BettieStammerjohn ✭✭✭

Hi @NataliaMuniz We never did get around to doing a survey of our recipients. We used a feedback survey on the universal scholarship but I think we'll take it out.

Hi all, These are great ideas. Here is a sample of the student thank you notes and pictures which we send to our donors after the scholarships are awarded. It usually doesn't get out until August - we're a small shop and busy most of the summer with getting the scholarship acceptance forms back and checks out to the…

@ElenaKeltz - We open our scholarship application around Feb 20 and close April 1. Factors in the dates : Open date - Feb 20: We won't formally post our scholarship application until we have confirmation from donors on the amount and number of awards for each fund which can vary from year to year depending on the earnings…

Following. Would love to hear what others do. Ours is mostly press releases to the print news, email blasts, some social media (not my strong suit.)

No. While virtual meetings have made it easier for board members to play during their working remote times, I have not necessarily seen that it helps overall. Still have the same forgetting, etc. Plus, most of my board members miss the camaraderie of the in person meetings. I also notice a lot more 'multi-tasking' during…

@CullynAnderson and @AnitaForester I know this doesn't answer what you are asking. But... While I understand why some board members would feel that way (about keeping the hard copy process), I have to admit that I am lucky to have a grant committee that has fully embraced the online review process, including some who are…

@DeirdreMcLoughlin that is an interesting formula - that you add loans into the equation to determine actual need. I look at our scholarships a a means to reduce what a student/family may need to take out in loans (which is often the case for how the EFC gets paid. I don't know too many families (at least in our area) that…

Welcome to Foundant @BradMWard . Glad to still be working with you!!

Happy Anniversary!!

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@LaurieAbildso - yes. That is what we've done. They only see the form in the evaluation stage. The application is just the project name that I go in an set up then assign them as the evaluators. We did this for the first time last year and my committee members LOVED it - the whole scholarship evaluation process. It made…

Hi @LindseyTouchette We require evaluators to sign a conflict of interest and confidentiality agreement. It is a process in our SLM - one question application (Project Name) that I complete, then it gets assigned to the evaluators as an evaluation. They answer the questions to confirm, and select the scholarships they are…

@MissyBelles - We keep all our spendable in checking. Had the impression that CSuite doesn't really like that system. A colleague asked me why we would do that. February 2020 was a good reason. Our donors and beneficiaries didn't lose anything to spend. Works for us. Bettie

We are leaving the SAT/ACT on the application as an optional question. But the one scholarship I have that requires a minimum SAT/ACT score will be removing that criteria since most post-secondary ed programs are not mandating it. And it is near impossible to get the test in our community in the past year. I never liked…

@hankdrew Thanks for the heads up. I'll be more diligent about checking stripe. Bettie

Hi @ReneeCouser Thanks for asking this question! We've been talking about doing a similar donor survey. Update info, but also get better info on their preferences for contacts, listing donations, how they have engaged with the foundation, how they prefer to get information (mail, email, etc.) Thank you @elizabethmesserli…

@tamikafisher - I am fairly new to this also. But I think the branching needs to be done off of a question asked of the student. Not off an upload. So you would need to ask the student to report in a question field such as "What is (or Please provide here) the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) amount listed on your…

@RandMorgan Great post and thoughts. Congratulations on your new grandson - I hope you live close enough to see him and his parents! For me add on to the global/national upheavals, With: my husband had a minor brain bleed in February, and the end of May I woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck. But I am so thankful that…

Here is our Universal Application from last year also. I am in the process of tweaking some of the eligibility and branching for 2021. We identified some issues that just didn't work as smoothly as I'd thought (some language, some interpretation). And I've learned what to include in the Opportunities List. Overall, we were…

@VondaCarr Let us know how it goes! Bettie

@LisaDiehl , @VondaCarr Not so much about involved in legal action. But our grant process has an electronic signature and declarations that states: The Authorized undersigned hereby certifies that: 1) All the information contained in and submitted with this proposal is correct and submitted with the approval of the…

@robincowles We do have designated funds that have more than one organization - but those were set up with bequests. I haven't had a living donor set one up for current. But I don't see why not so long as their is a defined percentage of the income to go to each organization every year. So the Red Cross gets 50% and the…

Yes. That would make sense. We already do that - put the student name in the memo line. But I've heard of some places that actually make the check out to the school and student - so the student has to sign it also.

Thanks, @DanaBerggren ! I hadn't thought of it that way. It does make a lot of sense. We haven't done that in the past but I think willing to explore that for the future. I was also thinking during the webinar - if anyone had a deferral policy they'd be willing to share.

Thanks for sharing that @SammieHolzwarth . I am curious about #4 - Put the name of the student and the school on the disbursement check. Why both? We have put just the school name and include a statement and 'agreement' that the school signs with us states who it is for and how it is to be used. We also not that the…

@DarahMoore Bummer on the December You Fly We Buy event... But I understand. I look forward to hearing more. Meanwhile - I am with the Community Foundation of Greene County (Pennsylvania) - the southwest corner. So I'm always looking to meet up and connect with other community foundations, and other Foundant users. We have…

Actually they sort of have a poll function with the flags at the bottom. Except they don't have any don't agree ones. It might be nice.

@SarahBattersby Thank you so much. I listened with interest yesterday, but it is nice to see/hear some of the mechanics I may have missed while making notes. I will share this with my committee and board for consideration next year. I agree that an impact on helping students not only accessing post-secondary education, but…

Thanks Alyse. I would love to see any emergency policies. We established an emergency fund to help nonprofits, but had not considered allowing grants to students or others. Bettie

One of my questions would be how it works? Do you make the assistance grant directly to the student or to the school? Our policies currently do not allow grants/scholarships to be paid to individuals or to for profits. So that may limit our participation with an emergency assistance fund for students. Bettie