Using Technology to Assign Endowed Scholarships Faster

Whether you’re using scholarships as a recruitment tool or have already found the exact right student fit for a specific fund, awarding endowed scholarships during the admissions process can be extremely difficult due to the number of funds involved and the uncertainty as to whether a student will actually enroll. Higher ed institutions often use “assignment” or “fund swapping” to maximize the use of endowed scholarships.

In an “assignment” process, schools include the total amount of institutional aid the student will receive within their acceptance and financial aid package, but don’t match them to endowed scholarships until they enroll. This gives the campus the flexibility to maximize their use of endowed funds while eliminating the need to constantly re-award when students are not fully committed to the institution.

Challenges in Scholarship Administration

Although assigning scholarship awards after enrollment eliminates the need to constantly re-award students, there are still several challenges that institutions may face.

Award Decisions Are Made Using Old Data

Administrators often match students to scholarship funds using spreadsheets exported from the campus student information system (SIS). These reports quickly fall out of date as students continually change their information and incoming student data is added. In addition, select scholarship funds may require information that doesn’t exist within the SIS, leaving administrators to make a best guess as to a student’s qualification.

Students Lack Clarity

Students may not understand the financial aid part of their acceptance package. They don’t know where their award(s) originated, the mechanics of any endowed funding, if scholarships are already included in the package, and whether it is a one-time award or renewable each year.

Donor Stewardship Takes Too Long

It can take weeks or even months to complete the assignment process due to the complexity of matching students with endowed funds. Students are much less likely to submit donor acknowledgements and thank-you letters months after enrolling, leaving donors to wonder whether their gift was appreciated or even utilized.

Scholarship Software Solutions

Do these challenges sound familiar? By implementing a modern scholarship management system, institutions can significantly improve their award assignment process. For example your scholarship management system can:

Populate Key Student Record Data Directly from the SIS

This ensures that all your data is accurate and up to date, adding new student information as they become a prospect and enroll, saving staff time and improving accuracy by eliminating spreadsheets and reducing data entry.

Automatically Match Students to Available Scholarships

The SIS integration also alleviates manual award processes. When the imported student information matches application requirements—and the endowed scholarship does not require committee review—the system will alert administrators who can then award funds in bulk to speed up the awarding process.

Help Students Apply for and Accept Awards More Quickly

Due to the increased speed of the assignment process, students know right away when they qualify for awards. The best award management systems aggregate all applicable awards into one personalized dashboard where the student can apply for and accept scholarships and complete action items. Having one portal and centralized notifications improves student communication, reduces confusion, and streamlines the process.

Ensure Donors Receive Prompt Acknowledgements

Students can immediately submit a donor acknowledgement video or thank-you letter within the same system, and advancement can provide feedback and fund utilization reports to donors on a faster timeline.

Case Studies

Here are some real-life examples of how scholarship administrators use technology to assign awards more efficiently.

• University of Wisconsin–Madison had different processes across its decentralized campus, with each school or college managing its own. By implementing Blackbaud Award Management™ and bringing all scholarships into one platform, they estimate saving 66% of the time previously spent reviewing and awarding.

• UNC Asheville boosted fund utilization from 70% to 95% using Blackbaud Award Management to identify candidates and match them with both endowed and annual fund scholarships across the entire institution.

• Nova Scotia Community College leverages qualification group and donor preference capabilities within their software to award 2,000 scholarships annually. They’ve seen a huge increase in the number of students using the software and thus a decrease in unclaimed awards.

• Austin Community College Foundation has a small staff to manage awards across 11 campuses. They’ve been using Blackbaud Award Management to streamline processes for more than a decade and adopted Blackbaud Stewardship Management™ to generate individualized donor reports. The online portal allows donors to easily follow their funds and the achievements of the students they support.

Technology Can Transform Processes

Digital transformation is not new. We see the influence of technology in all aspects of our lives, from overnight delivery services to the evolution of remote work environments.

Streamlining your scholarship awarding process with technology is the next step in embracing digital transformation to drive student success.