Whether or not you’re utilizing scholarships as a recruitment instrument or have already discovered the precise proper scholar match for a particular fund, awarding endowed scholarships in the course of the admissions course of may be extraordinarily troublesome because of the variety of funds concerned and the uncertainty as as to if a scholar will really enroll. Larger ed establishments usually use “task” or “fund swapping” to maximise using endowed scholarships.
In an “task” course of, faculties embody the whole quantity of institutional assist the coed will obtain inside their acceptance and monetary assist bundle, however don’t match them to endowed scholarships till they enroll. This offers the campus the pliability to maximise their use of endowed funds whereas eliminating the necessity to continually re-award when college students usually are not absolutely dedicated to the establishment.
Challenges in Scholarship Administration
Though assigning scholarship awards after enrollment eliminates the necessity to continually re-award college students, there are nonetheless a number of challenges that establishments might face.
Award Choices Are Made Utilizing Previous Knowledge
Directors usually match college students to scholarship funds utilizing spreadsheets exported from the campus scholar data system (SIS). These experiences rapidly fall outdated as college students regularly change their data and incoming scholar knowledge is added. As well as, choose scholarship funds might require data that doesn’t exist inside the SIS, leaving directors to make a greatest guess as to a scholar’s qualification.
College students Lack Readability
College students might not perceive the monetary assist a part of their acceptance bundle. They don’t know the place their award(s) originated, the mechanics of any endowed funding, if scholarships are already included within the bundle, and whether or not it’s a one-time award or renewable every year.
Donor Stewardship Takes Too Lengthy
It may possibly take weeks and even months to finish the task course of because of the complexity of matching college students with endowed funds. College students are a lot much less more likely to submit donor acknowledgements and thank-you letters months after enrolling, leaving donors to wonder if their present was appreciated and even utilized.
Scholarship Software program Options
Do these challenges sound acquainted? By implementing a contemporary scholarship administration system, establishments can considerably enhance their award task course of. For instance your scholarship administration system can:
Populate Key Pupil File Knowledge Immediately from the SIS
This ensures that each one your knowledge is correct and updated, including new scholar data as they change into a prospect and enroll, saving workers time and bettering accuracy by eliminating spreadsheets and decreasing knowledge entry.
Routinely Match College students to Accessible Scholarships
The SIS integration additionally alleviates guide award processes. When the imported scholar data matches utility necessities—and the endowed scholarship doesn’t require committee assessment—the system will alert directors who can then award funds in bulk to hurry up the awarding course of.
Assist College students Apply for and Settle for Awards Extra Shortly
As a result of elevated pace of the task course of, college students know instantly after they qualify for awards. The very best award administration methods combination all relevant awards into one personalised dashboard the place the coed can apply for and settle for scholarships and full motion gadgets. Having one portal and centralized notifications improves scholar communication, reduces confusion, and streamlines the method.
Guarantee Donors Obtain Immediate Acknowledgements
College students can instantly submit a donor acknowledgement video or thank-you letter inside the similar system, and development can present suggestions and fund utilization experiences to donors on a quicker timeline.
Case Research
Listed here are some real-life examples of how scholarship directors use know-how to assign awards extra effectively.
- College of Wisconsin–Madison had completely different processes throughout its decentralized campus, with every college or faculty managing its personal. By implementing Blackbaud Award Administration™ and bringing all scholarships into one platform, they estimate saving 66% of the time beforehand spent reviewing and awarding.
- UNC Asheville boosted fund utilization from 70% to 95% utilizing Blackbaud Award Administration to determine candidates and match them with each endowed and annual fund scholarships throughout your entire establishment.
- Nova Scotia Group Faculty leverages qualification group and donor desire capabilities inside their software program to award 2,000 scholarships yearly. They’ve seen an enormous improve within the variety of college students utilizing the software program and thus a lower in unclaimed awards.
- Austin Group Faculty Basis has a small workers to handle awards throughout 11 campuses. They’ve been utilizing Blackbaud Award Administration to streamline processes for greater than a decade and adopted Blackbaud Stewardship Administration™ to generate individualized donor experiences. The net portal permits donors to simply observe their funds and the achievements of the scholars they help.
Expertise Can Rework Processes
Digital transformation is just not new. We see the affect of know-how in all features of our lives, from in a single day supply companies to the evolution of distant work environments.
Streamlining your scholarship awarding course of with know-how is the following step in embracing digital transformation to drive scholar success.
