SmarterSelect vs OpenWater Comparison

SurveyMonkey Apply

Award Force

Volgistics

Evalato

Blackbaud Award Management

SmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management

Compare SmarterSelect and OpenWater based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more. Find out which software is best for your business today.

Web-based software management system for recruiting, tracking and coordinating volunteers serving organizations of all types and sizes

Blackbaud Award Management (formerly AcademicWorks) is a web-based scholarship management & donor reporting solution which assists schools, colleges and universities with applicant tracking & communication. Key features include forms management, student portal, financial aid management & reporting.

SmartSimple Cloud is a highly flexible, all-in-one grantmaking solution for funders requiring more efficiency and measurement throughout the full lifecycle of their granting process. SmartSimple Cloud empowers everyone in a small foundation or a large international grantmaker.

Award More.
Work Less.

SmarterSelect is an online application management solution for scholarship, award, and grant providers to collect, analyze and evaluate online applications. We help organizations to award more and to work less.

Activity Tracking

Alerts/Notifications

Applicant Portal

Applicant Tracking

Application Management

Audit Management

Commenting/Notes

Communication Management

Compliance Management

Customizable Fields

Customizable Forms

Customizable Questions

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Data Import/Export

Deadline Management

Document Review

Electronic Payments

Electronic Submission

Email Reminders

For Grantmakers

For Nonprofits

For Schools

Forms Management

Grant Application Management

Grant Award Tracking

Grant Management

Interview Management

Member Database

Multi-Currency

Preview Functionality

Progress Tracking

Ratings/Reviews

Recommendations

Reminders

Reporting & Statistics

Reviewer Management

Role-Based Permissions

Scoring

Search/Filter

Single Sign On

SSL Security

Status Tracking

Third-Party Integrations

Web Forms

White Label

SmarterSelect

Web-based

Fundraising & Program Specialist

Our evaluators are also happy with product's ability to be so user friendly. Their customer service is phenomenal, fast, friendly and useful.

Program Director

We really like to use smarter select, its very easy to maneuver  for all stakeholders involved in our process. There is always room for growth but overall we are able to accomplish what we need.

Marketing Assistant

What I like most about Smarter Select is its ease of use. As someone with minimal experience using this type of programming, I found it pretty user friendly.

scholarship director

I've used this for 5 years and the experience has been excellent. Unlike other programs, the price is terrific for the quality of the program and ease of use.

Program Coordinator

Now I am very comfortable resolving issues through e-mail because SmarterSelect's customer service is that good. I highly recommend both the product and the people behind it.

Development Manager

We've been using Smarter Select for probably 10 years and have been super happy with it. The team is always adding new features that make managing our scholarship program easier.

Executive Director

I liked the free trial to set up unique programs with the help of customer support. All free set up work was saved and usable after purchasing the product.

First, I have to say the service of SmarterSelect is wonderful. From day one they have responded quickly, solved our issue or educated us on how to do something.

Volunteer Relations Coordinator 

Overall we love using this software. It has made it so easy for us to send out surveys and applications to our nurses.

My only slight criticism would be that the evaluator questions can only be placed mid-application, not in their own separate form.

Whenever I have an issue with the platform, or unsure about the limitations of a feature I find it difficult to contact customer service or a specialist.

Vice President

I dislike having to receive an email in order to get a report. It's just one more step especially when we are running over 80 reports.

Finally, we are able to choose the level of program we need based on the price that works best for our size organization.

Trustee

I like that I was able to set up our application myself.

The application will go online within a week and it has been a positive experience in setting it up.

President

Strongly encourage integration with Salesforce.

Data Manager

It's fairly straight forward and integrates with Salesforce. The user interface is pretty.

Coordinator of Volunteer Services

Sometimes it's difficult to navigate and could use more sorting options.

SmarterSelect screenshot: Create any type of program, award, scholarship, etc. and define application deadlines

SmarterSelect screenshot: Link to the application from any website and start accepting online applications immediately

SmarterSelect screenshot: Select the desired dates and times for application deadlines

SmarterSelect screenshot: Specify the unique contact for each specific program

SmarterSelect screenshot: Create program application forms easily

SmarterSelect screenshot: Change the flow of questions depending on the applicant's answers

SmarterSelect screenshot: Pre-qualify candidates with SmarterSelect's initial screening tools

SmarterSelect screenshot: Enable applicants to provide referee contact information

SmarterSelect screenshot: Automatically calculate totals, scores, and formulas

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Public Administrations

Small Business

Award Force is an awards management software offering users tools for entry management, payment gateway integration, judging management, promotion, and more.

SurveyMonkey Apply helps organizations to collect, manage and review any type of application or submission from one secure online portal.

Evalato helps you run effective awards programs and grow your community.


OpenWater is a Washington, D.C. based Inc. 5000 company that works with associations through our Application and Review Cloud platform for awards, abstracts, grants, scholarships, and any other competitive review processes.

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Administrative Reporting

Approval Process Control

Attendance Management

Attendee Management

Awards Management

Badge Management

Blind Judging

Budget Control

Categorization/Grouping

Collaboration Tools

Conferencing

Configurable Workflow

Contact Management

Customizable Branding

Document Management

Due Date Tracking

Email Marketing

Email Templates

Engagement Tracking

Entrant Management

Entry Fee Processing

Entry Management

Event Calendar

Event Management

Event Scheduling

Event Tracking

Financial Reporting

Fraud Detection

Gamification

Impact Measurement

Judging Management

Labeling

Live Streaming

Monitoring

Online Registration

Payment Tracking

Polls/Voting

Presentation Streaming

Promotions Management

Real-Time Chat

Recording

Registration Management

Reporting/Analytics

Skills Contests (Photo, Essay, Design, etc)

Social Media Integration

Social Promotion

Survey/Poll Management

Video Conferencing

Virtual Lobby

Visitor Registration

Website Management

Workflow Management

OpenWater

Editor

Their self-help guides are useful and when they're not, customer service is available (see caveat below). I have had several different dedicated service advisors; all have been uniformly excellent.

Director

Amazing service - lightning quick responses...wow. Super helpful to have the judges watch videos right through the platform.

We have been using OpenWater for the last 2 years to manage our annual marketing awards competition and have been very pleased with the results.

Technology Manager/Awards Administrator

The training videos and knowledge base are extensive and easy to use. The support team is superb - always available and willing to help.

Coordinator of Association Services

It is easy to teach yourself things, and admin can reach out to customer service for calls and for help. There are many help articles.

My organization has been using OpenWater for a little over a year and it has been a life-saver for our company.

Special Projects Coordinator - MI SBDC Lead Center

The cost-benefit of OpenWater is outstanding, far exceeding expectations.

The system is extremely straight forward and easy to administer and develop programs. The customer support is also some of the best I have ever encountered.

Undergraduate Research and Training Programs Manager

I really appreciate having one dedicated support person[sensitive content hidden.

Partner

Sometimes the UI/UX is a little weird (Settings vs Manage? I still don't understand the difference). Eventually, with enough use, you can intuit how the system works.

Awards and Scholarship Coordinator

Virtually effortless to maintain and copy to the next year award cycle.

Director, Membership & Public Relations

I like that we CAN integrate this software into our database and have our users log in using their credentials used in our site and have some fields pre-populated.

Professor

It slowed me down, was cumbersome and had no option to get a printout of the application to review off line.

I love that integration was not a long drawn out process either. The team at OpenWater worked well with our integration team and got us up and running in no time.

IT PM

OpenWater has saved my organization money and time.

Program Manager, Research Programs and Evaluations

And there is no testing feature- in order to test the application portal you must open the submission round. We also had to switch which staff would have super-user status since only two are allowed.

Manager, IT

After managing the Open Water platform as the primary admin over the course of nearly two years, I have no serious complaints.

Assistant Director

It's very easy to use and works intuitively in a lot of ways. When I took over administering the contest, I had to learn how to manage it on my own and it didn't take a lot of work to do that.

OpenWater screenshot: Reviewers have an easy way to access applications and submit their feedback. OpenWater easily handles multi-stage review processes, and allows administrators to customize every aspect of the review process with ease.

OpenWater screenshot: Streamlined submission process, ability to attach documents and media, apply on behalf of an individual or an organization, conditional logic, and the GuideStar integration.

OpenWater screenshot: Have a full overview of the grants process. Communicate with reviewers and applicants quickly. Analyze and track your program’s success.

OpenWater screenshot: Track funds by having a clear view of your grantees and how much funding they have received. It will be easy to see how much money has been distributed and who has received it all directly within the platform.

SmarterSelect vs OpenWater Comparison

SmarterSelect

OpenWater

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives