# SmarterSelect Reviews **Vendor:** SmarterSelect **Category:** [Grant Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/grant-management) **Average Rating:** 4.2/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 106 ## About SmarterSelect SmarterSelect makes managing scholarships, grants, and awards a breeze. Our easy-to-use online platform helps you create applications, review submissions, and pick recipients – all in one place. Whether you're a small non-profit or a large foundation, we've got you covered. With features like custom forms, automated workflows, and team review tools, you'll save time and make better decisions. Over 2 million users trust us to keep things fair and transparent. Plus, our friendly support team is always ready to help. Want to focus more on making a difference and less on paperwork? That's what we're here for! ## SmarterSelect Reviews ### 1. Just completed a successful scholarship season! **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kelley D. | Scholarship Coordinator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 27, 2024 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** As the Scholarship Coordinator for a Public Schools Foundation, we worked with the experts at SmarterSelect to build a robust scholarship application process incorporating 95 unique scholarship programs through one common application. It worked just like it was supposed to, and students, parents, teachers, recommenders, evaluators, and the administrator of the overall program (me!) all found it easy to use. In addition, customer support was highly responsive to questions or issues through the chat and would gladly hop on a Zoom call if necessary. Everyone I have worked with has been very knowledgeable about the functionality of the platform and super friendly and patient with their guidance. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** No complaints. Our Foundation is now using SmarterSelect for a couple different grant programs and our massive scholarship program and have had no issues. Satisfied customer! **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** Our public schools foundation had been using another platform for our scholarship program but were experiencing a lot of issues and had a number of complaints about how it was not very user-friendly. Two colleagues started using SmarterSelect last year and have enjoyed it for their smaller grant programs, so we decided not to renew with our previous scholarship program and move everything to SmarterSelect. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Kelley, thanks for your review and feedback! ### 2. Great software, wish it had more features! **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sarah I. | Awards and Grants Officer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 23, 2024 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** I like SmarterSelect because it is pretty intuitive, meaning I can do things without having to look up how to do them. Their support team is also pretty great! **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** SmarterSelect is not very flexible. There have been multiple times over the past two years of using it that I have tried to do something just to find out it's not possible. An example is the App Rules section. You can only use something once in app rules, which is just not ideal or very functional. Another thing I wish SmarterSelect had was user profiles. I wish I could pull up someone's profile and see all the things they have applied for, their recommendation requests, email, phone number, etc. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** SmarterSelect has been great for Psi Chi. We are able to have all of our applications in the same place in the same program, which increases ease of use for our applicants. Once they have applied to something once, they are familiar with how to use the program and more likely to apply again without having issues. It is also nice because if they already have an account, they can just log back in and get started on their application. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hi Sarah, many thanks for your review and feedback! Reach out to Support to see if they can give you recommendations for App Rules. ### 3. Highly recommend **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lori M. | Development Associate, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 14, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** I have nothing but good things to say about SmarterSelect, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who asks. We are a smaller community foundation, so we appreciate that the software can be as simple or complex as needed. Charlotte gave us a clear overview of the product, and answered our questions efficiently and professionally. When we started asking questions that were beyond her expertise, she referred us to Ever. Ever was able to answer more in depth questions about the product, and built a basic program that I was easily able to build on. Once we committed to purchasing the software, Josten was a valuable source of information when going into the details of building our program. We were very pleased with the cost of the software, which tipped the scale in favor of SmarterSelect over an add on to our current accounting and donor software. I personally am very happy that I can utilize this one product for scholarships, grants, and even a board survey. I am confident that I will find other uses for it as well. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** There is a learning curve, but really not hard to pick up. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** As our scholarship program grows, it was getting harder to go through the mountain of paper applications. This will streamline that process and save a lot of time. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hi Lori, many thanks for your expansive review and feedback! ### 4. Easy and user-friendly **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Olga Z. | Community Relations Manager, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 24, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** We’ve been using SmarterSelect to manage two different programs, and it’s been incredibly efficient. From collecting applications to facilitating evaluations, everything is streamlined and easy to navigate. The platform is user-friendly, quick, and accessible — making the whole process smooth for both administrators and applicants. Highly recommend it for any organization looking to manage grants or application-based programs. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** Nothing, everything is working well for us **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** SmarterSelect helps us manage and streamline our entire grant process—from collecting applications to organizing reviewer evaluations. It solves the problem of time-consuming manual tracking and communication by putting everything in one easy-to-navigate platform. It’s a huge time-saver and makes the whole process more transparent and efficient for both our team and applicants. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hi Olga, thanks for taking the time to provide a review. Your feedback is very helpful for us! ### 5. SmarterSelect has completely changed the way we manage our scholarship applications. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Laura K. | Endowment Director, Non-Profit Organization Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 20, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** SmarterSelect is a ready-to-use, user-friendly, and streamlined platform. We were able to create and prepare 24 scholarship applications in a matter of days to be ready for the scholarship application season. We are able to share with the primary stake holders in order to build efficiencies and provide better follow up with students. The automation of tasks is a complete game changer - we have received positive feedback from both students and families. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** For us, because we are small, the price is a little higher than we would like. We will be moving toward a multi-year plan next year in hopes to save some money. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have moved from paper applications to online applications with a common application, making the process more more accessible and streamlined. On the admin side, SmarterSelect is saving us time and clerical work for multiple people. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hi Laura, thanks for your review! I'm glad your onboarding experience was a good one! ### 6. Smarter Select has been great to manage. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Marisol S. | Administrative Assistant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 13, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** The most helpful with Smarter Select is it's easier way to organize things. Customer Support is always super helpful as well. I often use it for all our applications for scholarships that we have available. The implementation always makes it easier to manage. Also, integrating most of the information that I need to add to all of the documents needed. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** So far there is nothing I dislike about having SmarterSelect. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** The organization has solved the way I can get to all of the applications for review and adjustments. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Marisol, many thanks for your feedback! ### 7. Streamlining the our application process **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andrew L. | Development Coordinator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 17, 2024 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** As a new Foundation awarding scholarship, we quickly learned that an application management program was necessary – from processing applications to reviews. SmarterSelect offered what we needed, can be customized, and expandable for growth. The sales representative was helpful and patient as we went through the process. Though live training is limited, there are multiple resources and quick responses from the help desk. Like many new applications, there are many features to learn. The Enhance version has allowed us to streamline our application process – applications can be segmented; auto-tasks allow for consistent communication; and evaluation process can be adapted. Organizations that provide scholarships need an application management program. I would recommend SmarterSelect. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** As noted, live training is limited. But there are multiple resources online and quick responses from the help desk. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** Streamline process flow. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hi Andrew, many thanks for your review! Your feedback is very helpful to us. ### 8. Easy Platform to Navigate **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Telecommunications | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** What I like best about SmarterSelect is how easy it makes managing applications. The platform is simple to use and saves me a lot of time. I really like how I can customize forms and set up logic so that people only see the questions that apply to them. It also helps keep everything organized and makes it easy to communicate with applicants. Overall, it takes a lot of stress out of the process and helps things run smoothly. If you're handling scholarships, grants, or awards, I definitely recommend giving it a try. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** The only thing I don't like is how challenging it can be to pull reports. Wish I could be more customizable. Customer support is helpful. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** What I like best about SmarterSelect is how easy it makes managing applications. The platform is simple to use and saves me a lot of time. I really like how I can customize forms and set up logic so that people only see the questions that apply to them. It also helps keep everything organized and makes it easy to communicate with applicants. Overall, it takes a lot of stress out of the process and helps things run smoothly. If you're handling scholarships, grants, or awards, I definitely recommend giving it a try. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hello! Many thanks for your review and feedback. ### 9. Happy SmarterSelect Administrator **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Allison C. | Sr. Administrator, HR Programs, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 24, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** SmarterSelect is fairly easy to learn how to use without prior experience. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** I don't like the fact that there isn't the option to have the survey toggle from English to another language. Also, you can't lock down a program to specified admins. **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** We use it to manage our scholarship program and for employee surveys. It helps capture info in one place and easily run a report to download needed details. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Hi Allison, thanks for your review and feedback. Re: survey language, you can setup a survey in another language or have the user use Google Translate in Chrome to translate the page. Also, we're considering how to address admin permissions for specific programs. ### 10. User friendly system with some limitations **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 02, 2025 **What do you like best about SmarterSelect?** Smarter Select has definitely made our allocation process easier. It is helpful to be able to change the table settings to organize the grants as needed. The best thing is that the evaluation process is integrated right into the grant. **What do you dislike about SmarterSelect?** Sometimes the system is not as intuitive and I need to constantly refer back to webinars to remember how to get/do a certain thing. I wish sending automatic emails was a bit easier (would automatically send to incomplete apps or evals without me manually choosing those recipients). **What problems is SmarterSelect solving and how is that benefiting you?** Integrating the evaluation process into the allocation process saves time for both the evaluators AND us, the admin. Assigning grants for review is as easy as clicking a button. **Official Response from Robert Davis:** > Many thanks for your detailed feedback and suggestions! ## SmarterSelect Discussions - [What is SmarterSelect used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-smarterselect-used-for) - [View SmarterSelect pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/smarterselect/reviews/smarterselect-review-8367808?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-02+23%3A11%3A32+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=b3e81e1c-f58d-4feb-b3d0-181740c525f1&secure%5Btoken%5D=3a613b655da2ac90395d8443b872a2867d50e6457d1d5ce22d728137cba76157&format=llm_user) ## SmarterSelect Features **Application Collection** - Custom Application Forms - Attachments - Scholarship Matching - Application Tracking **Proposal Management** - Form Building - Review Tools - Grantee Portal - Attachments - Task Management **Submission Management** - Form Builders - Countdown Timers - Landing Pages - Applicant Portal **Application Review** - Automated Review Assignments - Scoring Tools - Review Portal - Review Comments - Messaging **Fund Tracking** - Disbursements - Grant Allocations - Email Notifications **Judging Management** - Judge Assignments - Multiround Scoring - Scoring and Voting - Submission Dashboards **Administration and Integrations** - Administrative Dashboard - Reports - Integrations **Impact & Outcomes** - Program Evaluation - Data Analytics - Ad Hoc Reporting - Dashboards **Awards Administration** - Event Support - Applicant Communications - CRM - Reporting **Grant Prospecting** - Funder Lists - Automated Responses **Compliance** - Eligibility Screening - Auditing **Integrations** - Fund Accounting - Donor Management ## Top SmarterSelect Alternatives - [Bloomerang CRM](https://www.g2.com/products/bloomerang-crm/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (873 reviews) - [Award Force](https://www.g2.com/products/award-force/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (258 reviews) - [Submittable](https://www.g2.com/products/submittable/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (167 reviews)