Case Study: American Society of Association Executives achieves up to 80% application growth and streamlined awards management with OpenWater

How the American Society of Association Executives uses OpenWater to manage their awards, fellowships and grants

ASAE (the American Society of Association Executives) needed to modernize how it managed awards, fellowships and grants — addressing complex judging rules, heavy administrative workloads, and the need to scale reporting, tracking and email communications. In 2016 ASAE adopted OpenWater’s Application and Review platform (with white‑glove services, support and training) for its Gold Circle Awards, Innovation Grants, Scholarly Research and Diversity Executive Leadership Program.

OpenWater implemented configurable judging (conflict recusal, multi‑round workflows and access controls), customizable reporting and dashboards, and automated communications, reducing manual staff time and improving fairness and stakeholder visibility. The results: applications increased by as much as 80% per year since 2016, ASAE grew from 4 to 10 programs on the platform, and more than 500 members plus over 250 volunteers and judges now use OpenWater to manage submissions and reviews.

American Society of Association Executives

Myisha Headen

Manager of Research Operations