The Challenge

At Chapin Hall, a policy research institute at the University of Chicago, researchers needed a way to compensate participants in longitudinal studies—reliably and quickly. Many of the participants came from vulnerable backgrounds, and timely payment for survey completion wasn’t just a logistical need—it was an ethical one as well.

Before GiveCard, this process was entirely manual: staff had to check REDCap survey completions daily, verify eligibility, and manually trigger payments. This delayed disbursements and created unnecessary administrative burden.
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The Approach

The team wanted to streamline payments directly through their existing research software, REDCap, and eliminate the lag between survey completion and incentive distribution. The ideal solution would:

• Instantly trigger payments upon survey completion
  
• Reduce administrative load for research staff
  
• Support both virtual and physical cards
  
• Ensure secure, trackable, and auditable transactions
  
  

The Solution

GiveCard built a direct integration with REDCap, allowing the University of Chicago to fully automate their research incentive program:

• Participant Onboarding with GiveCard
  Every participant in the study was issued a prepaid card—either virtual or physical—at the start of the program.
  
• Instant Payouts via REDCap Integration
  When a participant completes their monthly survey, GiveCard’s REDCap integration detects the submission automatically and immediately loads funds to their card—no admin action needed.
  
• Reliable, Ethical Incentive Delivery
  Participants received their payments within seconds of completing a survey, improving engagement and ensuring timely compensation for their time.
  
  

“GiveCard has allowed us to automate survey payment for survey completion, ensuring our participants get paid in a timely manner for their contributions to research. This is extremely valuable when working with vulnerable populations who may rely on research incentives for basic needs. Prioritizing timely payment is not only person-centered, but ethical.”
— Dr. Sara Semborski, University of Chicago‍

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The Results

With GiveCard’s REDCap integration, Chapin Hall eliminated manual payout workflows and ensured real-time compensation for participants. This not only saved the research team hours of admin work each week, but also significantly improved the participant experience—by making payments feel seamless, respectful, and immediate.

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