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Blackbaud Education Management Solutions vs. Submittable

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

    Score7.2 out of 10
    N/ABlackbaud Education Management Solutions is a unified student management system for K–12 private schools. Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™: Gives schools and families the ability to track admissions progress from first impressions all the way through the application process to acceptance, enrollment, and tuition payment. Blackbaud Learning Management System™: Track students' academic performance and progression…N/A

    Submittable

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ASubmittable offers tools to launch, measure, and grow social impact programs, locally and globally. From grants and scholarships to awards and CSR programs, Submittable partners with users to make a difference. The vendor states Submittable has supported over 95,000 social impact programs, receiving nearly 20 million applications, and that teams save an average of 12 hours per week and launch in an average of 14 days.

    $10,000

    per year

    Pricing
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsSubmittable
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsSubmittable
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsSubmittable
    Considered Both Products
    Blackbaud
    No answer on this topic
    Submittable
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    73%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    90%
    Would buy again
    74 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    61 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    87%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    73 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    55 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    90%
    Implementation went as expected
    61 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsSubmittable
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Blackbaud Grantmaking
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsSubmittable
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    9.0
    (83 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Usability
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    7.9
    (79 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (4 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.4
    (2 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsSubmittable
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Blackbaud
    A good, and constantly improving solution for private schools. I don't know that a lot of its functionality would be well suited to public schools, but maybe? The integration with other Blackbaud software is a huge plus for us, as we have several of their other products including their flagship Raiser's Edge. Smaller schools may not need the sophistication of Blackbaud solutions, and it is not an inexpensive option.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    Submittable is great for grant management, grantmaking, and scholarship awards. It's a very useful tool also when there are multiple reviewers and committees involved in the assessment of the application. The table feature is helpful, but to download the information in a usable report is a pain. Overall a very useful tool for funding.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Blackbaud
    • Seamless integration between the LMS, EMS and SIS modules
    • Real-time, effective chat support helps me not only with urgent needs but also to work through possibilities for increasing how we use the product.
    • Feature upgrades monthly that respond to voiced needs from users
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    • Form-logic: Allows application forms to adjust based on answers to crucial questions (if-then-else) so that all applications don't have to see extended questions that may not apply to them or their situation.
    • Messaging Platform: This platform allows interactions with applicants or internal review teams to be associated with the specific submission, allowing for an easier, complete view of an application being considered and as an audit trail.
    • Good Voting/Polling Management: It makes it easier to record the latest vote/feedback from assigned team members and allows customization of the vote/feedback review as a form. It also summarizes the votes for easy review in a submissions dashboard view.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Blackbaud
    • Forms - lack of conditional questions
    • Gradebook -lack of links to assignments
    • Not being able to customize displays, for example, Grading tab - we just finished 1st semester and teachers could only see the current quarter but not the 1st one which is still part of the first semester. Lack of customization in assessments.
    • Scheduling- even though re-running generating schedules, we're still getting a high number of unscheduled students. Lack of being able to limit the number of scheduled classes in a row for teachers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    • We are some of the earliest users of employee volunteerism, so there have been some things to work out. However, because of that, we've gotten a lot of one-on-one support to help make minor tweaks to the system in a way that works for us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Blackbaud
    It is a solid product. We have some issues with the capabilities of the website building components and the out dated technology behind its communications software but overall Blackbaud Education Management Software services to combine numerous functions into one product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    We use this software annually to help with our grant processes. Without it, I'd be so lost! Our team relies on the data from our past years to sift applications and we try to prioritize those who have applied and been a finalist but perhaps didn't win in years prior
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud EMS is very usable from my perspective. I am a power user and get lots of valuable functionality. It is, however, a complex system. Sometimes necessarily complex to accommodate flexibility for diverse customer needs. Some complexity seems unnecessary and/or hold-over functionality from earlier versions; nice to see this type being evolved away from over time. It is valuable to receive regular updates to the system along with good release notes of what changed and notices of significant changes in advance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    A submittable requires a great deal of thought to set up. It would be best if you really did an outline and flowcharting. Once you have a detailed plan and set up the system, you have to think of the process that you would manually do step-by-step to deal with the what-ifs; it’s beautiful. The ability to Clone events is invaluable. The onboarding can be complex, but the ease of use afterward is worth it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    We have thankfully never experienced an outage nor been affected by a technology issue on Submittable's side that has delayed our grant process. We have instead been able to distribute over $6M in donated dollars to AAPI small business owners because Submittable is trustworthy and available
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    We've had a quick and efficient submittable experience that has always been easy to use. When we need a report it downloads within seconds, even the larger reports are 30 seconds or less to download. Pages are quick to load and reports complete in a more than reasonable time frame
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Blackbaud
    Decent support however the chat feature can take a great amount of time out of the workday. If for instance you are waiting for someone to respond in the chat and there is a fire drill, if you are not responding within a few minutes, you are disconnected and have to start all over again. It would be great if you could submit your problem and then whoever has the most experience, can respond. The training in the Blackbaud University is good but also time-consuming - a 3 hr training in the middle of a workday is a lot to ask. I like the 90-minute sessions. It would also be great to offer a shorter webinar to update on any changes implemented. Other than the email I subscribed to, there is no information on how these updates actually work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    We have been using this for many years but my memory is that we had a
    human walk us through how to use basic features. We also used the
    resource library to learn about specific topics or issues as they came
    up.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    10/10 because we were able to meet virtually and still get all of our questions answered! Online was effective too because we could easily record the sessions and review them later. Since we had to onboard our reviewers virtually, it was actually convenient that this was the same method we learned how to use the entire program virtually too.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    I would say, provide Submittable as much detailed information on your planned use of the platform and your desires with the platform as possible, and the implementation will be tailored to accommodate your organization with minimal lag time and issues/problems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud K-12 is very similar. I feel like I would be trading one set of issues for another so it's kind of a wash. We are very much hooked into the Blackbaud website with our Google SSO, SmartTuition, and Schooldoc integrations. It would be difficult for us to transition. That is the main reason I haven't really entertained other web firms.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    Submittable isn't in the same league as these other platforms. It's trying to get there but it's been a rocky road. Neither customer support nor the account people we've dealt with at Submittable seem particularly knowledgeable about how the product actually works for foundations and can't provide detailed recommendations for how to use the product more effectively. The decision to use Submittable was made before I came on board. We are moving to another platform next year, probably SmartSimple.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    I wish we could choose our own number of applications we want for the year and have the price be changed because we are in-between buyable numbers and always have to add more applications at the end of the year
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    We have been easily able to grow. Not only are we able to process different applications, but Submittable makes it easy to add applications onto our plan. Additionally, their eligibility form before the application does a good job of screening applicants so we do not pay for extra applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Submittable
    Very professional
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Blackbaud
    • Negative - The rollout is brutal. Blackbaud said it could happen in 6 months, but that is definitely not a reality. It will take well over a year, and one complete school cycle to actually integrate everything correctly.
    • Positive - The amount of time saved in data processing has allowed our office to become more involved in other areas of the school.
    • Positive - The ease of having everything in [one] place, from inquiry to application to contracts and course registration, has been a HUGE benefit to our applicants and their families.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Submittable
    • Time is money! Submittable has eliminated many tasks I used to do manually, thus freeing my time for other work.
    • Decreased support calls and emails from applicants- Our applicants are able to successfully access and apply for our grants.
    • No internal IT support needed to use this platform. That team is able to focus on their larger business projects and needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions Screenshots

    Screenshot of Topics pages help organize units of learning throughout the year in the Learning Management SystemScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Schedule view makes it easy for teachers to manage their daysScreenshot of Blackbaud Enrollment Management System Admissions Checklists help applicants track their progress in the admissions processScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Keep track of all the key information about your students in one place