Blog Layout

3 Simple Ways to Promote Your Scholarships

Daniel Orofino • Nov 26, 2018

Need more qualified applicants for your scholarships? The first step is to make sure your potential applicants hear about your scholarships in the first place. Here are three scholarship promotion strategies that can increase awareness and drive more applications.

Strategy #1: Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is generally considered the most effective form of marketing, so it’s our top recommendation for promoting your scholarships. As soon as your scholarships are ready to accept applications, reach out to four key groups of people for scholarship promotion help:

- Engage alumni and past recipients to help spread the word. Prepare a short message for alumni to post on social media about the scholarship and send an email with all the scholarship details for them to forward on to their networks. Making it simple for alumni to share your message will increase the chances that they do.

- Inform local high school guidance counselors and major employers. Guidance counselors can shepherd high school students through the application process while local employers will help you reach non-traditional students. Focus on those organizations that are likely to employ students who are a good match for the scholarships that lack applicants. For example, if you want more applicants for your nursing scholarship, your local hospitals and major medical centers will be the best places to focus your scholarship promotion energy.

- Notify your institution’s instructors and counselors. Instructors have a lot of face time with students, so they’re well-positioned to promote your scholarships for you. Make sure to inform campus staff if your scholarships are available to part-time students, too. Since part-time students don’t qualify for financial aid, they may be extra motivated to apply for scholarships.

- Remind your reviewers and volunteers. Scholarship reviewers can be enthusiastic supporters of your institution in addition to being pretty knowledgeable about your scholarship offering, making them great scholarship advocates. Ask them to spread the word among their friends and family!

Strategy #2: Contact Potential Applicants Directly

If you collect student phone numbers and email addresses when students apply to your institution, you can send messages through those channels to promote scholarships. Just make sure you receive permission from students to contact them in this way.

Social media advertising is another way you can reach students directly. Its primary benefit is that you can target a very specific market in terms of age, location, and interests. You can also fine-tune your promotions based on budget and need. For example, you can promote all of your scholarships continuously or only those scholarships that are lacking qualified applicants as the deadline nears. The key to a successful social media campaign is to check in your ads’ performance regularly to make sure you’re getting the results you want. Learn more about using social media platforms to reach prospective scholarship applicants.

Senior Days and similar events in your community provide the chance for you to talk to potential applicants face to face. During your presentation, you can ask students to text a friend or two to spread the word about your scholarship opportunities.

Strategy #3: Early Bird Deadlines

If all of your scholarships share the same application due date, consider implementing an early bird deadline to attract more applicants. Offer students the chance to qualify for an additional small scholarship if their applications are received before the early bird deadline. Motivated students will complete their applications early, allowing for plenty of time to troubleshoot any problems they have with the process. Plus, the early bird deadline gives you more opportunities to contact students about the deadlines and incentives.

By employing these three strategies, you can drive more awareness of your scholarship program and increase the overall number of applications you receive, which is a great first step to ensuring a successful scholarship cycle. To make sure your applicants are well qualified, read our guide to increasing qualified applicants, too.

AwardSpring Blog

Navigating the FAFSA Simplification Act: What It Means for Students and Institutions

By Jill Murphy • 08 Feb, 2024
The FAFSA Simplification Act has brought about significant changes to the financial aid landscape, ushering in a new era in the FAFSA application process. While you’re likely familiar with the details, let's take a moment to recap the key highlights of this transformative legislation. Key Changes: Transition to SAI: The cornerstone of the FAFSA Simplification Act is the replacement of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) with the Student Aid Index (SAI). This shift aims to provide a more nuanced assessment of financial need, offering flexibility with SAI values, including the possibility of negative figures down to -1500. SAR to FSS: Another notable change is the rebranding of the Student Aid Report (SAR) as the FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS), reflecting the evolving nature of the application process. Negative SAI and PELL Grant Eligibility: One of the significant departures from the previous system is the allowance for negative SAIs. This change necessitates adjustments in how institutions package students for need-based aid. Additionally, PELL grant eligibility will now be determined using criteria separate from the FAFSA and resultant SAI, with the incorporation of IRS tax return data where feasible. As you embark to adapt these new protocols, it's essential to remain informed and proactive in navigating the evolving landscape of higher education finance. As an AwardSpring partner, we’ve made suggestions on how to leverage these changes to better support students on their educational journeys and ensure access to the opportunities they deserve. AwardSpring offers the following recommendations to guide institutions through this process: Recommendation #1: Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to Student Aid Index (SAI) The most consequential change to teams that are putting together Financial Aid packages or making scholarship awarding decisions are the EFC to SAI transition. We recommend you consider one of two options: Option 1: Re-label existing EFC fields as SAI to maintain continuity in data collection If you choose to re-label existing EFC fields, be mindful that doing so may impact historical data analysis, requiring a clear understanding by the consumers of any reports of the transition from EFC to SAI effective the date you make this conversion Option 2: Keep your existing EFC fields for historical purposes and create a new SAI field In this instance, you’ll need a thorough review of all of your qualifications and/or awarding decision-making processes to ensure SAI is being used and EFC is properly retired Notables: In the case where you’re using our SIS Integration feature, we’ll want to coordinate which path you’ve chosen so we can update the import process accordingly AwardSpring currently doesn’t allow our numeric fields to go negative creating a gap between the new SAI protocol and our existing numeric fields. We’ll be addressing this in a March, 2024 release so you can capture negative SAI values, if desired In either case, you’ll want to review scholarship qualifications tied to EFC and/or SAI, and ensure compatibility with the possibility of negative SAI values Recommendation #2: Student Aid Report (SAR) to FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS) Much like repurposing EFC for SAI in our first recommendation, you have another consideration with SAR vs. FSS: Option 1: Evaluate the option of re-labeling existing SAR upload fields as FSS to streamline data collection recognize that this adjustment repurposes the field, necessitating careful consideration of historical data interpretation Option 2: Alternatively, create separate fields to accommodate the transition, albeit with potential rework depending on your unique configuration and whether you utilize SIS Integration Recommendation #3: Other FAFSA Fields There’s more variability here since you may have a wide degree of fields to consider. You should tailor any changes based on the specific field type, whether it’s being used as a qualification, and whether you’d need to make corresponding changes in your SIS. Summary Proactive assessment and strategic adaptation of FAFSA-related questions are crucial to seamlessly transition to the new framework outlined by the FAFSA Simplification Act. By carefully considering these recommendations, you can ensure alignment with regulatory changes while maintaining efficiency and accuracy in financial aid processes. As always, if you’d like to talk with our expert staff, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at support@awardspring.com.
AwardSpring: The #1 Scholarship Management Software

AwardSpring: The #1 Scholarship Management Software

By The AwardSpring Team • 22 Sep, 2023
We're absolutely thrilled to announce that AwardSpring has clinched the prestigious #1 spot in the G2 report for Scholarship Management Software, but we didn't stop there!
Show More
Share by: