Case Study: New Bedford Economic Development Council grows grant programs and streamlines payments with Submittable

How New Bedford Economic Development Council Streamlined Payments while Growing by over 300%

The New Bedford Economic Development Council is a nonprofit that supports business development in New Bedford, Massachusetts. After the COVID pandemic, it needed to manage new entrepreneur and arts grant programs, but its team of six was slowed by Google Forms, emailed PDF applications, and manual paper-check and ACH payment processes. It needed a better way to handle applications, payments, and reporting as demand and funding grew.

The council selected Submittable for grant management and funds distribution. With Submittable, the team created mobile-friendly applications, centralized reporting, and initiated ACH payments with “Send Funds Now,” while the platform handled 1098 and 1099 reporting. The results included 171 entrepreneur applications in three months, 226 submissions across three arts and culture programs, and a 300% growth in arts grant applicants in a single year, with the number of grants provided rising to 70 from 12-16 in years past.

New Bedford Economic Development Council

Jessica Trombly

Director of Business Development, Communications, and Special Projects