Many scholarship providers are hearing a new pitch: a “full service” scholarship management vendor that now runs its programs on Submittable.
Submittable is a capable submission platform that is widely used for grants, awards and corporate philanthropy – but full service requires more than a software layer. If you rely on your vendor for true end-to-end program management, including application design, verification, payments, compliance and reporting, you’ll want to look closely at how a “full-service-on-Submittable” model really performs.
Below is a practical guide to help you evaluate the trade-offs, uncover hidden workload and ask the right questions.
Platforms Provide Technology. ISTS Delivers Full Service.
Submittable delivers useful DIY features for building forms, workflows and review steps. But when a vendor bases its entire service model on Submittable, your operations now rely on two separate systems and two different vendors: the platform itself and the provider adding the service layer. That structure can blur accountability and shift responsibility for daily execution back to your internal team.
ISTS removes the disconnect. Our purpose-built scholarship management system and in-house experts operate as one, managing every stage of your program – from application setup and verification to payments, renewals and reporting – with complete accountability.
Where Full Service Must Be Proven, Not Just Promised
A true full-service partner should demonstrate clear accountability, documented workflows and end-to-end control across these critical areas:
Document Verification
- Who verifies transcripts, enrollment, grades and financial documents?
Payments & Reconciliation
- Who manages ACH/check runs, refunds, returns and stale-dated checks?
- How is reconciliation handled and reported back to Finance?
Renewals & Eligibility
- How are GPA and enrollment checks managed for multi-year awards?
- Who chases incomplete renewals and handles exceptions?
Compliance & Data Protection
- How is FERPA/PII handled, retained and protected across two systems (the platform and the vendor’s service tools)?
- Can the vendor provide evidence that end-to-end processes withstand audits?
Analytics & Insights
- Can you get board-ready analytics and insights without staffing analysts?
- Are metrics unified across years and programs or just one-off CSV exports?
Global & Technical Considerations
- Country-specific compliance, currency and eligibility rules usually live outside a generic form builder. What’s the vendor’s playbook?
Without mature, documented processes outside the platform, these essentials can easily fall back on your internal team. That’s where “full service” starts to erode into co-management.
Common Pitfalls When a Full-Service Vendor Adopts Submittable
When a vendor builds its service model on a third-party platform like Submittable, “full service” often turns into co-service, requiring more administrative effort from your internal team.
Data can become fragmented across systems, complicating audit trails and compliance checks.
Payment processes may be more complex than anticipated, creating reconciliation gaps or manual interventions.
Change management can lag behind technology updates.
Data portability becomes limited as your program is tied to both the platform’s release cycle and the vendor’s separate service roadmap.
These issues can quickly undermine the reliability, compliance and efficiency that full-service management is supposed to deliver.
Due Diligence Questions to Ask
When evaluating a vendor, press for transparency in these areas:
Operations & Service Delivery
- Who does what, exactly? Application build, QA, communications, document verification, selections, disbursements, renewals and audit prep.
- Where does work live? What are the SOPs for tasks not performed inside Submittable (e.g., payment reconciliation, fraud checks)?
- Can the vendor provide volume and SLA evidence? Specifically: inquiry response times, document processing rates, payment cycles and issue resolution performance.
- Demonstrate language and accessibility support in your actual configuration, not just in marketing claims.
Data, Reporting & Business Intelligence
- How will you migrate all legacy data, attachments, notes and reviewer artifacts?
- Who builds and maintains board-ready dashboards? Are insights delivered proactively – and on what cadence?
- Who owns break/fix responsibilities when issues arise?
- Can the vendor show data-flow diagrams, retention schedules and evidence of FERPA/PII controls across both systems?
Risk & Business Continuity
- What happens if Submittable experiences an outage?
- Are there contractual guarantees for complete, structured data export if the vendor changes platforms?
- What are the vendor’s documented contingency plans for continuity of service?
ISTS: The True Full-Service Scholarship Management Partner
ISTS was built from the start for comprehensive scholarship program management. Our model combines secure technology, rigorous process control and dedicated client success experts to handle every detail – from application design and eligibility configuration to document verification, payment disbursement and renewal tracking. We also maintain timely communication with applicants and provide real-time dashboards and reporting to keep you and your team informed at every stage.
Two Weeks to Transition
If you decide to make a change, ISTS can fully transition your program in as little as two weeks, even if you’ve been with your previous vendor for years. That means your program stays operational while our team manages every element of migration, communication and launch.
ISTS has successfully moved countless scholarship programs from legacy and platform-based vendors with zero disruption. Our proven transition framework includes:
- Secure, verified data migration of 100% of applicant and financial records
- Aligned payment schedules and reconciliation processes
- Recipient communication to maintain trust and clarity
- Dedicated transition specialists guiding every step
Beyond The Platform
A platform partnership can look modern, but technology alone doesn’t deliver accountability, compliance or reliability.
ISTS sets the standard for true, end-to-end scholarship program management: integrated, secure and backed by a team that knows your goals and your program inside and out.
When you partner with ISTS, you gain more than a platform. You gain a strategic partner that anticipates challenges, manages every operational detail and keeps your program running smoothly from application to award.
