Planning & Evaluating
Determining Criteria & Standards
The Process
Managing Your Funds

When should we start planning for a scholarship program?
During the fall. Since scholarships should be awarded in April or May, you should announce the beginning of your competition by mid-January. If you start planning in September, we can assist you in easily producing materials and sending your announcements on schedule.

How much money do we need to get started?
You can start as simply as making a few one-year grants of $1,000 each. To launch a permanent, endowed scholarship fund from which you can make grants every year, plan to begin with a $20,000 endowment for each $1,000 awarded.

What areas of our organization will be involved if we manage our scholarship program in-house?

• Accounting
• Computer programming/database/data processing
• Human resources
• Legal
• Mailroom
• Management
• Marketing communications/public relations
• Telephone system
• Warehouse/space

What are the advantages of outsourcing scholarship management and administration?
Organizations find it difficult to hire scholarship management expertise off the street, and, since the work on scholarship program administration is seasonal, the extra staff may not be needed all year.

Five key reasons to outsource:

• Save money
• Stay on schedule
• Obtain specialized expertise
• Achieve greater accountability
• Keep in-house staff focused on core mission

How can we evaluate the success of our scholarship program?
To assess how well your sponsored scholarship program is working, start with these questions:

Did our scholarship program meet the goals we set? Did we help as many students as possible, given our resources? Did we offer the right kind and amount of help at the right time? Was our program in full compliance with the latest IRS rules? Was the administration as smooth and trouble-free as we would like? Did we have to train or retrain staff in scholarship procedures? Did we get as much media coverage as we would like? Did we receive positive feedback from our constituents? Did the selection process appear unbiased? Were problems resolved to everyone's satisfaction? Could we have saved time or money? What changes should we make in next year's program?

What factors best predict a student's potential for college success?
A combination of high school grades and test scores, plus subjective factors such as the student's maturity and commitment, are the best indicators.

How should we establish scholarship selection criteria?
The two most common scholarship criteria are: academic achievement; and/or financial need. You may establish many other types of selection criteria for your scholarship program. You can be as creative as you like, but it's always wise to keep selection criteria flexible. Your program may have to adapt to future changes you can't foresee. Some examples of selection criteria include:

• Outstanding abilities, such as Athletics, Arts or Creative Writing
• Field or fields of study
• Attendance at a particular school or type of school
• Minority or gender status
• Place of residence
• Personal qualities, such as leadership, citizenship or community involvement

Can families with good income still qualify for financial aid?
Maybe so. Over 70 percent of college students receive some combination of grants, student loans, and/or work-study. Every family should research the possibilities.

Does high tuition equal a quality education?
Not necessarily. State universities are able to keep tuition cost low because they are subsidized by tax dollars - not because they invest less in educational resources. Students should investigate a school's reputation, faculty and resources in their particular interest areas - not just the price of tuition.

How reliable are college rankings?
Rankings may give an overall score for an institution, but students should not rely on rankings when it comes to choosing the school that best fits their interests. Homework pays off. It's best to read about the school, ask students who've attended, and visit the campus.

How do we arrange for a selection committee?
A selection committee typically consists of three individuals qualified to select winners based on your specific selection criteria. You selection committee should be completely independent so that your applicants will feel confident that your selection process is unbiased. If you like, SPA can recruit your selection committee and manage your entire scholarship-winner selection process.

What does a selection committee look for when reviewing scholarship applications?
A selection committee usually considers five areas when reviewing applications for scholarships:

• Type of curriculum. Does the student's high school curriculum meet the scholarship program's requirements?
• Type of courses taken. Has the student taken appropriate courses to prepare for the type of scholarship, such as college preparatory or vocational courses?
• Grades and grade trends. What grades has the student earned, and has the trend been toward improvement or decline?
• Class rank. Where does the student stand in the class? If the student is attending a competitive magnet or private school with mostly high achievers, class rank may have less importance.
• Standardized test scores. How do the student's grades relate to standardized scores? Standardized tests gauge native ability, while grades reflect level of work. The relationship between a student's grades and standard scores may indicate how hard the student is or isn't working.

To whom should scholarship checks be issued?
We recommend that scholarship checks be made payable to the school but mailed directly to the student to be presented in person. We've found this streamlines the payment process and eliminates confusion for the student.

What's the easiest way to distribute scholarship applications?
Scholarship programs are popular with members and employees, so when you announce your program, you can expect lots of requests for applications. The easiest way to answer the phone, sort the mail and faxes, select and collate the appropriate materials, and send out materials is to let SPA do it all.

You can arrange for all phone, fax, mail and email requests for applications and information to go directly to SPA's office. Our trained professionals know exactly how to handle them. We'll store your inventory of brochures, applications, and other materials, and we'll answer requests usually on the same day.

How can we get kids (and parents) to read instructions?
Scholarship sponsors often lament: "If only I could get kids to read scholarship instructions, I wouldn't spend so much time answering questions on the phone!"

SPA is working with a number of clients to solve this problem. We have re-written and re-designed all our communication materials to be more appealing to students. Key information is printed in large, hard-to-miss bold type. We've made the text shorter, with bullet lists that are easy to read at a glance. And we've added fun graphic elements to make the paperwork seem more like a game and less like a chore. For information about our new student-friendly materials, please contact us.

What should I do when people call to complain?
When you have winners and losers, complaints are bound to arise. SPA will handle all calls related to your scholarship program if you choose - including complaints. We use an empathetic approach. First, we view every call as an opportunity to provide good service. Sometimes people seem to be complaining, but they're really just asking for more information. We use the "LEAR" approach:

L - listen
E - empathize
A - ask questions
R - respond

We find that taking the time to listen well, show empathy, and respond with complete information usually turns a complaint caller into a satisfied caller.

If a student is already in college, why is a high school transcript required with the scholarship application?
When your selection committee sits down to assess your stack of applications, they will need a common standard by which to compare qualifications. Some students may be graduating from high school while others may have already started college. However, a high school record contains entirely different information from a college transcript. It's impossible to adequately compare the two - like apples to asparagus.

High school records show not only the student's grade point average, but also the trend in grades over the years - which indicates the student's commitment and study habits. What's more, high school records contains the student's SAT or ACT scores, a nationwide standard which facilitates a real apples-to-apples comparison. Providing your selection committee with high school records for every applicant makes winner selection easier, and the results more fair.

Why shouldn't we include a minimum grade point average in our winner selection criteria?
If your scholarship program is designed to reward academic achievement, you may be tempted to establish a minimum grade point average, such as 3.0, as one of your requirements. A 3.0 GPA indicates good scholastic achievement, right? Well, yes and no.

No two schools - high schools or colleges - use exactly the same grading policy. So a 3.0 average at one school may mean a very different level of achievement from the same 3.0 average at a school across town, across the state, or across the country. Grade point average is not a standard measuring stick. Only nationwide test scores such as SAT or ACT offer consistent numeric measures.

Why shouldn't we require photos with scholarship applications?
To increase publicity and please proud parents, most organizations send photos of their scholarship winners to the local newspapers. It's a great way to build goodwill However, contacting the winners to have photos made sometimes causes a lengthy delay. Why, our clients ask, can't we simply require a student photo with every application? Then when we select winners, we can issue the press releases immediately.

Although this sounds logical enough, it can actually create serious problems. Requiring a student photo with a your scholarship application can generate a perception of prejudice in your winner selection process. Even though that is not your intention at all, students and parents may perceive that you will use appearance - racial background, physical handicap, or personal attractiveness - as a selection criterion. Your best choice is to avoid this issue altogether. Do not request a photo with the application.

How should I respond when parents ask, "Why didn't my child win?"
Every contest has winners and losers - and also the potential for complaints. Often when parents call, they sound upset but they are really just seeking information. It's important to listen well, to empathize and to ask questions before offering an explanation. SPA's professional staff is very experienced at responding to parents in a friendly, caring way - so the easiest answer is: Let SPA do it.

When is a scholarship too large?
Large awards reduce the number of students you can help, and may result in an unfavorable revision of a winner's financial aid package from the college. If the award is just for one year, the student may be caught without enough resources for following years. You can help many more students with scholarships of $1,000, $1,500 or $2,000.

When is a "last dollar" scholarship program better than a "first dollar" program?
A "last dollar" scholarship helps with a student's unmet financial need. "First dollar" scholarships are given regardless of financial need.

When a student qualifies for financial aid, the college will usually award an aid package consisting of gift aid, loans and work. If the student also wins a "first dollar" award from an outside source, the college might reduce its gift aid by that amount. In effect, the outside scholarship wouldn't help at all.

By contrast, if you choose a "last dollar" scholarship administered by SPA, we will contact the financial aid officers to negotiate the most favorable revision in the aid packages to ensure that your award winners receive a real gain.

If you want to recognize academic excellence, but you also want to help needy students, then you'll like SPA's "modified last dollar" concept. It combines the best features of "first dollar" and "last dollar" awards. For more information, please contact us.

How can we persuade more people to contribute to our scholarship fund?
People contribute funds to scholarship programs for seven main reasons, according to P. Burke Keegan in Fundraising for Non-Profits:

• Belief in the cause
• Peer pressure
• Good business
• Recognition and good feeling
• Tax deduction
• Fun to attend an event
• Give back for services received

When promoting your fundraising events, emphasize all seven reasons for best results.