Scholarship directors have rather a lot to handle. They have to work with development groups to grasp scholarship funding, discover college students who match donors’ particular necessities, shepherd these college students by means of the appliance course of, handle scholarship assessment committees, disburse awards, and report again to the donors how their funds had been utilized.
Organizations used to trace their donors, scholarships, and college students in quite a lot of disjointed instruments comparable to spreadsheets, electronic mail, homegrown databases, and paper recordsdata. Sadly, a disorganized course of means college students don’t discover accessible scholarships, awards get delayed or go unused, and information turns into disorganized, resulting in inaccuracies and safety considerations. That’s why trendy scholarship workplaces depend on award administration techniques.
What’s an award administration system?
A scholarship award administration system is software program designed to prepare and streamline the processes and workflows of a faculty or basis’s scholarship program and to make scholarships extra accessible to college students.
A modern award management system helps directors handle the complete lifecycle of scholarships—from purposes to committee evaluations, awarding, fund disbursement, and donor stewardship. The correct software program can streamline processes and remove paperwork, enhance fund utilization by figuring out and fascinating college students, and supply actionable insights to steward donors.
How do you select scholarship software program?
Evaluating and deciding on an award administration system may be sophisticated. Selecting one which meets in the present day’s wants will not be sufficient. Your new system ought to evolve alongside your establishment and be refined sufficient to adapt and alter as you streamline and hone processes. Whereas adopting new know-how may be difficult, having a predetermined framework will assist remove a lot of the guesswork and uncertainty. Listed here are 5 steps to get began:
- Discover your folks. Choosing an award administration system ought to be a gaggle effort together with folks throughout your group who will work together with the software program, comparable to scholarship admins, assessment committee members, and IT. You would possibly contemplate asking a scholar or latest graduate to get their perspective. Search for a spread of expertise and technical talents to make sure the system you select will work for everybody.
- Know what’s vital on your establishment. Selecting an award administration system is about matching a system’s capabilities along with your group’s wants. Understanding your group’s processes, challenges, and objectives will assist you to make the very best choice.
- Ask for opinions and referrals. Many establishments have already solid this path and can gladly inform you the professionals and cons of the system they selected or what they may do in a different way, offering invaluable recommendation and perspective. Attain out to your community with questions and ask potential software program suppliers for consumer referrals from similar-sized establishments.
- Choose a strategic companion, not only a vendor. An award administration system is a years-long funding. It’s vital to decide on an organization that desires to develop into your strategic companion. Choose a company with confirmed expertise in increased training that’s invested in your long-term success. They need to decide to your partnership with specialised assist groups, studying sources, adoption and enablement steering, and proactive product growth primarily based on consumer wants and business modifications.
- Change administration is vital to success. Most individuals are nervous about change, and a few could also be cautious of latest know-how. Repeatedly sharing details about the method and challenge will go a great distance in direction of incomes belief and making certain profitable software program adoption. Take a look at How to Encourage Scholarship Reviewers to Adopt New Technology for some suggestions.
What are the important thing elements to think about?
Whereas completely different award administration techniques might have comparable options, they will fluctuate significantly in how sturdy, configurable, and versatile they’re. Listed here are the important thing elements to think about when deciding on an award administration system, making certain that it meets your establishment’s present wants and may adapt to future challenges.
Person Expertise
Your new system ought to present a centralized portal the place college students can discover all accessible scholarships and simply apply for a number of awards. It ought to permit scholarship directors to trace all purposes with one login, facilitate assessment committee duties and workflows, and supply configurable utility questions and essay prompts. Moreover, the system ought to be mobile-friendly to be used on smartphones and tablets and robotically match awards to college students.
Adaptability
A contemporary award administration system ought to present utility choices for directors to present them flexibility in assembly various wants and complexities inside packages. It also needs to assist the addition of third-party scholarships, allow qualification modifications on open awards, and supply customizable rubrics for reviewers and role-based workflows. Ask the software program supplier if their system provides an open API for larger extensibility.
Integration
The very best award administration techniques auto-populate every scholar’s utility with information out of your scholar info system (SIS) so college students don’t need to manually full redundant fields throughout awards. It ought to mean you can ship advert hoc emails from inside the system and synchronize information along with your donor management CRM and fund accounting systems. Moreover, it ought to be versatile sufficient to perform as stand-alone software program or as a part of a turnkey package deal that covers different features wanted by your establishment.
Information & Reporting
Does the system have built-in experiences and dashboards? You want correct, on-demand information to simply determine actionable objects or subsequent steps. A top-tier system provides customizable dashboards and experiences, permitting directors to entry scholar, donor, and reviewer information inside the platform. Moreover, the system ought to acquire and supply the info you have to steward donors, assist scholar retention, and empower scholarship groups to audit accessible funds, what was awarded, and the way winners had been chosen.
Safety
Guarantee potential software program distributors keep business information safety requirements and certifications, prioritize accessibility and different compliances, and have a catastrophe restoration plan in place. The software program ought to use Multi-Issue Authentication and permit customization of entry primarily based on a consumer’s function.
Vendor Partnership
How lengthy has the seller been in enterprise? Stability is vital, as is a confirmed monitor file with increased ed establishments. You need software program constructed particularly for scholarship award administration, not one thing utilized by companies that has been poorly tailored on your wants. Guarantee you will get in-person and on-line coaching throughout implementation, ongoing coaching and assist, and collaboration instruments to attach you with the seller’s increased ed consumer neighborhood.
What are the following steps?
Selecting the best award administration system is a vital choice for any establishment seeking to streamline its scholarship processes and improve scholar engagement. An efficient system not solely simplifies the appliance and assessment course of but in addition supplies useful insights for donor stewardship and fund utilization.
Whether or not you’re simply beginning your search or want to improve your current system, obtain our guide that will help you make an knowledgeable choice.