Contents

• Overview 
• What is an Award Cycle? 
• Step-By-Step Instructions
  • Step 1: Access Award Cycles
  • Step 2: Create a New Award Cycle 
  • Step 3: Set Up Your New Award Cycle
  • Step 4: Activate Test Mode 
  • Step 5: Publish Your Cycle 
    • Before You Begin: Close Previous Cycle 
    • Instructions to Publish Your Cycle

Overview

This article shows Program Admins how to add and set up another award cycle in Next. Use this when your program already has at least one award cycle.

What is an Award Cycle? 

An award cycle is the period of time when applications are collected, reviewed, and awards are given to applicants. For a deeper look, see ➡️Award Cycle Basics. 

• Common use cases for adding another award cycle to a program: 
  • Your program runs on a recurring schedule (e.g., annually or quarterly) and the previous cycle has ended.
  • You want to run a new cycle alongside one that's currently active (published). See ➡️ Run Multiple Active Cycles in a Program at the Same Time (coming soon).
• Who can create and set up award cycles? 
  • Organization Owners
  • Client Admins (in partner-managed accounts)
  • Program Owners 
  • Program Managers

Step-By-Step Instructions 

Step 1: Access Award Cycles

1. Log in to your account. From the Programs page, click View Program to open the program you want to work in. 
   
   
    
2. You'll automatically land on the Award Cycles page, which shows a list of all existing cycles in that program. 
   
   
    

Step 2: Create a New Award Cycle

Choose Your Setup Path

• There are two ways to create a new award cycle. Use the table to choose the setup path that fits your program's needs, then follow the linked instructions to create your cycle. 

Step 3: Set Up Your New Award Cycle 

♻️ If Duplicated: If you duplicated (copied) a cycle, you’ll only need to review and update the items listed below.

🆕 If Brand New: If you created a new, blank cycle, you’re starting from scratch and will need to create or set up most of the items below. 
 

1. Program Members

• Review and Update Program Member Types 

• Add or Remove Program Members (if staff changed)
  
  ➡️Help Articles: Program Member Types | Add New Program Members | Remove Program Members
   

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2. Program Info 

• Confirm your Program Info is up-to-date, especially for new annual cycles. 
   

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3. Cycle Details

• Rename the award cycle and add a cycle description. 
  ➡️Help Article: Rename an Award Cycle
   

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 4. Forms (Eligibility, Intake, Request, Custom Review Feedback) 

• ♻️If Duplicated: Review and update all forms as needed. 
  • Update form names if they're cycle-specific (e.g., "2027 Scholarship Application").
  • Edit questions that refer to specific time frames (e.g., "Describe your organization's planned activities for the 2027–2028 grant period.").
  • Add, modify, or remove questions as appropriate.
    
    📌Note: Adding or removing questions from a Custom Feedback Review form may affect calculated scores. After making changes, check and update any calculated value fields as needed. 
     

• 🆕If Brand New: Create all forms relevant to the program. 
  
  ➡️Help Articles: Eligibility Forms | Intake Forms | Request Forms | Custom Review Feedback Forms
   

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6. Workflow (Intake and Review Rounds)

For Testing: Set up your workflow so you can test it from the applicant, admin, and/or reviewer perspective.

• ♻️If Duplicated: 
  • Set new deadlines for Intake Rounds
  • (Optional) Set new deadlines for Review Rounds. (This triggers reminder communications to reviewers as the deadline approaches). 
     
• 🆕If Brand New: 
  • Set up Intake and Review Rounds. 
     
• Review Workflow Options: Review the settings on the Workflow Options screen (e.g. Rolling Applications, Multiple Applications, etc.) and make changes as needed. (To get to Workflow Options, Open Cycle Settings > Workflow > Workflow Options). 
   
• Assign Reviewers for Testing: Assign yourself as a reviewer to Review Rounds. (You can also assign additional test reviewers, if desired). 
  
  ⚠️Important Note for Publishing: After testing, you must return to this workflow before publishing your program to update all deadlines and assign reviewers to the live cycle (if desired). 
  
  ➡️Help Articles: Set Up an Intake Round | Set up a Review Round | Assign Reviewers to Review Rounds

💡Tip: If You Need to Delete Rounds:  If you added extra Intake or Review Rounds that you no longer need, you can delete them before testing or publishing (and, for deadline-based cycles, also during testing):

• In the Workflow Builder, click the gear icon   next to the Test/Publish buttons in the upper-right corner of the screen.
• Select Delete Rounds. 
• Red minus icons will appear to the left of the rounds that can be deleted. 

• Select the minus icon next to the round(s) you want to delete.
   

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7. Awards & Award Agreements 

• ♻️If Duplicated: 
  • Review and edit your Award Setup, if needed. 
  • Review your Award Agreement(s) and Progress Report Form(s) (if relevant)
     
• 🆕If Brand New: 
  • Set up your Award(s). 

  • Create your Award Agreement(s), Progress Report Form(s) (if needed), and Reporting Schedule (if needed) 
    
    📌 Note: If your organization has budgets enabled, you'll need to allocate funds to the award — even if you duplicated an existing cycle. Budget allocations don't carry over automatically.
     

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8. Communications

• ♻️If Duplicated: Review the existing communications setup. 
   
• 🆕If Brand New: Set up communications for new cycle
  
  ➡️Help Articles: How to Manage Your Email Communications Setup | How to Manage Your Email Communications Templates

Step 4: Activate Test Mode 

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Test Mode can only be entered once per cycle.

Test Mode helps you catch issues before publishing. Once your cycle is published, most settings can’t be changed. 

• Use Test Mode to:
  • Walk through the workflow as an applicant, reviewer, and/or admin
  • Catch errors in your forms or workflow
  • Make final adjustments to your program/cycle before going live
• To test your cycle, follow these steps: ➡️Activate Test Mode. 
• For more testing tips, see ➡️ Test Mode Best Practices
   

Step 5: Publish Your Cycle

• Before publishing, decide whether to close your previous award cycle first or publish while it's still active.
  
  ⚠️IMPORTANT: Before closing a cycle, review this article carefully for instructions and important details about what happens ➡️ Closing an Award Cycle. Closing a cycle prematurely can affect applicant statuses. 
  
  📌 Note: You can still complete post-award activities in closed cycles (e.g., post-award reports, reimbursement expenses, award agreement amendments).
   
• For step-by-step instructions on publishing your cycle, see ➡️ How to Publish an Award Cycle. 

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