Marketing Scholarships to Non-traditional Students
Our foundation needs help reaching continuing college and nontraditional students to notify them of scholarship and educational loan opportunities available through our foundation. How are other community foundations marketing to prospective scholarship applicants who are not in high school?
Answers
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Hi Courtney,
When I managed scholarships at a community foundation, scholarships for special populations like this were tough to market. These activities often fell to the bottom of my to do list, but here's what I did when I had time, and what I've seen from other foundations I've worked with in my time at Foundant:
-Reach out to your local colleges/universities. They may have an admissions rep or even an office specifically for nontraditional students. Other roles that would be good to build relationships with: financial aid officers, scholarship office staff (if they have one), foundation staff, and advisors or faculty (if you have scholarships with specific degree programs or career fields).
-Workforce development entities
-If you have scholarships for specific career fields, find contacts within that field. Examples include hospitals for healthcare scholarships, unions/trade organizations for trade/technical scholarships, etc.
I've also seen foundations adjust their nontraditional scholarship cycles to be year round, or at least later in the spring/summer, since many times decisions to go back to school happen outside of the traditional academic timeline and scholarship cycle. This likely means adjusting your timeline and possibly even your decision-making process to allow a more flexible and student-centered approach to awarding scholarships.
Dana Berggren
Functional Consultant, Grants & Scholarships
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