Contents

• Overview 
• What is Bulk Disbursement? 
• Step-By-Step Instructions 
  • Step 1: Add a New Disbursement 
    • (Optional) Add Progress Report Dependencies 
  • Step 2: Finalize Disbursement
    • If You See an Insufficient Award Funds Message 
• What Happens After You Add a Disbursement? 
  • Disbursement Schedules 
  • Progress Report Dependencies 
  • Awardee Experience

Overview

This step-by-step guide shows Program Admins how to use Bulk Disbursements to add a new disbursement for one or more awardees after an award is accepted. 

⚠️ IMPORTANT: The Bulk Disbursements feature requires the Ad Hoc Disbursements feature flag to be enabled for your organization. If you would like this feature enabled, please contact Customer Success. 
 

What is Bulk Disbursement?

Bulk Disbursement lets Program Admins add a new disbursement for awardees who’ve accepted an award, without starting an amendment or creating a new award record. 

• You can add a disbursement to one awardee or multiple awardees at the same time.
• These disbursements can be added at any time for renewals, mid‑cycle adjustments, or continued funding. 
• You can also add progress report dependencies to the new disbursement, if needed.
  
  📌Note: If you want to add progress reports on their own (without creating a new disbursement), you must start an award amendment. See ➡️ Initiating General Amendments to Award Agreements.
   
• When to use Bulk Disbursement: Use Bulk Disbursement when you need to issue additional or renewed funding, such as when: 
  • Renewal or continuation funding is approved. 
  • A sponsor authorizes an additional payment. 
  • Additional funding needs to be issued after the award agreement is finalized.
• Who can use Bulk Disbursement:
  • Organization Owners
  • Program Owners
  • Program Managers

Step-By-Step Instructions 

Step 1: Add a New Disbursement 

⚠️IMPORTANT: You can only add a disbursement to awardees who’ve already accepted their awards. 

1. Open the Program you need. 

2. Click Awarding in the left-hand menu. 

3. In Awarding, use the “Switch to” drop-down at the top of the page to change your view to Accepted Awards. 



A list of all awardees who accepted their award agreements appears. 

📌Note: Only award agreements with “Accepted” status will appear here. If you have an award amendment in progress or draft form, the awardee will not appear here until they’ve accepted it again.

4. Select one or more awardees. 

📌 Note: You may choose a single awardee or multiple awardees for bulk creation. 

5. Click Actions in the upper-right corner.  Select Bulk Disbursements. 

6. In the Add Disbursements panel, enter:

a. Disbursement Title: Name for the new disbursement.

b. Amount: Dollar amount to be issued.

(Optional) Add to Award Amount:

- If checked: The existing award total increases and updates on the Award Agreement and award record.

Example: Adding a $1,000 disbursement to a $1,000 award increases the total to $2,000.
When to use: For renewal funding, continuation funding, or increasing an award mid-year. 

 - If unchecked: The disbursement is added to the Disbursement Schedule, but the award total does not change. 

c. Duration of Disbursement: The start and end dates for the period the disbursement covers.

d. Initiate: Date the disbursement becomes eligible for release. 

(Optional) Add Progress Report Dependencies

If you want the new disbursement to require one or more progress reports before initiating funds, you can add them now as dependencies. This is common for renewals. 

To add progress reports: 

1. Click + Add Dependency. 

2. Select the Time Zone for reporting deadlines. 

3. Complete the following fields: 

a. Select Progress Report: Choose a published report.

📌Note: Only published reports are available. If you need to create a new progress report, return to Cycle Setup and publish it first. (For help, see ➡️Create New Post Award Report Form)

b. Report Name: Name for the report.

c. Reporting Period: Dates the report should cover.

d. Due By: Day the report must be submitted | Time: Time the report must be submitted. 
 

Step 2: Finalize Disbursement

1. Review the list of awardees who will receive the disbursement. 

• If you need to remove an awardee from the list, click the trash icon on the far-right.
  
  

2. Click Add Disbursement.

⚠️IMPORTANT: Just like existing disbursements, once you add the new disbursement, it cannot  be edited or deleted. 

3. A notification appears in the bottom-left confirming your disbursement was successfully added. 


 

If You See an “Insufficient Award Funds” Message

• You may see this error if the disbursement amount exceeds the award’s available funds.

Example: 

• To resolve it, you can:
  • Reduce the disbursement amount.
  • Delete the affected awardees at the bottom of the panel. 
  • Increase the award’s monetary limits in Cycle Setup:
    • For fixed awards: increase the monetary amount per recipient.
    • For variable awards: increase the maximum award amount.

For more help, see ➡️Award Setup.
 

What Happens After You Add a Disbursement?

Disbursement Schedules

• Award Agreement: New disbursements are automatically added to the awardee's Disbursement Schedule. 
   
• Award Totals: If "Add to Award Amount" was selected, the new total will reflect in the Award Agreement, the award record, and your Cycle's award metrics.

📌 Note: Applicants are not notified when disbursements are added. 

Progress Report Dependencies

If you added progress report dependencies to the new disbursement:

• Award Agreement: The reports are automatically added to the awardee's Progress Report Schedule. 
   
• Completion Requirements: Awardees must complete these reports before the disbursement can be initiated.
   
• Email Notification: The awardee is sent an automatic email communication ("Report Assigned") notifying them of all progress reports assigned to the new disbursement. 

📌Note: To remove the automatic email or change the timing: Open the Award Cycle (Program Settings > All Award Cycles) > Go to Communications > Setup > Post Award > Report Assigned. For more help, see ➡️How to Manage Your Email Communications Setup.


 

Awardee Experience 

• Awardees can view new disbursements and progress reports by opening their award and selecting Schedule. The Reporting Schedule and Disbursement Schedule tabs appear there. 
  
  

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