Eligibility Quiz Versus LOI – Foundant Technologies

The eligibility quiz and the letter of intent (LOI) are two options for screening and collecting preliminary information from applicants before the full application stage in Grant Lifecycle Manager (GLM) and Scholarship Lifecycle Manager (SLM). Understanding the differences between the two options helps determine which is the best fit for your grantmaking or scholarship process.

The eligibility quiz is available in GLM with an Advanced license and in SLM with a Standard license.

User Role: Administrator, Grants Manager

When to Use the Eligibility Quiz Versus LOI

The eligibility quiz works best when the goal is to automatically filter applicants based on measurable criteria, reducing the need for manual staff review. The LOI is a better fit when the decision to advance an applicant requires human judgment based on contextual information provided by the applicant.

Use the Eligibility Quiz when:

The system should automatically qualify or disqualify applicants without staff review.
Multiple processes are being managed and applicants should only need to complete screening once.

Use an LOI when:

Staff need to review program details before making an eligibility decision.
Fast-tracking qualified applicants without requiring a full application is a priority.

There are distinct scenarios of when to use an Eligibility Quiz versus when to use an LOI that are listed below.

	Eligibility Quiz	LOI
How are submissions reviewed?	System automatically applies rules to qualify or disqualify applicants. No staff intervention required.	Staff manually reviews submissions and decides who advances to the next stage. Qualified requests can be approved directly from the LOI stage without requiring a full application.
When does it work best?	Objective, rule-based criteria. Amount requested, county served, or program area.	Collecting narrative or program details before an eligibility decision is made by staff Fast-tracking qualified applicants without a full application.
How are applicants routed?	Eligible applicants are automatically routed to the correct process based on quiz answers. One quiz can be shared across multiple processes so applicants only need to complete it once.	Applicants are not automatically routed. Must be manually moved forward by staff.
What set up is required?	No additional set up required beyond configuring the quiz and eligibility rules.	The LOI evaluation stage must be enabled by support before forms can be created or assigned.
Are answers carried forward?	Quiz answers are not visible to evaluators. Questions may need to be repeated on the application if staff need access to responses.	Answers submitted in the LOI can be shared forward to be made visible at the application stage.
How much staff time is required?	Lower staff time required. System automatically screens applicants based on set criteria.	More staff time required. Manual review of each submission before decisions are made.

Resources

Once the decision between the Eligibility Quiz and LOI has been made, the articles below provide step-by-step guidance to begin configuration using each option.

Eligibility Quiz Overview explains how the eligibility quiz fits into the grantmaking and scholarship workflow, as well as organizes links to related articles for eligibility quiz set up, management, and applicant experience.
- Add an Eligibility Quiz to a Process provides step-by-step instructions for adding an eligibility quiz to a process, creating a new quiz, adding an existing quiz to a process, copying an existing quiz, and viewing the eligibility change log.
- Build Eligibility Quiz Rules provides instructions on building eligibility rules, including how to add individual rules, create rule subgroups, and edit or delete existing rules and subgroups.
LOI Workflow for Administrators explains how to manage LOI submissions by explaining how to review and process submissions, assign evaluators, deny requests, and make decisions directly from the LOI stage.