How Submittable Uses Data Analytics to Power Impactful Grant and CSR Programs

The Company

The Submittable platform helps organizations of all kinds (including nonprofits, governments, and corporations) to manage grants, CSR initiatives, and other application-based programs.

Because Submittable supports everything from small community grants to large, government-funded programs, it serves a diverse and global customer base.

A key strength of the platform is its flexibility. Customers can design their own application forms, build customized review workflows, and define the awarding process that fits their program.

The Analytics Challenge

Submittable’s customers each run their own unique grantmaking or CSR process, and every program collects different types of data. Customers define their own application forms, workflows, questions, and criteria for making decisions. This means that Submittable must support thousands of different data combinations across its customer base.

Because every application, program, and review cycle can look completely different, creating a single set of standard analytics was not enough. Customers needed to understand how their specific programs were performing; whether during application intake, through multiple rounds of review, or after awards had been made. They wanted to explore the responses to individual questions, understand applicant cohorts, and assess whether funded projects had achieved the goals set out in the application process.

Submittable also faced similar challenges on the CSR side, where organizations track employee engagement, giving behavior, and the impact of their contributions. While basic reporting was straightforward, customers wanted deeper insight into whether their giving efforts made a meaningful difference.

Supporting this level of variation requires giving customers tools to perform their own reporting and analysis. Submittable needed an analytics solution that could handle the complexity of highly customized data and make it usable for a wide range of users.

The Solution

Submittable chose GoodData as a way to surface the data stored in its own pipelines and data warehouse in a format customers could easily work with.

GoodData provided both a logical data model and a dashboarding system, which Submittable embedded directly into its products. This allowed the company to offer standard reports while also giving customers the ability to create their own dashboards, analyze their data, and explore it without needing technical skills such as SQL.

A major benefit for Submittable was the ease with which GoodData could be embedded. The team built an automated provisioning system so that when a customer is onboarded, their reporting environment is available immediately, and GoodData dashboards are accessible on their first day using the product.

Submittable worked closely with GoodData’s professional services team during the initial setup. They helped build the logical data models and established the foundations needed for long-term success. Once this groundwork was complete, Submittable’s internal team was able to take over confidently and continue building on top of the GoodData® platform.

The Result

With GoodData in place, Submittable can surface the information customers need in a way that is easy to access and use. Dashboards are available immediately upon login, making analytics a seamless part of the overall experience and supporting stronger adoption of Submittable’s products.

Previously, Submittable noted that if customers cannot see how their programs are performing, they cannot evaluate whether their grants or CSR initiatives are achieving their goals. GoodData fills this gap by enabling organizations to explore their data throughout the entire lifecycle of their programs, from intake and review to awarding and post-award impact tracking.

Now, reporting has become a core part of how customers use the platform, and they can rely on clear data to understand what is happening within their programs.

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