Testimonial: Scholarship Foundation of Northshore

Customer Testimonial


Scholarship Foundation of Northshore
48 Scholarships
250+ Applicants
Customer Since 2017
When I began volunteering with the Scholarship Foundation of Northshore, we were managing our scholarships via paper applications. We advertised on our website and applicants had to download a PDF application, complete it, and then submit it to the Foundation or to their high school counselors. The applicants were required to do this for every scholarship, which required a lot of research and effort on their part. After receiving the applications, we photocopied all of them for each of the reviewers and
then provided each of our volunteer reviewers with a large packet of applications to review. The cumbersome nature of the communication and tracking required for managing this review process, as well as the financial and environmental toll of using so much paper, encouraged me to look for an online solution.

I took a cursory look at a couple of other scholarship management software vendors but was really sold on AwardSpring by talking to an existing customer of theirs. I met with her and she walked me through how they use the software. She was thrilled with how it had helped her manage their scholarship program.

The spend for the software was a hard sell to the board because we had never before had an expense for “scholarship management” since we are all volunteers.
I spent the time calculating approximately how many trees would be saved by moving our process online in an effort to show them that using an online system was the environmentally conscious way to go. I also informed them that an online application would benefit the applicants because they would be able to apply for all scholarships at the same time, reducing the amount of time and effort required for the review and award processes.

After using AwardSpring for two years, we have seen solid evidence of the benefits outlined during the sales process. Because students can apply for all scholarships with just one application, they have a higher chance of walking away with an award. And at the Foundation, we have seen a dramatic increase in the overall number of applications we receive. We immediately felt as if using AwardSpring allowed us to step into the worlds of our applicants since they are able to apply online via computer,
tablet, or phone. And we have received nothing but positive feedback from the students! Scholarship recipients are even using scholarships to flesh out their resumes to help them in their job search. Overall, the students win!

Internally, AwardSpring has indeed improved our review and award processes. Reviewers are excited that they no longer have to tote around stacks of applications and are able to log in whenever and from wherever to complete their reviews and scoring. And we can track all of this activity and communicate directly with reviewers! AwardSpring has drastically cut down on the time and effort required from all parties involved with the process.

AwardSpring has also helped us generate more donors and illustrate our involvement in the community.
We are able to show the community a new level of professionalism and sustainability with our move to an easier, more automated giving process. I love to show people AwardSpring. At board meetings and with parents and others from the community, I am able to log in, show them current metrics, and talk through the history of our scholarships. We are also able to bring in other scholarships from smaller, local organizations in order to help ensure their dollars are awarded to qualified students. AwardSpring has helped us reinforce that what we’re doing is really all about community!

We started with 40 scholarships and, because we are confident in our new online process and have more time available, we are looking to ramp up to approximately 300 scholarships in the upcoming year or two. We have confidence that AwardSpring will be there to help us grow our program!

There are probably a hundred other beneficial things about AwardSpring that I could mention, but I’ll just say that we couldn’t be where we are now and on our way to where we are headed without AwardSpring. And I feel so much better knowing the vast number of trees we are saving along the way!
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Karen McDonald
Board Member & Treasurer
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