Applying for an award in the Portal follows one guided flow. You choose how you’re applying, confirm your details, complete the application, pay a fee if one applies, and receive confirmation. This article walks you through each step, including what happens if you leave before finishing or need to pay before Rhythm treats your application as submitted.
When to Use This
Use this article after you’ve found an award you want to apply for. If you still need to find an award, see Browse Awards in the Portal.
Prerequisites
- You must be signed in to the Portal.
- The award must accept applications, and at least one of its application processes must currently be open to you.
Apply for an Award
- Open the award’s page and select Submit Application. This button appears only when the award accepts applications and you’re currently eligible for at least one process. If the award limits applicants to one application, the button can be unavailable even before you’ve applied, so contact the organization if you expect to see it and don’t.
- If more than one process is open to you, choose the process you want to use.
- Confirm your contact details, and confirm your organization’s details if the process asks for them.
- Complete the application form. If the process requires references, Rhythm shows one row for each required reference. Enter each referee’s first name, last name, and email address. A mobile number is optional. You can’t submit until every required reference row is complete. If you attach files, Rhythm shows upload progress, and you can’t continue to the next step until each attachment finishes uploading.
- If the award uses recipient categories, choose the category you’re applying under.
- If the process charges a fee, continue to payment. Payment options appear only after the organization turns on a fee for this process, so if you don’t see an expected fee, the process may not have it configured yet. The available payment methods, including whether you can bill your organization or add a donation, follow the settings for this specific process.
- Submit.
Result
For a free process, Rhythm records your application as soon as you submit it. Rhythm automatically invites any referees you named and sends you a confirmation email at the address on your account if the process sends one. If you apply again to a process you already applied to, Rhythm records the new submission as complete, and any earlier decision on a prior application does not carry over.
Tip
If you close the form before you finish, Rhythm can keep what you’ve already entered so you can return later instead of starting over. If the award offers more than one process, such as separate early and regular deadlines, return through the same process you started, because switching between processes partway through isn’t guaranteed to work cleanly.
Tip
If you’re attaching a file for a judge or reviewer to open, use a PDF instead of a PowerPoint file when you can. PDFs display more consistently across devices.
Warning
If you see a message that settings haven’t been set up yet, the organization hasn’t finished configuring Awards. No application, free or paid, can be submitted until they finish that setup. Contact the organization directly, because there’s nothing you can do on your end to get past this message.
Warning
Apply through the award’s own link rather than a link for a different award. If you submit through the wrong award’s link, that application can’t be transferred to the award you meant to apply to, so you’ll need to submit again through the correct award.
Warning
If your submission fails with an error mentioning an uploaded file, check the file name. A file name that starts with a space, uses non-English characters, or has unusual punctuation can occasionally stop the file from attaching correctly. Rename the file to something simple and try again. This issue is also more likely with a very large file, so consider using a smaller version if renaming doesn’t help.
Your applicant details from step 3 are stored separately from the application’s other fields. If you need to correct your name or contact information after applying, update your contact details rather than trying to edit them on the application form.
If your award’s process doesn’t let you update a submitted application yourself, and you need to correct something, contact the organization. They may need to remove your application in the Console so you can submit a corrected one.
Why You Might Have to Pay Before You’re "Submitted"
When a process charges a fee, Rhythm creates your application only after your payment goes through, not when you finish the form. Until payment is complete, nothing has been submitted. That’s why a paid application sends you through checkout as part of applying instead of submitting first and billing you afterward. If you attached files, watch the upload progress indicator. If a large file is still uploading when you’re ready to pay, wait for the upload to finish first.
Warning
On rare occasions, a payment can succeed, with an order, invoice, and charge all recorded, while the application itself doesn’t finish being created. This can happen because a separate step finalizes your application after payment by moving your uploaded files into permanent storage, and that step can fail even though your card was already charged. If you were charged but can’t find your application afterward, contact the organization with your payment confirmation so they can look into it. Don’t submit a second payment on your own.
Related
After you apply, track the status from your applications list. If your application asks for references, Rhythm automatically invites the people you name to submit their references.