The three approaches below are designed to get you thinking about different ways you can manage processes in InfoReady. There is rarely a "right" or "wrong" approach. Rather, consider what is most important for your stakeholders to make your decision.


Why combine them into one?

When you want to manage multiple similar applications at a time, you may want to consider combining them into one InfoReady process. 


Pros: Easiest for applicants, one central dashboard (Data Grid) for administrators
Cons: Reviews may be harder to assign, application and/or review data may be difficult to detangle later, applications may contain irrelevant data for some reviewers


This can work well for:

  • Awards
  • Nominations
  • Scholarships
  • ...and any other program or process where you allow applicants to submit multiple at once.

You can utilize an initial checkboxes question, paired with conditional logic to build multiple applications within the same InfoReady form. Later, the Data Grid will allow you to view the submissions in different groupings by adjusting columns and saving custom views.

Why separate?

However, the single competition set up is not always ideal when it comes to analyzing review data and making final decisions later. 


Pros: Can have different deadlines, easier for administrators to keep track of individual programs and application statuses, review data is cleaner
Cons: More dashboards (Data Grids) to monitor


If the answer is "Yes" to any of the questions below, it is probably best to make separate InfoReady competitions (i.e., opportunities), rather than combine them into one:

  • Do the different applications have different deadlines?
  • Do the different applications have different applications limits (e.g., can someone only apply once for Award A but can apply up to 3 times for Award B)? 
  • Is the review process drastically different for different applications?
  • Does it make more sense to manage/view the awards separately from an administrative standpoint? Things like application volume and who reviewers are can factor into this. 
    • For example, if you're expecting hundreds of submissions across 5 different awards, each with a different review committee, it will be easier to manage 5 separate forms.
    • However, if you expect relatively few submissions and the same reviewers score each across all the awards, it may be better to keep them combined.

What about a hybrid approach?

This is often the best option that is still relatively easy for applicants but allows administrators to process each submission separately.

  • Create one overall competition (InfoReady process).
  • Use a multiple choice or dropdown question to require the applicant (or nominator) to select one award/scholarship per submission.
  • Applicants/Nominators must submit a separate form for each nominee-award combo. 
  • To make the process quicker, they can copy prior submissions.

Have more questions about this topic? Go to the Community Forum to pose the question to other users or submit a support ticket to InfoReady.