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Go-Live Checklist: Prepare an Award Cycle for Publishing

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Micall Searles
Micall Searles
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Contents 

Overview

This checklist helps Organization Owners and Program Owners review important organization, program, and cycle settings before publishing an Award Cycle in Next.

⚠️ Many settings cannot be changed after publishing. For full details, see ➡️ How to Publish an Award Cycle > What You Can & Cannot Change After Publishing.


As you review, here are some icons you’ll see:

👤 Applicant-facing = this is visible to applicants

⚠️ IMPORTANT = critical information

📌 Notes = helpful tips 

➡️Help Article  = link to a related article in the Knowledge Base.
 

⚠️Before You Complete the Go-Live Checklist: Finish Testing

Organization-Level To-Dos

Confirm Your Organization Settings* 

*These settings are only accessible to Organization Owners. They apply to all programs and award cycles. They can be changed after publishing, but it’s helpful to review them before going live.

About Us (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Complete the Organization’s ➡️About Us section

Branding (👤applicant-facing)

✅Set up the Organization’s ➡️Branding

A. Add a Top Banner (if desired)

  • Add a Logo

📌Note: This logo will also be used in your email communications, so be sure to select a version that appears correctly in both places. 

  • Add an Organization Title 

📌Note: This setting only affects the title shown at the top of the portal. It does not change the organization name used elsewhere in the platform or in the email “From” name in cmmunications. 

B. Customize the Navigation Sidebar (if desired) 

  • Set Theme Colors 

📌Note: Use accessible, high-contrast colors to improve readability for all users. For help checking contrast, see the WebAIM Contrast Checker. 

Profile Forms (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Create a Profile Form for each applicant type your programs accept:

- These questions will be asked to all applicants across all programs, so make sure they are relevant to every program. 

- Be cautious when deleting questions used in active programs to avoid losing data. When possible, consider hiding questions instead of deleting them.

Program-Level To-Dos

Confirm Your ➡️Program Setup

✅ Add Program Name (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Add Program Info (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Mark program as Active: Toggle = Yes 

📌 Note:  This toggle only controls how the program appears on the Opportunities page (it does not make the program “active” for applications). Selecting Yes fills the green circle icon next to your program, making it easy to spot programs that are currently in use. If a program is no longer active, toggle it Off.

✅ ONLY if your program will be Invite-Only: Toggle Yes on invitation-only if applicants must be invited to your program to apply. 

📌 Note: Toggling invite-only to Yes generates an invite code to share with applicants.

✅Confirm Award Titles in Award Listing (👤applicant-facing)

📌 Note:  This step isn’t required for publishing, but helpful to check! 

✅ Confirm Program URL

⚠️IMPORTANT: 

- Avoid changing the Program URL if you’ve already shared it with applicants, as this will break the link. 

- Keep your Program URL generic (e.g., no year or cycle name in the URL). This way, you can reuse the same link year over year. 

Confirm Your Program Members 

✅ Set up ➡️Member Types for the program 

📌 Note: If you need clarification around member roles and permissions, see ➡️Understanding Member Types: Roles & Permissions 

✅ Invite ➡️Program Members to the program 

📌 Note: Organization Owners automatically have access to all programs. They cannot be added as Program Members. 

✅ Assign a Program Owner 

⚠️IMPORTANT:
- You can only have one Program Owner, and they’re the only person who can finalize awards. You can change the Program Owner at any time, if needed.

- If you’re the Organization Owner and want to be able to finalize awards, assign yourself as the Program Owner. 

✅Add Program Manager(s) (if applicable) 

✅ Add Program Staff (if applicable) 

✅ Add Reviewers (if applicable) 
 

Cycle-Level To-Dos

Confirm Your ➡️Cycle Setup

✅ Add a Cycle Name (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Add a Cycle Description 

If Applicable to Your Cycle: Feature Toggles 

These settings shape how your cycle works and are good to confirm before publishing, as many cannot be changed after publishing, unless you submit a Support ticket. 

Only review the toggles that are relevant to how your cycle runs. Some settings may not apply to your cycle or may not be enabled for your organization.

  • ➡️Rolling Applications (cannot be changed after publishing)
    Toggle “Yes” if you want to move applications through rounds without waiting for deadlines to pass. 

📌 Note: If you’re unsure which type of cycle you need, read this article: ➡️Deadline-Based vs Rolling Cycles. 

  • ➡️Direct Awarding (cannot be changed after publishing)
    Toggle “Yes” if you want to import awardees into the system for continued progress reporting without requiring them to apply, bypassing the traditional pre-award process (cannot use in Rolling cycles). 

⚠️IMPORTANT: Only toggle yes on Direct Awarding if you plan to use it. Enabling it immediately clears all intake and review settings/stages for the cycle. 

  • Multiple Applications (cannot be changed after publishing)
    Toggle “Yes” if you want applicants to be able to apply more than once in the same cycle.
     
  • Log Expenses (cannot be changed after publishing)
    Toggle “Yes” if you want to allow grantees to log expenses. 

📌 Note: This only applies if you have Funding and Budget management as part of your subscription. 

  • Request Amendments (can be changed after publishing, if needed)
    Toggle “Yes” if you want awardees to be able to submit amendment requests for award agreements.
     

Review Your Forms 

Eligibility Form (if applicable) (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Review the ➡️Eligibility Form, if you have one. 

  • Review all questions. 
  • Confirm eligibility fields are set up as intended.

⚠️IMPORTANT: Eligibility cannot be changed after publishing, so make sure you’ve tested all eligibility scenarios before publishing. 

Intake Form(s)  (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Review all ➡️Intake Form(s)

  • Review all questions. 
  • Confirm that any required questions are marked as required in the field settings.

Request Forms (if applicable) (for third-parties/recommenders)

✅ Review ➡️Request Form(s), if you have any. 

  • Review all questions.
  • Confirm that any required questions are marked as required in the field settings.

Custom Feedback Forms (if applicable) (for Reviewers)

✅ Review ➡️Custom Feedback Form(s), if you have any. 

  • Review all questions. 
  • Confirm that any required questions are marked as required in the field settings.
     

Review Your Award Setup (Not Required for Publishing)

Award setup is optional. You can review these items now, but nothing here needs to be finalized before publishing.

Awards (Optional Review)

✅ Review ➡️Award(s) for the cycle. 

  • Check award details (monetary vs. non-monetary, # recipients, monetary amount, maximum amount).

Award Agreements & Post-Award Reports (Optional Review)

If desired, you can prep or review the content in your Award Agreement(s) and Post-Award Report(s). We recommend not publishing Award Agreement Templates or Progress Report Forms until you’ve selected applicants to award. 

✅ Review ➡️Award Agreement Template language. (👤applicant-facing)

✅ Review ➡️Progress Report Form drafts, if applicable. (👤applicant-facing)
 

📌Notes for Publishing Templates Later (These apply only to publishing the templates/forms themselves, not your cycle):

- Once an Award Agreement Template or Progress Report Form is published, it cannot be edited.  If changes are needed, create copies to edit.

- Some Award Agreement details—like the awardee’s name—can be pulled from the profile form. This information can only be mapped after awardees are selected.

- If your cycle requires Progress Reports, add a Reporting Schedule to the Award Agreement before sending award notifications. Without it, awardees cannot complete the reports.
 

Confirm Your Workflow 

Intake Round(s)

✅ Review all ➡️Intake Round(s)

  • Add submission deadline date, time, and time zone.
  • Confirm the appropriate Intake Form is selected.  
     

Review Round(s)

✅ Review all ➡️Review Round(s)

  • Add deadline date(s)

📌Note: Review Round deadlines are soft and not required (especially in Rolling Cycles); reviewers can still submit feedback forms after a deadline has passed, but not once the next round has started.

  • Keep “Who is in charge of this round” as-is (defaults to the Program Owner). Changing it does not currently affect the review process. 
     
  • Confirm that the correct Intake Form to evaluate is selected, especially if using multiple Intake Rounds. 
     
  • Hide relevant fields from reviewers (if applicable). 

📌Note: If the applicant name is hidden in the profile form(s), reviewers will only see the applicant ID.

  • Choose how you want reviewers to make assignments (assign all, set number, or divide into groups).
    • Select the number of reviewers per application (if doing set number) 
    • Select how you want to assign groups and # of groups (if doing ➡️Group Assignments) 
  • Select ➡️Feedback Type (Scoring, Voting, Custom Feedback Form) 
    • Confirm the correct Feedback Form is selected (if using Custom Feedback Form) 
  • Confirm average score field (if using Scoring)
  • Review notes and edit feedback toggles (if using Voting or Scoring)

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Toggle Yes if want to allow reviewers to record notes or edit their feedback after submitting their review. 

⚠️ IMPORTANT: 

- Reviewers that will be auto-assigned in your workflow must be invited to the program first. See ➡️Add New Program Members if you still need to do this. 

- Deadline-Based Programs: Reviewers must be added to the workflow before the Review Round starts. Once the Review Round starts, reviewers must be added manually.

- Rolling Programs: Reviewers must be added to the workflow before publishing. Once the cycle is published, reviewers must be added manually.
 

 

Review Your ➡️Email Communications (Not Required for Publishing)

Email communications can be updated at any time, so this section is not required for publishing. It can be helpful to review before publishing to confirm what’s currently set up and make any desired changes. 

✅ Review Email Template Library 

  • Confirm that any custom email templates have been created and added to setup. 

✅ Review Email Setup 

  • Confirm triggers for custom emails are set up. 
     
  • Confirm any emails not set up by default have been added (if applicable). 

📌Note: Email Triggers to consider adding to your Communications Setup: 

- Intake > Deadline: Add a “scheduled” email to go out to individual/org applicants 1 week before the application deadline.

- Review > Deadline: Add a “scheduled” email to notify reviewers of Review Round deadlines.

- Review > Applicant Denied: Add an “immediate” email for individual/org applicants so waitlisted applicants are automatically sent a declined email when an award cycle closes.

- Review > Applicant Disqualified: Add an “immediate” email for individual/org applicants to notify them of disqualification during review.

- (For Rolling Cycles) - Intake > Application Submitted: Add an “immediate” email for Program Owners and Program Managers to notify them of a submitted application. 
 

🚀 Next Steps

You’re almost ready to go live!



 

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