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Nonprofits · head to head

Cause IQ vs Submittable

Cause IQ logo

Cause IQ

Nonprofits

Integrated fundraising and CRM platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Submittable logo

Submittable

Nonprofits

Application, review and grant management for funders running open calls at volume

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cause IQ pricing is not published; Submittable pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.
  • They diverge on capability: Cause IQ covers Donor management, Submittable covers Configurable application forms.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cause IQ and Submittable actually diverge.

Attributes where Cause IQ and Submittable differ
AttributeCause IQSubmittable
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Nonprofits).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cause IQ

  • Donor management
  • Event management
  • Online giving
  • Volunteer tracking
  • Stripe
  • PayPal
  • Salesforce
  • Google Analytics

Only in Submittable

  • Configurable application forms
  • Blind and multi-stage review
  • Reviewer management
  • Grant payments
  • Impact reporting
  • Applicant messaging
  • API and integrations

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cause IQ

  • Prospect research across nonprofit organisationsnot Submittable
  • Benchmarking a nonprofit client against peersnot Submittable
  • Building target lists for firms serving the sectornot Submittable
  • Enriching existing records with nonprofit financial datanot Submittable

Submittable

  • A foundation running an open grant round where a volunteer panel must score hundreds of applications without seeing applicant identitiesnot Cause IQ
  • A corporate giving team collecting employee-nominated grant requests and needing an audit trail for financenot Cause IQ
  • An arts council managing fellowship and residency applications with multi-stage juriesnot Cause IQ
  • A city agency distributing relief funds and required to show equitable review and decision recordsnot Cause IQ

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cause IQ

  • Pricing is not published
  • Sold to firms selling into the nonprofit sector rather than to nonprofits running their own operations

Submittable

  • Pricing is not published and tier jumps are steep, so an organisation that grows past a submission or form limit can face a renewal quote well above the previous year with limited negotiating room mid-programme.
  • It is built around the application funnel rather than the funder's relationship with grantees, so long-term relationship management, pledge tracking and multi-year commitments are weaker than in a purpose-built grants CRM.
  • Applicant-facing forms are constrained by the platform's templates, and organisations wanting a fully branded application experience on their own domain will find the customisation shallow.
  • Reporting is serviceable for programme counts but limited for board-level financial reporting, so many finance teams still export to spreadsheets to reconcile awards against the general ledger.
  • Payment disbursement capability varies by tier and region, and organisations funding recipients outside the United States often still pay grants through their bank rather than through the platform.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cause IQ

On request
  • Standard$95/month
    • Donor management
    • Event management
  • Advanced$200/month
    • Prospect research
    • Fundraising reports
    • Advanced analytics

Submittable

On request
  • Submittable$undefined/year
    • Application forms and applicant portal
    • Reviewer workflow and scoring rubrics
    • Grant award and reporting modules on higher tiers

Which should you pick?

Choose Cause IQ if

  • You need donor management.
  • You also want event management.
Cause IQ review

Choose Submittable if

  • You need configurable application forms.
  • You also want blind and multi-stage review.
Submittable review

Questions people ask

Is Cause IQ or Submittable better?
Neither clearly leads. Cause IQ starts at On request and Submittable at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cause IQ or Submittable?
Cause IQ starts at On request and Submittable at On request.
Does Cause IQ or Submittable run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Cause IQ best used for?
Cause IQ is most often used for prospect research across nonprofit organisations, benchmarking a nonprofit client against peers, building target lists for firms serving the sector, enriching existing records with nonprofit financial data. Of those, prospect research across nonprofit organisations and benchmarking a nonprofit client against peers are not what Submittable is typically brought in for.
What can Cause IQ do that Submittable cannot?
Cause IQ covers Donor management, Event management, Online giving, Volunteer tracking. Submittable covers Configurable application forms, Blind and multi-stage review, Reviewer management, Grant payments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cause IQ: Does Cause IQ offer a free plan?

Yes. Cause IQ offers a free plan with basic nonprofit searches using 8 filters and limited profile access. Core and Pro plans are paid subscriptions.

Source
Submittable: What does Submittable actually cost?

It is not published. Reported entry points are in the low thousands of dollars a year, with price driven by submission volume, number of forms and seats. Get the tier limits written into the contract before signing.

Cause IQ: What is included in Cause IQ's pricing?

Core Plan costs $349/month (or $199/month for 501(c)(3) nonprofits) with access to 400+ filters. Pro Plan costs $5,988/year with three user licenses and unlimited exports. Annual discounts available.

Source
Submittable: Is it a grants management system or a submission manager?

Both, depending on tier. The review side is its strength. Award tracking, payments and grantee reporting sit on higher tiers and are less deep than a dedicated grants CRM.

Cause IQ: Does Cause IQ integrate with Salesforce?

Yes. Cause IQ provides direct Salesforce integration to create, update, and enrich Leads, Contacts, and Accounts with nonprofit data. Bulk operations and field mapping are supported.

Source
Submittable: Can reviewers work anonymously?

Yes. Blind review, staged rounds and conflict of interest flagging are core features rather than paid extras.

Cause IQ: Does Cause IQ have an API?

Yes. Cause IQ provides a REST API that returns JSON responses. The API allows programmatic searches for nonprofits, EIN lookups, and access to over 400 organization fields.

Source
Submittable: Is there a nonprofit discount?

Nonprofit pricing exists but is applied inside the quote rather than published as a percentage, so compare quotes rather than assuming a standard rate.

Cause IQ: How much nonprofit data does Cause IQ contain?

Cause IQ aggregates data from over a dozen sources covering 1.73 million organizations, 9.86 million people (board members and key personnel), and 52,143 vendor profiles.

Source
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