Application Stages and Notifications
Application stages are used to track where an application is in your review process. A common question from grant admins is whether stages automatically notify applicants and what applicants can see. Here's exactly how it works.
Do stages send emails to applicants?
No — not automatically. Moving an application to a new stage does not trigger an email to the applicant unless you have set up an email template with Send Automatically enabled for that stage.
If you want applicants to receive an email when their application reaches a particular stage (for example, "Under Review" or "Approved"), you need to configure an email template for that status and enable automatic sending. See Email Templates for setup instructions.
If Send Automatically is not enabled, you can still send the email manually from within the application view when you're ready.
What can applicants see?
Applicants can see the stage their application is in, but they cannot see:
Internal failure reasons or assessor comments
Their scores or ranking
The success or failure status detail — this is dashboard-only for your team
The stage name is visible to the applicant, so use stage names that are meaningful to them (e.g. "Under Review", "Awaiting Further Information") if that is your intent, or keep stage names internal if you prefer not to communicate progress through the stage label.
Internal vs applicant-facing information
Visible to applicant: stage name
Dashboard only: scores, ranking, assessor comments, failure reasons, internal status details
Triggered by stages: nothing automatic unless email templates with Send Automatically are configured
Best practice
If you want a clean communication flow, set up email templates for the key stages where you need to notify applicants (acknowledgement of receipt, request for more information, outcome notification). Keep everything else as dashboard-only. This gives you control over when and what applicants hear from you.