Halo Guide for Reviewing Proposals

1. Set Up Your Review Team

• Add Reviewers:
  Add your team members’ emails directly with no pre-existing account needed. They’ll receive an invite to join your review team. You can do this by clicking your team's icons under the "Review team" section.

• Assign Roles:

  • Commenter: Can view proposals and leave internal feedback (cannot message applicants or advance/decline proposals).

  • Lead: Can view, message applicants, manage proposals, and answer Q&A.

2. Manage Opportunity Details

• Edit Your Opportunity Anytime:
  You can update your opportunity description at any point if early proposals or questions reveal needed refinements. This can be done by clicking the three blue buttons on the right side.

3. Review Proposals Using the Stage Process

To begin reviewing your proposals, click on the title of the request. This will take you to the request's proposal submissions.

• Screen Stage:

  • All new proposals arrive here.

  • Quickly assess if a proposal is a good fit for your RFP focus.

  • Advance good fits to the next stage.

• Assess Stage:

  • Review proposals more deeply with your team.

  • Reach out to applicants for more information if needed.

  • Collaborate internally to evaluate proposals thoroughly.

• Finalist Stage:

  • Move strong proposals here when you're ready to take the conversation off Halo.

  • Message the researcher directly to set up a time to explore partnership discussions.

4. Proposal Evaluation Tools

• Evaluate Submissions:
  When viewing proposals, click the blue "Evaluate" button to log your assessment.

• What You Can Do:

  • Select your recommendation under "Recommendation to review team Leads":

    • Not Sure

    • Recommend Advance

    • Recommend Decline

  • Leave 2–3 sentences explaining your evaluation for internal use (not shared with the applicant).

  • See your colleagues’ scores and comments.

  • Chat with your review team directly within the platform.

• Next Step:
  Once all reviewers have logged their evaluations, the Lead will officially click Advance or Decline to move the application forward.

5. Messaging Applicants

• Internal Messaging:
  You can message applicants at any time through Halo, whether to advance the conversation or let them know it wasn't a fit.

• External Conversations:
  After moving a proposal to the Finalist stage, you should take your conversation off of Halo with applicants to explore partnerships if you have not already done so.

6. Filter Proposals

• Solutions of Interest and Applicant Filters:
  Applicants tag their proposals to specific solution areas. You can filter proposals accordingly to streamline your review process.