Outgrown spreadsheets and email? ApplyCycle for arts and panel-reviewed funders
Organizations and fiscal sponsors as applicants, statuses your staff define, panels and exports configured with you.
Who this page is for
You run programs where panels review applications from organizations, often with fiscal sponsors. Several members of each organization need to work on the same application.
Your staff want to change statuses and forms themselves after training. You need forms for each program and status settings that govern emails, editing, and panel visibility.
Not for
- This page is not for applicants looking for a funder's application form.
- ApplyCycle is not for buyers who want self-serve software, because Zivtech sets it up with you and trains your staff.
- ApplyCycle is not SOC 2 certified, so it does not fit buyers who need that certification today.
An integration requirement is scoped and quoted after a feasibility review, rather than treated as a reason to stay or leave.
Spreadsheets and email, and ApplyCycle, side by side
The left column is what ApplyCycle does today. The right is how the same work usually happens on a sheet.
| Capability | ApplyCycle | Spreadsheets and email |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies | Several members share an organization's application, with fiscal sponsor details kept separately on the organization's profile. Your staff accept or decline registration before the organization can create a profile or application. | An application arrives in one person's inbox. The sender stands for the organization, and the fiscal sponsor appears as a budget line. |
| Who sees what | Your staff build forms per program, with fields and sections shown by role and status. Panelists see only assigned applications in statuses allowing panel viewing, and only sections their role and status permit. | You forward emails to panelists and check each attachment, hoping the budget tab was left out. |
| Stages and statuses | After training, your staff define statuses, their emails, edit permissions, and panel visibility. Cycles open and close by date, with application limits per organization. | You update the status column by hand and write emails one at a time. |
| Panel review | Assign panels or reviewers to applications; reviewers navigate with next, previous, and jump, give one score per application, and mark it reviewed. Comments are panel-visible or staff-only; you see individual scores, minimum, maximum, and average. | Panelists read applications in a shared folder and keep separate scoring sheets. Your staff merge their scores. |
| Exports and records | Choose CSV columns; export an application and attachments as one PDF, or a zipped cycle. At setup Zivtech matches the layout to your board report; four yearly layout changes are included. No dashboards or charts: the export is the report. | The records are already in a spreadsheet. Finding the history means finding who has the latest copy. |
| After the decision | An award status records the decision; the application stores the award amount, and organizations can see their payments and payment statuses. There are no grant agreements, installment schedules, grantee progress reports, or multi-year disbursement plans. | Finance keeps payment records elsewhere, so the program sheet rarely shows what was paid. |
| Recordings and media | Applicants submit recordings and video links; reviewers listen and watch inside the application. | Panelists find links in an email and open them one at a time. |
| Price | ApplyCycle starts at $7,500 a year per site, plus setup quoted after a walkthrough. | Staff time, including the person who keeps the master sheet. |
Where spreadsheets are still the right tool
A program with a handful of applications a year, one reviewer and no payments to track is served well by a sheet.
A form builder plus email works well when applicants are individuals rather than organizations.
Software earns its cost when several people review, statuses change often, and records must survive staff turnover.
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See it with your program
Bring your current program to a walkthrough set up with your forms, statuses, and panel review.
Register one sample organization
- One sample organization with two members and a fiscal sponsor registers, and your staff accept it. Its profile records the sponsor's details separately from the organization's own.
Draft an application together
- Both members work on one application, save drafts, and return to them. They see sections appear as the status allows, then preview and submit once required fields are complete.
Move through your statuses
- Your staff move the application through the statuses your program uses, and each status sends its configured email. After training, staff change those settings themselves.
Read and score as panelists
- Panelists see only assigned applications and sections their role and status allow. Each gives one score per application and marks it reviewed; your staff see every score and the minimum, maximum, and average.
Export the records
- Export the agreed CSV columns and one combined PDF with the application and its attachments. Your staff configure columns; Zivtech extends the layout when a column needs new logic.
Record the award and payment
- Your staff move the application to a status flagged as an award and record the award amount. Record the payment status as Unpaid, Paid, Received, Returned, or Not Received; the organization can see its payments.
What switching involves
Export your spreadsheet as CSV. Your staff import application and payment data into ApplyCycle by CSV.
Zivtech sets up your programs, statuses, forms, panels, and exports with you, then trains your staff. Zivtech stays on as the team that answers; a person replies by email.
Extending ApplyCycle
ApplyCycle runs on Drupal, where Zivtech also builds AI. So staff-side AI assistance and integrations are built as part of your engagement, scoped and quoted with you, rather than shipped as modules. Any AI we build works for program staff and reviewers; it never scores, ranks or recommends decisions on applicants. Nothing of this kind ships today, and nothing is built unless you ask for it.
Questions program officers ask
Can our panelists see budgets?
Yes, if the application is assigned to them and its status allows panel viewing. The budget section must also be visible to their role in that status.
Can we change a status email ourselves?
Yes. After training, your staff change the email each status sends when an application enters it. Staff also change whether applicants can edit and whether panelists can see applications in that status.
What happens to our spreadsheets?
Export your sheet as CSV, then import its application and payment data into ApplyCycle. Your staff choose the columns for CSV exports, so you can keep working with a sheet as an export. One application also exports as a combined PDF with its attachments.
Does it connect to our CRM or accounting system?
No. Bring your CRM or accounting requirement to the walkthrough for a feasibility review. Zivtech scopes and quotes integration work; today, data moves by CSV and PDF.
Can we compare and restore earlier application data?
Yes. Each application keeps a full revision history. You can compare revisions and revert to an earlier version.
Bring your program
Bring your current program to a live walkthrough. See one sample organization move through your forms, statuses, panel review, exports, and payment tracking.