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One Less Thing to Worry About This Year: Scholarship Administration
Kurt Reilly • July 28, 2020
Worried About Scholarship Administration This School Year? Don’t Be.
We’re all facing one of the most disruptive academic years in our memory. Many administrators are now undertaking a host of brand-new procedures to keep campuses safe, including dealing with concerns like PPE, remote learning, and interactions between staff and students. It’s a lot to manage and learn in a short period of time! All of us at AwardSpring just want to say two things: thank you for all you’re doing, and please rest assured that scholarship management will be easier than ever this year.
If you’re an existing customer of ours, you’re already well equipped for managing the scholarship process while adhering to social distancing guidelines. You never have to be in the same room as your colleagues, reviewers, or students to award scholarships; everyone can contribute to his or her part of the process from home. You can engage your donors through the platform to keep up with fundraising needs. And many of you have already taken advantage of our offer to create a free second site for emergency funds, so disbursement can be managed more easily. (If you haven’t taken advantage yet, get in touch
- we’d be happy to set one up now!)
If you’re already using a SaaS scholarship management platform like AwardSpring, there are a few things you can do right now so you can rest easy during the busy first few weeks of this upcoming school year:
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Set up your next award cycle early, including all deadlines, scholarship changes or additions, and fund availability, so that you’re not scrambling at the last minute while managing any other challenges the pandemic may pose.
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Communicate early and often with your students; marketing your awards is more important than ever this year.
• Set expectations with donors about what will happen with their funds this year. Donors are living through the same uncertainty you are, and they’ll appreciate the early guidance!
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Choose reviewers as early as possible and encourage them to start their review process earlier than usual. We’ll all have new distractions this year, so the extra time will help ensure you can still meet deadlines.
Taking steps now to get your scholarship management process moving will allow you to stay nimble amongst all the other uncertainty that’s waiting for you this year.
Not a customer of ours? Feeling overwhelmed about what lies ahead? We can help. There’s still time to get set up on our platform before the school year starts, so that you, your students, and everyone else involved in scholarship administration can apply for and award scholarships remotely. We’ll even give you a free emergency fund site now, no strings attached.
AwardSpring Blog
Recommendations on navigating the "new FAFSA" and the impacts from its troubled rollout from co-authors Dr. Samantha Hicks of Coastal Carolina University & Kurt Reilly of AwardSpring
Making the most of a scholarship program requires getting as many qualified applicants as possible. The first step is getting the word out to potential applicants about the scholarship(s) you have to offer. Higher education institutions, foundations, and corporations alike can all use marketing strategies to promote their scholarships, but each requires a different, tailored approach. The first section below focuses on strategies to employ for our College & University partners. If you're at a foundation, corporation, or other organization, we've tailored idea for you further below. Regardless of your institution or background, the ideas across both sections may apply.