Follow-up asking for transcript and financials
DebraWhite
Posts: 12 ✭✭
We send a follow-up at the end of each semester asking for transcripts and financials before we send out subsequent scholarship payments. After you make the final payment, do you still ask for financials and transcripts at the end of that semester?
I was wondering what the point would be because the money is already spent and the scholarship should be closed.
Thanks
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LynsieStephens
Posts: 40 ✭✭✭
Hi @DebraWhite! I'm a Solutions Engineer here at Foundant, but prior to my role here I was a scholarship manager at a Community Foundation. We only used follow ups after the final payment for scholarship opportunities that were open to current applicants reapplying. That way we could emphasize to students that their eligibility for next year may be contingent upon meeting our expectations of completing those follow ups. That scenario is for a 1 year, two-semester payment, scholarship.
For 4 year scholarships, we typically did not ask for follow ups after the final payment, knowing graduation is likely all they are thinking about, and there aren't additional dollars out there for them. We did have a couple scholarship funds that were interested in data around college graduation rates, and we realized that we were missing an opportunity to track that last bit of success. For those funds specifically we did start assigning follow-ups for that final semester, that being said, we didn't have great success rates in getting those replies back since it wasn't a contingency for additional dollars.
Not sure if that helps, but I look forward to hearing what other clients are doing!
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BethNuttall
Posts: 49 ✭✭✭
We only have a follow up assigned for the end of each school year where we ask for a copy of their transcript and ask them to explain how this scholarship helped/supported them. We use this information for eligibility for future scholarships (they have to have submitted the report in order to be eligible) and we share this information with donors as a feel good (look what your scholarship did!) and because donors will sometimes ask if their past recipient completed the year.
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Answers
Hi @DebraWhite! I'm a Solutions Engineer here at Foundant, but prior to my role here I was a scholarship manager at a Community Foundation. We only used follow ups after the final payment for scholarship opportunities that were open to current applicants reapplying. That way we could emphasize to students that their eligibility for next year may be contingent upon meeting our expectations of completing those follow ups. That scenario is for a 1 year, two-semester payment, scholarship.
For 4 year scholarships, we typically did not ask for follow ups after the final payment, knowing graduation is likely all they are thinking about, and there aren't additional dollars out there for them. We did have a couple scholarship funds that were interested in data around college graduation rates, and we realized that we were missing an opportunity to track that last bit of success. For those funds specifically we did start assigning follow-ups for that final semester, that being said, we didn't have great success rates in getting those replies back since it wasn't a contingency for additional dollars.
Not sure if that helps, but I look forward to hearing what other clients are doing!
We only have a follow up assigned for the end of each school year where we ask for a copy of their transcript and ask them to explain how this scholarship helped/supported them. We use this information for eligibility for future scholarships (they have to have submitted the report in order to be eligible) and we share this information with donors as a feel good (look what your scholarship did!) and because donors will sometimes ask if their past recipient completed the year.