Get the Most | Submittable Next · Issue 3 · August 2026
Welcome to the third issue of Get the Most. Last time, we looked at setting up review rounds that force real decisions instead of a pool full of 8s and 9s. This issue is about the step that comes right after review: the Award Agreement, the agreement you send once applicants are selected, setting the terms they need to accept before an award goes out.
Award Agreement Templates are one of the most flexible tools in Submittable Next. You can build one per award type, add Variables and Submittable fills in each recipient's details automatically, and now capture an updated profile at the exact moment someone accepts. Getting the most out of them comes down to timing, and how many templates you build. If you haven't built one yet, start with Creating and Publishing Award Agreement Templates →
Build Now. Publish When You're Ready to Award.
You can start building an Award Agreement Template anytime. There's no reason to wait on the setup: add your Rich Text Editor content, your uploaded fields, etc.
Publishing is the one step worth holding off on, and here's the reason: Dynamic Variables in the Rich Text Editor pull applicant-specific data (a text answer, a multiple-choice response, a date) from your Intake or Profile Form. That data doesn't exist until applicants have actually submitted responses. A template published before responses come in will have variables with nothing behind them.
Publish once you've selected your awardees. Then, the responses behind the variables are there, and the template will fill in real data for every recipient instead of a placeholder.
There's a second reason to hold off: once a template is published, it can't be edited. No changes to fields, language, or settings on that template again. You can duplicate a published template and edit the copy, but the original stays exactly as it was published. Waiting until you're closer to awarding gives you more runway to catch anything worth adjusting first. Learn what you can still edit after publishing →
Test the Full Award Process Before You Go Live
You can't run through the full award experience, agreement included, without a trial run. That's what Test Mode is for. Activate it and step through the entire flow: Intake, Reviews and Awards (including Award Agreements).
Copy the test cycle when you're done, and every award agreement template in the copy reverts to unpublished. That's the workaround: duplicate the test cycle to get your templates back to an editable, unpublished state, then build your live cycle from there.
Learn more about Testing an Award Cycle →
Build As Many Templates As You Need
There's no cap on how many Award Agreement Templates a program can have, and they don't have to correspond one-to-one with award types. The same award could have three templates split by awardee risk level, each with different required documents or different agreement language, even though every awardee is receiving the same award. A single template stretched across every distinction usually means fields that don't apply to everyone, or language that has to hedge to cover every case. Build separate templates around whatever split actually matters for your program, whether that's award type, risk level, or something else entirely.
Even after a template is built, you're not locked into sending it exactly as-is. You can still fine-tune it for an individual awardee before you notify them, and you have the option to notify one awardee at a time or award in bulk.
Wait to Duplicate Until You're Close to Awarding
Once you have a template built, duplicating it is the fastest way to create a variation: same base structure, different details. The one thing worth waiting on: if the copy needs its own Progress Report Schedule, build that schedule once your award details are close to final, not the moment you duplicate. Schedule dates are tied to specific dates and disbursement details that are often still moving earlier in the cycle. If you duplicate before those dates are settled and they shift, you'll be rebuilding the schedule in every copy you've already made, not just once. That’s a lot of unnecessary clicks. We recommend you lock the dates first, then duplicate. See how to set up Progress Report and Disbursement Schedules →
Customize and Add Fields for Whatever You Still Need From Applicants
A template isn't limited to the four default fields: Rich Text Editor for your Terms & Conditions, Upload Required Documents, Progress Report Schedule, and Disbursements (if your organization has the Financial Module).
Customize the Upload Required Documents field to state exactly what you need — a signed project plan, a college acceptance letter, a W-9. Add more Upload fields for each additional document type. Once uploaded, everything stays attached to that agreement, in one place, for good.
Add fields for anything else you need to collect. Common asks: a short answer field for the authorized signer's name and title, a payment preference (ACH, check, or wire), or, for scholarship programs, a thank-you letter, typed into a long-text field or uploaded as a document.
Choose How Awardees Sign
Every agreement needs a signature, and you've got three ways to get one:
- Built-in e-signature. Click Add Field and drag the eSignature field into your template. Customize the language around it or use the default language.
- Wet signature. Awardees upload a signed document through the Upload Required Documents field instead of signing electronically.
- Docusign. Connect your Docusign account once, and from that point forward you never need to open Docusign at all. The whole signing flow runs through Submittable, including being able to see the signed agreements.
The Docusign integration has one detail worth knowing before you set it up: you configure your signing order inside Submittable, but it won't show you awardee names until you've actually selected your awardees. Build the order early with placeholders in mind, and the real names populate once your decisions are made. See the Docusign Integration for Award Agreements guide →
New: Profile Checks on Award Agreements
New this month, you can add a Profile Check to any Award Agreement Template, published or not yet published. Toggle it on, and before an awardee can accept the award, they're walked through a page that shows their current profile information and lets them update it. The moment they accept, Submittable captures a read-only snapshot of the profile exactly as it looked at that point in time, attached to the agreement for admins to view.
This closes a gap that used to mean a follow-up email: an awardee's address, org details, or contact information can be months out of date by the time an award is decided. Now it's confirmed as part of accepting the award, not a separate ask.
You choose which profile fields show up in that snapshot, all of them or just the ones your program needs on record. See the full setup guide →
A Few Things Worth Knowing
- Templates can be edited freely before publishing. Once published, a template is locked, but you can duplicate it and edit the copy.
- The Acknowledgment Statement is required on every template. You can edit the text, but it can't be moved, hidden, or removed.
- Budget and Goals & Milestones (if enabled for your organization) lock at publish, same as everything else on the template. Decide on those before you toggle them on and publish, not after.
- Profile Form will only show up as a Dynamic Variable source after your final review round, the same principle as Intake Form variables.
- To add the awardee's name, pull it from Dynamic Variables on the Profile or Intake Form, not Static Variables. Common mix-up: Organization Name is your organization's name, not the awardee's.
- Hidden fields in your Intake Forms are not available as Dynamic Variables.
Wrapping Up
An Award Agreement Template does its job when the setup work happens early and the publish happens late. Build the language, the fields, and the variables as soon as your cycle opens. Hold the publish button until your awardees are selected and the data those variables need is already in the system.
Questions? Reach out to your Customer Success Manager or visit submittable.com/support.
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