Program Owner. Only that person can finalize awards for the program.
  • You don’t need to use every role—most Programs only use the role(s) they need (like Program Owner + Reviewers, or a single Program Owner handling everything).
  • If you’re managing everything as the Organization Owner, you can assign yourself as the Program Owner when you create a new program. 
     

Role-by-Role Details

Key abilities for each Member Type. 

Organization-Level Roles

- Organization Owner

Best for: Someone who manages the entire organization account.
(Example: Sam oversees all grant and scholarship programs for Foundation ABC) 

✅ Can: 

- Manage Organization-level settings
- Create new programs
- Manage program budgets
- Add/remove Organization Members
- Assign self as Program Owner (if needed) 
- Start first Review Round (deadline-based cycles)
- Request Approvals for Awards & Disbursements (if enabled) 
- Access organization-level and program-level analytics
- Be assigned as an "Approver"
- *Invite support

❌ Cannot: 

- Finalize awards
- Advance applications to future Review Rounds after first Review Round, if they exist (deadline-based cycles)
- Be invited to a program as a Program Member 
-Be assigned as an
- Apply as an applicant

💡Good to Know: Organization Owners automatically have Program Manager–level access to every program. They only appear in a program’s Program Members list if assigned as the Program Owner.

*Organization Owners will see the option to "Invite Support" (Client Admin). This allows Submittable Support to temporarily access the account to help troubleshoot issues.

Program-Level Roles (Program Members)

Program Members only have access to the Program they belong to.

- Program Owner (Only 1 per Program). 

Best for: Someone who leads a Program and makes final award decisions.
(Example: Avery leads the Scholarship Program at Foundation ABC and makes final award decisions)

✅ Can: 

- Control all program settings
- Manage and advance applicant submissions
- Invite/remove program members
- Start first Review Round (deadline-based cycles) + advance applications to future rounds
- Request Approvals for Awards & Disbursements (if enabled) 
- Finalize awards + send award notifications
- Access program-level analytics

❌ Cannot: 

- Access organization-level features/settings
- Apply as an applicant

💡Hot Tip: If multiple people need to be a Program Owner, use a shared email (e.g., scholarship@foundationabc.org could be shared by two people to log in as the Program Owner).

- Program Manager

Best for: Someone who helps run/build the program, but does NOT make final award decisions
(Example: Jordan helps Avery run the Scholarship Program at Foundation ABC by updating forms, deadlines, and reviewer assignments)

✅ Can: 

- Control all program settings
- Manage and advance applicant submissions to the review round
- Invite/remove program members (except Program Owners)
- Start first Review Round (deadline-based cycles)
- Access program-level analytics

❌ Cannot: 

- Finalize awards
- Advance applications to future Review Rounds after first Review Round, if they exist (deadline-based cycles)
- Send award notifications
- Change the Program Owner

- Program Staff

Best for: Someone who helps manage applications and reviews
(Example: Jamal helps manage incoming scholarship applications for Foundation ABC, monitoring applicant submissions and reviewer feedback)

✅ Can: 
- View the program 
- View reviewer feedback
- Invite/remove reviewers

❌ Cannot: 

- Access program settings
- Advance applicant submissions to the review round
- Use Admin Controls (read-only)

- Reviewer

Best for: Someone exclusively reviewing and scoring assigned applications.
(Example: Morgan is a volunteer reviewer for Foundation ABC and scores scholarship submissions assigned to her)

✅ Can: 

- View assigned applicant submissions
- Provide feedback/scores

❌ Cannot: 

- View unassigned submissions
- Access program settings
- Administer a program

💡Good to Know: Organization Owners, Program Owners, Managers, and Staff can also be assigned submissions to review in their existing accounts. 
 

- *Approver

(*This role is only available if approvals are enabled for your organization. If you would like this feature enabled, please contact Customer Success). 

Best for: Someone exclusively reviewing assigned approvals. 
(Example: Sammi is an approver from Finance who must approve disbursements before they're initiated by Program Admins). 

✅ Can: 

- View assigned approvals
- Reject or approve assignments

❌ Cannot: 

- View unassigned submissions
- Access program settings
- Administer a program

💡Good to Know: Program Owners, Managers, Staff, and Reviewers can serve as approvers in their existing accounts. 

  • To make an Organization Owner an approver, temporarily assign them as a Program Owner, then switch them back—the temporary role adds them to Program Members so they can be selected as an approver

Role Permissions Comparison Table

Feature-by-feature permissions for each Member Type.

Action / Permission Org Owner Program Owner Program Manager Program Staff Reviewer Approver
ORGANIZATION PERMISSIONS
Manage Organization Settings ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Create + View All Programs ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Add + Deactivate Organization Members ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Manage Program Budgets ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Access Organization-Level Analytics (Organization Dashboard & Report Builder*)

*Report Builder is an add-on feature and may not be included in all plans.

✅

 ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
PROGRAM PERMISSIONS  

Manage Program Settings 

  • Build/Edit Forms
  • Create/Publish Workflows
  • Set Up Awards + Agreements
  • Assign Reviewers
  • Manage Communications
 ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Update Program Owner (transfer program ownership) ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Add + Remove Program Members (Program Managers/Staff, Reviewers) ✅ ✅ ✅  Only reviewers ❌ ❌
Access Program-Level Analytics  ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
AWARD CYCLE PERMISSIONS
Move an Award Cycle into Test Mode ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Start First Review Round (Deadline-Based Cycles)

✅

*Cannot advance to future rounds

 ✅

✅

*Cannot advance to future rounds 

 ❌ ❌ ❌
Advance Applications to Review (Rolling Cycles)

✅

✅

✅

❌

❌

❌
Manage Applicant Submissions (view, disqualify, request revisions) ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Complete Application Reviews ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌
View Reviewer Feedback ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ Only their own ❌
Start Final Decision (Deadline-Based) 

❌

✅

 ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Select Candidates for Awarding (Rolling Cycles) ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Save Awards ✅ ✅ ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
Notify Awardees ❌  ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Request Approvals for Awards & Disbursements (if enabled)  ✅ ✅

❌

 ❌ ❌ ❌
Approve Awards & Disbursements (as assigned). Only if assigned as PO ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅

Choose the Right Role in Seconds

Use these quick questions to match someone to the right Member Type.

1. Will they need to see and control everything in the organization’s account (all programs + settings)

Yes → Program Owner
No → (Continue)

2. Will they be the main person in charge of a Program—grant, scholarship, etc.—and make final award decisions?

Yes → Program Owner
No → (Continue)

3. Will they help set up a Program—forms, workflows, etc.—but not make final award decisions?

Yes → Program Manager
No → (Continue)

4. Will they mainly need view-only access to see applications, reviewer feedback, and other details?

Yes → Program Staff
No → (Continue)

5. Will they only review/score assigned submissions?

Yes → Reviewer
No → They do not need access to Next. 

6. Will they only complete approval requests?

Yes → Approver
No → They do not need access to Next. 
 

Ready to set up Member Types in your Program? Follow the steps in ➡️Set Up Program Member Types.

 


 

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