Home Testimonials EducationMatters Less stress, more success: Why EducationMatters switched to Good Grants Industry Charitable trust Location Calgary, Canada Client since 2022 Employees 0-50 More info educationmatters.ca About the program EducationMatters, in alignment with the Calgary Board of Education’s Education Plan, provides financial grants, scholarships and awards to improve access to learning opportunities, advance equity and remove barriers to learning for students. EducationMatters offers more than 100 different awards, and relies on review tools such as an eligibility screening, multiple award categories, and an in-depth review process. The trust works to ensure that disadvantaged children succeed in school and that all youth are ready for adult life. Their donors strive to support economically disadvantaged and special needs students, ELL/Diversity, athletics and keeping students in school. Reviewer:Kathryn Schilman, Grants and Student Award Officer at EducationMatters Program challenges before Good Grants To be perfectly honest, I was extremely nervous switching to yet another new platform after the challenges we faced and was secretly hoping we’d return to our previous provider, but I am so glad we decided to try Good Grants!” The grant program experienced numerous challenges with their previous software provider. “Extremely poor support, many issues with site functionality and the site was not easy to use,” said Kathryn Schilman, Grants and Student Award Officer at EducationMatters. “We needed a new platform. While we debated going back to another platform we had previously and had a good experience with, we decided to go with Good Grants as it seemed extremely cost-effective and we liked the various features it offered. To be perfectly honest I was extremely nervous switching to yet another new platform after the challenges we faced and was secretly hoping we’d return to our previous provider, but I am so glad we decided to try Good Grants!” The Good Grants choice Prior to Good Grants, I honestly dreaded and almost had panic attacks at the thought of having to create new applications or make any changes to an existing application in the platform we were using. It is SO nice to have that stress removed…” “I love how easy Good Grants is to use and how easy it is to get things set up year to year,” Schilman said. “Even getting things set up initially wasn’t all that time-consuming and the support we got from Good Grants couldn’t have been better.” The program is now going into its third year of using Good Grants, and setting up a new awards cycle has never been easier. “Prior to Good Grants, I honestly dreaded and almost had panic attacks at the thought of having to create new applications or make any changes to an existing application in the platform we were using. It is SO nice to have that stress removed and to know that making any changes within the system is incredibly easy and takes a matter of minutes,” Schilman said. Favourite features: slick interface, eligibility screener and more I love how user-friendly the site is both for administrators as well as applicants. We have consistently received positive feedback from all users—staff, reviewers and applicants (both students and grant applicants from schools) about the site and how easy it is to use. “Slick” is a comment I’ve heard more than once!” The EducationMatters program finds great utility in the eligibility screener and the copy application feature. “We use the eligibility quiz and find it’s a GREAT tool. We have a few single applications but we primarily use one general application with multiple categories, which is great since it allows applicants to use the copy feature, preventing them from having to re-enter information that is common across various categories.” “I also love how user-friendly the site is both for administrators as well as applicants. We have consistently received positive feedback from all users—staff, reviewers and applicants (both students and grant applicants from schools) about the site and how easy it is to use. “Slick” is a comment I’ve heard more than once!” “Overall, I would also say the number of phone calls I’ve received from students/users asking how to use the site or reporting issues has decreased dramatically compared to what we had with other platforms.” The application form builder has proven very versatile for the organisation. “In terms of setting up questions, I love the variety of options there are,” Schilman said. “I’ve also received comments, and fully agree, that the layout is quite professional looking. “I can, without a doubt, say that Good Grants has saved me a GREAT deal of time personally and has made my job a LOT easier,” Schilman said. “I am also extremely impressed with how few issues I’ve encountered with the site and the minimal downtime/interruptions we’ve had.” Great product, even better support I’ve often used Good Grants as a prime example of what customer service should be and the standard all organisations should strive for. I’ve mentioned Good Grants in numerous conversations I’ve had and honestly can’t say enough good things about their customer service.” — Kathryn Schilman, EducationMatters “You can have a great product but if you do not have great customer support, to me, it doesn’t matter how good your product is,” Schilman said. “I’ve already mentioned that I love how user-friendly Good Grants is and how much I appreciate its functionality but, BY FAR, what I cannot stress enough, is how absolutely incredible the support and customer service from the Good Grants team is. I have been blown away by how quickly our questions and concerns are addressed, how friendly and kind all of the team members are and how willing they are to help. I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait more than 30 minutes (and 30 minutes would be the extreme) to receive a response.” “Given that the team members are located across the globe, I am also blown away by the continuity and how seamless the transition is when a different team member has to jump in and take over an issue. Not only is it impressive that someone else is willing and able to help with an issue in someone else’s absence, but it is almost unheard of that it can be done so smoothly and without having to repeat or re-explain a question/issue over and over again.” “I’ve often used Good Grants as a prime example of what customer service should be and the standard all organisations should strive for. I’ve mentioned Good Grants in numerous conversations I’ve had and honestly can’t say enough good things about their customer service.” “I, and I know others, often dread having to reach out to companies when there are issues but Good Grants is one company that I don’t mind reaching out to and, in fact, I look forward to reaching out to. Not just because I know they’ll take my questions and concerns seriously and address them as quickly as possible, but because the team is so friendly and I enjoy my contact with them.” Back to all testimonials