The SurveyMonkey Apply alternative for grantmakers who need their software to work

Submittable is intuitive and reliable from day one – and continues to improve. No manual workarounds, no unfixable bugs, no empty promises.

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3,500 state and local government agencies and educational institutions rely on Submittable

12 minutes average time for support to respond to a Submittable customer or applicant

¾ of customers describe Submittable as “easy” or “very easy” to use

SurveyMonkey Apply is getting worse, not better

SurveyMonkey Apply (SMA) customers say that its functionality is declining over time. Features that used to work are now broken while promises for improvements go unrealized. Teams struggle to learn the software only to have to find manual workarounds to make it useful for their work.

“It crashes regularly, times out, and overall does not function as intended, usually with DISASTROUS effects for our programs.”^₁
“Very high learning curve for administrators.” ^₂
“Options include a great deal of price and a lack of function for tailoring to needs.” ³
"When we originally had a contract with SurveyMonkey, they told us the reporting features were in beta, but that they would be rolled out. And that was in 2017. It's not gotten better, it's actually gotten worse." ^₄
“The intake [process for] applications works well. The maintaining – during and then post-application – process is a real administrative burden.” ^₅
“It’s not easy to grab the [SMA] API. The way they chunk the data just doesn’t make any sense and it seems really outdated, very archaic in a way.” ^₆

Your grant programs deserve better. Submittable delivers the reliable, intuitive platform needed to help you accomplish your mission.

3/4

customers describe Submittable as “easy” or “very easy” to use

$10B+

funds managed using Submittable

Submittable is “infinitely better”

That’s what one senior program manager said after switching from SMA to Submittable.⁷ Grantmakers prefer Submittable for our superior reporting features, grantor and grantee experience, and customer service.

SMA caps reporting at 250 records. Submittable doesn’t, and allows you to combine application and review data. You can also:

Preview reports before running them
Report across programs
Subrecipient monitoring

Skip SurveyMonkey Apply's clunky, outdated interface that customers constantly complain about. Submittable's modern, intuitive design works seamlessly for both administrators and applicants.

Drag and drop form builder
Easy, flexible workflows that fit your grant processes
Duplicate entire programs with 1 click
Integrated award agreements
Automated progress reporting schedules

While SMA customers can take 2-3 months to onboard, Submittable is agile enough that we can launch on your timeline. Thanks to our expert implementation specialists, we’ve even launched major government programs in less than 1 week. Plus, 89% of Submittable customers launch new programs in 2 weeks or less.

SurveyMonkey Apply doesn’t prioritize the grantmaker experience

SMA customers flag a pattern of raising prices while functionality declines. Keeping features in "beta" for 8+ years⁴, and leaving critical bugs unfixed shows a company focused on extracting revenue rather than delivering value to customers who depend on the platform.

Grantmakers are tired of paying more for software that works less effectively over time. They’re moving to grant management software like Submittable to make their jobs easier and to make a more meaningful impact in the world.

Submittable is the forward-thinking SurveyMonkey Apply alternative

Schedule a demo today to see how Submittable compares with SurveyMonkey Apply.

We’re not the only GMS platform around. Take a look at these alternatives for grants and CSR programs to find the solution that’s best for your team.

Interested in employee giving or volunteering software? You may want to learn more about Submittable or other alternatives like:

Have questions about specific functionality or how to move from one platform to another? We’re happy to answer your questions or chat through what that may look like for your team.

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