When you need an agreement of any kind signed within the Submittable platform, the Docusign Integration feature can replace makeshift documents and problematic e-signature software. Docusign integration can be used by team members with permission levels 4 and 5 who also have access to your organization's Docusign account.

Authenticate a Docusign Account with Submittable

After creating a Business Pro Docusign account, any level 4 or 5 team member who plans to use the integration must authenticate their account with Submittable. This can be done in two places.

While you're sending a Docusign template:

Or from the Integrations page (More>Integrations>eSign):

Note: The integration will search for the authentication of your default account in Docusign. You may need to change the default if you are trying to use a different Docusign account:

Setting a Default Docusign Account

To set a default account in Docusign, follow these steps:

Select your profile image.
Go to My Preferences.
In the General Settings section, find Your Default eSignature Account.
Click on Set as default.

Your new default account will now be set, and you will always start in that account when you log in.

Create a Docusign Template

1. From your account in Docusign, go to the Templates section, then click Start:

Name your template and give it a description (optional). Upload your signature document:

3. Add the recipients of your signature document. At least one of the recipients needs to have the Role of Signer:

4. Add a custom email message (optional):

5. Select an envelope type. Envelope Types help categorize your agreements for better searching and reporting, identifying trends, and triggering workflows:

If you need Docusign assistance creating templates, check out this article.

Add Placeholder Tags to the Template

Note: You must use the Classic Editor in Docusign to use Submittable placeholder tags.

On the left, you'll see Standard Fields that you can click and drag to your signature document. In this example, Signature and Date Signed have been added to the document:

Next, move to Custom Fields by clicking the option on the far left, then click the plus sign to add a new field:

Add the exact name of a Submittable placeholder tag in both the Name and Initial Value fields. A list of usable tags is included at the end of this article.

After you've created the Custom Fields you want to use in the document, they will appear under My Fields for you to drag and drop into your document:

Your Custom Placeholder Tags will also appear in this area and can be dragged and dropped into your template.

Configure the Form to Capture Signer Information

From your Submittable account:

Open the Initial Form or Internal Form where the Signer information will be captured.
Drag the appropriate number of E-Signature fields to the desired place in the form.
Rename the fields to match your requirements, e.g., "Signer 1," "Signer 2," "CFO," or "Executive Director."
Save the form:

Configure the Docusign Template with Signers

Next, click Manage Templates:

Your Docusign templates will appear on this page. Click Configure Recipients next to the template you want to configure:

The Roles that were configured for the template in Docusign will be displayed. For each Role that does not have a Recipient configured, one must be configured to be able to use the template within Submittable:

For each Role that you added in Docusign, select the Recipient Source:
- Submitter, or
- Team Member, or
- Form Field (e-Signature fields).
If the Recipient Source is a Team Member, select the team member who will be signing.
If the Recipient Source is a Form Field, select the relevant field that contains the signer information.

Click the Save link to close the template.

Send a Docusign Template

Docusign documents can be sent from the submission details when:

Changing a status
Sending an additional form

From the submission details view, change the submission's status or click More>Send Additional Form.

On the email modal that appears, select the Docusign template to send. The recipients will be listed below:

Click Send at the bottom of the modal.

A note is added to the Activity section of the submission details:

Enable Docusign Tracking

When Docusign Tracking is turned on, your submissions will automatically show updates about the status of Docusign documents sent from within Submittable when a document is sent or signed.

If you turn off this setting, the system will stop tracking updates for any new Docusign documents you send. Documents that were already being tracked will continue to receive updates.

Navigate to More>Integrations>eSign
Ensure your Docusign account is connected to your Submittable account. If not, click Authenticate my Docusign account to connect.
In the Docusign Tracking section, click Enable Docusign Tracking:

A confirmation message will appear:

Tracking Document Status

Within minutes (typically) of activity on the Docusign document by a signer, the update will become available within Submittable. Please note: The page may need to be refreshed.

Navigate to the submission details view for a specific submission.
Scroll down to the External Documents section, where all Docusign documents sent via Submittable for this submission will display.
Click the down arrow to open Document Recipient Details:

Status descriptions:

Completed: Document has been signed and is in transit to the next signer (if applicable).
Documents sent: An email request to sign has been sent.
Viewed: Recipient has viewed the document(s) within Docusign.
Declined: Recipient declined to sign.
Received automated email response: Email request to sign bounced.
Waiting to send: Recipient has not yet received the invitation to sign.
Awaiting fax: Recipient signed; system is waiting for a fax attachment.

Downloading the Executed Docusign Document

When all signers have completed the signing process, the executed document will be available to Admins within Submittable. Click the download icon to view:

Submitters see a similar view in their account under the Forms tab of the submission. They can also download the signed form:

Recipient Experience

Signers will receive an email from Docusign alerting them that they have a document to review & sign. Please note: Signers do not need a Submittable account.
From the email, the signer clicks Review Document and is taken to Docusign.
Within Docusign, the signer reviews the document and follows the prompts to sign in all relevant places.

When all parties have completed the signing process, the signers will receive an email from Docusign with a link to the completed document.

Placeholder Tags for Docusign Integration

Placeholder tags in Docusign are case-sensitive. Custom Placeholder Tags can also be used in documents.

Placeholder Tags for Custom Field "Name"	Description
[Title]	Submission title from the Submission Name Field or the submission number
[SubmitterFirstName]	First name of the submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterLastName]	First name of the submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterEmail]	Email address of the submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterAddress1]	First line of submitter address from their account profile
[SubmitterAddress2]	Second line of submitter address from their account profile
[SubmitterCityTown]	City/Town of submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterStateProvince]	Full State/Province of submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterStateCode]	Abbreviated State/Province of submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterRegion]	Region of submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterZipCode]	Zip code of submitter from their account profile
[SubmitterCountry]	Country of submitter from their account profile
[SubmissionOrganizationLegalName]	Submitting organization's legal name
[SubmissionOrganizationDbaName]	Submitting organization's DBA name
[SubmissionOrganizationAddressLine1]	Submitting organization's first line of address
[SubmissionOrganizationAddressLine2]	Submitting organization's second line of address
[SubmissionOrganizationCity]	Submitting organization's city
[SubmissionOrganizationStateProvince]	Submitting organization's state/province
[SubmissionOrganizationZip]	Submitting organization's zip code
[SubmissionOrganizationCountry]	Submitting organization's country
[SubmissionOrganizationGovernmentEntityId]	Submitting organization's government ID number
[ProjectName]	Name of the project
[ProjectStartDate]	Project start date from the project's settings
[ProjectExpireDate]	Project end date from the project's settings
[SubmissionStatus]	Status of submission
[SubmissionGuid]	Globally unique identifier from submission
[StaffFirstName]	First name of the currently logged-in team member initiating the message
[StaffLastName]	Last name of the currently logged-in team member initiating the message
[OrganizationName]	Organization name from account public profile
[OrganizationWebSite]	Website URL from account public profile
[DetailsLink]	Direct link to the current submission in the submitter's account
[LoginLink]	Direct link to the login page
[ID]	Unique identifier of submission
[AwardAmount]	Amount of submitter's most recently awarded Funds transaction

Like what you see? To add the Docusign Integration feature to your account, please contact an account manager.