Hi ,
There are two types of guidelines in Submittable, and they each serve a different purpose. Let's dig into what to include in your General (or Account) Guidelines and Project Guidelines to help your submitters be successful.
More of a visual learner? Check out our video on this topic in the Help Center.
General Guidelines
What are General Guidelines?
Your General Guidelines show on your main Submittable site or landing page. This is the page to which most organizations direct applicants as a starting point. You should keep these guidelines short and sweet, and recall that people seeing them may be new to your organization as well as Submittable.
What to include in General Guidelines
You should include brief information about your organization, your process, and about using Submittable. Consider the following:
Your organization
Your mission and/or values
The kinds of programs you run
Your process
What submitters can expect after they apply
If you don’t have any current programs open, it may be a good idea to let applicants know when they will become available so they know when to check back
Using Submittable
A Submittable account is required to apply—submitters can create one, or sign in using Google or Facebook
Submittable applications can be saved to finish later, as well as edited (if allowed by you) or withdrawn following submission
A link to the Submitter Resource Center
Technical troubleshooting tips, such as recommending Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and how to safelist emails from Submittable to help ensure delivery
How to update your General Guidelines
Find your General Guidelines under More > Account > General Guidelines. Click Update Profile at the bottom of the page to save your changes, which will update immediately.
Project Guidelines
What are Project Guidelines?
On your main Submittable page, below the General Guidelines, your open Projects are listed. The Project Guidelines, which are optional, are collapsed under a link that says Guidelines. Submitters may expand the specific guidelines for each Project.
When they move forward to apply, these Project Guidelines will also show at the top of both the Eligibility Form and the main application form for easy reference.
What to include in Project Guidelines
Whether you need Project Guidelines and how detailed to make them is up to you. Here's what we recommend you consider including:
Eligibility information: If only some submitters will be eligible for your program, it's best to make that clear right from the start. Even if it's open to all, for the sake of transparency (and to save everyone time), it can be helpful to describe what types of submissions you are looking for, or are most likely to be successful.
Program FAQs: Answer any questions you know will come up. For more than one or two, link to FAQs hosted on your website instead.
Contact information: Let applicants know how they can get in touch with you if they have questions they can't find an answer to.
Your full application form: While it's not a built in tool, you can follow the steps in this article to create a hyperlink to your full application, if you'd like.
Success tips: To help applicants submit their best work, we suggest also including:
A reminder that the application will auto-save and that applicants can return to their drafts
How many questions are included and approximately how long it will take an applicant to complete the form
How to update Project Guidelines
Find your Project Guidelines on the first tab of your Project:
Tips & Tricks for Guidelines
Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
Be brief.
Your guidelines should be short. Too much text is overwhelming (and doesn't get read!). On your Project Guidelines, long guidelines could even obscure the application itself. Use hyperlinks or embed a quick video instead.
Use the rich text editor.
Have a lot to say? Hyperlinks—such as to an FAQ page on your website—are the key to keeping things brief while also being sure all of the information that may be needed is easily available. You can also use images, bullets, and more to make your information as clear as possible.
Pro tip: To really make hyperlinks stand out, add a bold and underline to them as well, as in the example from Community Impact Fund at the top of this email.
Meet people where they are.
Remember, sometimes your Submittable portal is the first time someone has encountered your organization! Use the General Guidelines as a tool to tell them a bit about yourself.
Provide a quick orientation.
While millions have, don't assume everyone has used Submittable before, or for that matter, is super comfortable with technology. A quick explanation of why they are there could go a long way to building confidence for some of your audience. You can also include our Meet Submittable for Applicants video.
Use guidelines as a tool for transparency.
Unlike your full form (unless you followed the tip above!), guidelines are visible to those without a Submittable account. This makes them a great venue to surface information that might be important for some to consider before they decide to create an account. (On the other hand, if your program is private, you also have the option to keep it hidden.)
I hope this primer gave you some ideas on how to improve your guidelines before any fall programs kick off. Enjoy this last stretch of summer!
Natalya Taylor
Director of Product Marketing