What users are saying about
9 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8 out of 100
Based on 9 reviews and ratings
Submittable
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Top Rated
44 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 9.2 out of 100
Based on 44 reviews and ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Blackbaud FIMS is rated higher in 1 area: Support Rating
- Submittable is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
Blackbaud FIMS
60%
4 Ratings
9.2
Submittable
92%
41 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew
Blackbaud FIMS
N/A
0 Ratings
9.3
Submittable
93%
3 Ratings
Usability
Blackbaud FIMS
N/A
0 Ratings
8.5
Submittable
85%
35 Ratings
Support Rating
8.0
Blackbaud FIMS
80%
2 Ratings
7.0
Submittable
70%
1 Rating
Implementation Rating
Blackbaud FIMS
N/A
0 Ratings
9.0
Submittable
90%
1 Rating
Likelihood to Recommend
Blackbaud FIMS
It is a very robust system and with the various modules you can accomplish much of what is needed for traditional transaction US-based grantmaking. If you have more complicated grantmaking, deal with foreign currencies or want to have tighter alignment of finance and budget numbers, GIFTS may not meet your needs. Additionally, some of their core projects have limited accessibility in terms of various mobile devices or access from outside the organization's network.
Director of Grant Management
Houston EndowmentPhilanthropy, 11-50 employees
Submittable
A very useful software for the whole scholarship system, from the selection of the candidates to the delivery of the payment. I recommend it 100% because it has helped us enormously and we have been able to achieve that many more people can apply for scholarships, because it is a software that responds efficiently.
R&D / Product Development Engineer - Quality
TE ConnectivityElectrical & Electronic Manufacturing, 10,001+ employees
Pros
Blackbaud FIMS
- Simple layout
- Duplication reports
- Lots of fields for organization-specific information

Verified User
Program Manager in Other
Philanthropy Company, 1-10 employeesSubmittable
- We can receive documents from applicants in a secure way without having them be downloaded to our computers.
- Submittable emails you directly when someone emails through the platform which is extremely helpful.
- Submittable allows us to have many different forms on file to easily send.

Verified User
Program Manager in Other
Philanthropy Company, 1-10 employeesCons
Blackbaud FIMS
- While GIFTS Classic is the most barren interfaces of all MicroEdge products, there are some simple capabilities I wish GIFTS could still perform such as better email integration from outlook to a GIFTS request, more efficient requirement reminders, and a wider use of Microsoft Office and other external product integration (GuideStar).
- It's disappointing that you have to purchase an additional "Customizer Module" or "Budget Module" in order to access basic functions of a GMS. This seems like a basic system function that MicroEdge takes advantage of, unfortunately.
- The online application module (IGAM) is still quite antiquated and you have to be knowledgeable of basic HTML in order to really customize your organization's online application. More flexibility and design functions would be greatly appreciated with the online application function, especially since this is a public document and represents your organization.
Grants Associate
Commonweal FoundationNon-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Submittable
- Labels shouldn't be an option for all reviewers, we had a reviewer for our Florida applicants create labels like "1" "2" "3" which confused my reviewers in California.
- Running reports across multiple grant projects is tedious and clumsy. Our grant project had 15 regions but it was the same application, we had to compare applications across regions, but could only have a set amount of winners for each area. It would've been easier to create 1 application and 1 opportunity but have filters for the # of applications for each region instead of creating 15 separate applications.
- Reviewers also found the review forms difficult. There should be an easier way to run a report on their pending reviews in an excel format, or just a better functionality to review. Even with onboarding, our reviewers were confused and didn't use the review function.
Program and Marketing Manager
National ACENon-profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees
Pricing Details
Blackbaud FIMS
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Submittable
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
$10,000 per year
Likelihood to Renew
Blackbaud FIMS
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Submittable
Submittable 9.3
Based on 3 answers
I don't see how we could continue to operate our program without Submittable. It is also the industry standard - our submitters are used to and familiar with the platform. We put a lot of work into transitioning from a mail-in submission model to a Submittable-supported one and it just wouldn't make sense to "go back."

Verified User
Program Manager in Other
Non-profit Organization Management Company, 1-10 employeesUsability
Blackbaud FIMS
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Submittable
Submittable 8.5
Based on 35 answers
I think that the whole system is super intuitive. The onboarding was great and gave me all of the tools I now need to update/change, etc, my review process. I've rarely had to ask the Submittable support team for help because everything is super easy to understand. We have also received many comments on how easy the system is to use on the application and reviewer side of things.
Program Specialist
Pacific Ocean Energy TrustRenewables & Environment, 1-10 employees
Support Rating
Blackbaud FIMS
Blackbaud FIMS 8.0
Based on 2 answers
I typically receive a response to an inquiry within an hour or two, if not sooner. Most tech support people are knowledgeable about our problems, and if not, they will escalate to the proper person.
Program Officer
FM Kirby FoundationNon-Profit Organization Management, 1-10 employees
Submittable
Submittable 7.0
Based on 1 answer
I think that they are good at answering our questions and solving our problems. We occasionally get reports from applicants about problems the Submittable team has not solved, but I do not know what the applicant has done to get the problem solved.

Verified User
Program Manager in Other
Philanthropy Company, 1-10 employeesAlternatives Considered
Blackbaud FIMS
It is really a matter of priority. I can see situations where GIFTS Classic is a very strong option! Once an organization determines its priorities then it should definitely consider GIFTS to see how well it compares with mission critical functionality.
Director of Grant Management
Houston EndowmentPhilanthropy, 11-50 employees
Submittable
Foundant is excellent for grants management for organizations, but not as strong as Submittable when it comes to programs for individual applicants. Submittable pricing is really competitive and what you get for the cost, makes it a winner against other systems that may be more customizable. And note that if you have a lot of customization, you might need dedicated people to maintain it and train others, while Submittable is easy to understand "out of the box."

Verified User
Administrator in Other
Philanthropy Company, 1-10 employeesReturn on Investment
Blackbaud FIMS
- Reporting was difficult on GIFTS - often we had to place data into Excel by hand since we could not create simple customized reports. This increased time spent on tasks GIFTS was supposed to streamline.
- GIFTS did not alert us to duplicated organization records, so often it was difficult to reflect an organization's full grant history to our Board of Directors, leading to employees spending time searching through paper records to make sure all information was properly reported.
- GIFTS created duplicate contact records, meaning it was difficult to find out which contact was related to which organization and cluttered our data. This caused decreased processing and response time to "new" contacts who turned out to be previous contacts or contacts whose information was tied to previous organizations. Even when contact information was updated for a new organization, sometimes the program would revert to the first organization contact information, several times leading to checks cashed to incorrect organizations---the very worst consequence of using GIFTS to our organization. Thankfully, the money was recovered upon the few times that error occurred, but it led to me and other employees reading through out 800+ checks before issue to make sure the correct organization was in fact being rewarded.

Verified User
Program Manager in Other
Philanthropy Company, 1-10 employeesSubmittable
- This saves us both time and actual expenses from paper applications.
- More people can access the applications and we can customize them each year to meet the needs of our applicants.
- Everyone's application from start to finish is now in one place including the reviewer's notes, site visit reports and final reports. Much more efficient.

Verified User
Director in Other
Philanthropy Company, 1-10 employees