For arts and cultural funders

Grant software shaped around your process and your panels

ApplyCycle runs grant applications, panel review, decisions, and payment tracking for arts and cultural funders. Zivtech built it with music funders. Staff define forms and stages and assign panelists to applications.

Schedule a walkthroughHow it works

  1. Setup

    Your staff set the stages

    Each status says who can edit, which email goes out, and whether it counts as an award. After Zivtech's setup and training, staff change forms and statuses without a developer.

    Status form with name, description, color, and email settings, including subject and message fields.
    Choose a status's color and notification email.

  2. Applications

    Applications arrive with the work attached

    The cycle opens on the date you set, with the number of applications each organization may send. Organizations attach files, images, audio recordings, and video links, and several members of an organization can work on one application.

    Grant cycle form showing an application limit and opening and closing dates.
    Set application dates and the per-organization application limit.

  3. Panel review

    The panel reads, listens, and scores

    Panelists see the applications assigned to them and play audio and video inside the application. Each panelist gives one score; staff see every score with the minimum, average, and maximum. Comments marked staff-only stay out of panel review.

    Application beside a review panel with a score field, reviewed checkbox, comments, and previous and next controls.
    Read an application, enter a score, and mark it reviewed.

  4. Decisions

    Record the decision, and the email goes out

    Move an application to a status that has an email and ApplyCycle sends it. Staff edit award amounts in the application table and record each payment's amount, date, and status; organizations can see their own payments.

    Editable application grid with award amounts, panelist assignments, and workflow statuses.
    Edit award amounts, panelists, and statuses across applications.

  5. Records

    The records are yours

    Export a cycle as CSV in the columns you choose. ApplyCycle builds a combined PDF of each application, and staff can download a whole cycle's PDFs as one zip.

    Applications table for one cycle, ending in a CSV button and a Download All Applications button.
    Export the cycle as CSV, or download every application as a PDF.

  6. Tracking

    See where every application stands

    Check application statuses across a cycle.

    Application table with a status filter and rows labeled Draft, Submitted, Panel Review, Recommended, Ineligible, and Declined.

How it works

Your staff set the stages

  1. Decide what each stage does

    Your staff define each status: who can edit, whether it counts as an award, and which notification emails go out. Each program has its own form, with sections shown by role and status. With Zivtech's setup and training, staff change forms and statuses without a developer. Staff also email any set of applications at once, using templates they write.

  2. Organizations and their fiscal sponsors

    Organizations apply, and their profiles hold financial information and fiscal-sponsor relationships. Several members can work on the same organization's application. When someone belongs to multiple organizations, they can switch between them; each cycle's application limit applies per organization.

  3. Hear the work alongside the proposal

    Applicants submit audio recordings and video links; panelists listen and watch inside the application. A panel judging music or performance hears the work in the same place it reads about it.

  4. Keep staff notes out of panel review

    Panelists review the applications staff assign to them, directly or through a panel. Staff choose whether comments stay private or appear to the panel. Each panelist enters one score and marks the application reviewed; staff see individual scores, the minimum, the maximum, and the average.

  5. Your data, in columns you choose

    Choose the columns for your CSV export. For individual applications, ApplyCycle generates a combined PDF; you can also download a cycle's PDFs together in one zip.

Inside a grant cycle

Cycle setup

  • Program-specific application forms
  • Scheduled cycle opening and closing
  • Application limits per organization
  • Public program pages and past awards

Applicants

  • Staff-approved registration and applicant invitations
  • Organization profiles with fiscal-sponsor relationships
  • Application sections with save, autosave, and preview
  • Audio recordings and video links inside the application
  • Yearly income and expense tables

Panel review

  • Panelists assigned to applications through panels
  • Previous and next application controls
  • One score and reviewed flag per panelist
  • Panel-visible comments and private staff notes
  • Bulk status changes and panelist assignments

Awards and payments

  • Unpaid, Paid, Received, Returned, and Not Received payments
  • Application and payment CSV imports
  • Staff-configured CSV export columns
  • Combined PDFs for individual applications
  • Zip files of a cycle's PDFs

Each person's part in the cycle

  1. Staff

    Manage the stages from application to payment

    • Define a form for each program.
    • Set status rules for edits, emails, and awards.
    • Schedule the dates when each cycle opens and closes.
    • Change statuses and panelist assignments in the editable grid.
    • Import application and payment changes from a CSV file.
    • Choose CSV columns and download application PDFs.

  2. Applicants

    Work on your organization's application

    • Register for staff approval, or accept an invitation.
    • Keep your organization's financial information and any fiscal sponsor on file.
    • Save your application anytime and preview it before submitting.
    • Attach audio recordings and video links to your application.
    • Switch between organizations you belong to.
    • Receive status emails at stages your funder chooses.

  3. Panelists

    Read, score, and discuss assigned applications

    • Read the applications staff assign to you, directly or through a panel.
    • Move between applications with the previous and next controls.
    • Listen to recordings and watch video inside the application.
    • Enter one score and mark the application reviewed.
    • Leave comments for the panel to read.
    • Download an application's PDF or a zip of the cycle's PDFs.

Who ApplyCycle fits

ApplyCycle fits funders that review applications from organizations by panel, run one or a few application cycles a year, and track payments to grantees after the award. Staff check an organization's eligibility before it can create a profile, so organizations that don't qualify never add themselves or applications to the site.

Applicants often have fiscal sponsors, and several people may work on one application. If this describes your process and you can work within the limits above, ApplyCycle is likely a fit.

ApplyCycle is built on Drupal, so Zivtech can extend it for other grantmakers. Who it works for has the details.