What Everyone Will Be Talking About at CASE CCCA 2025

As we head to New Orleans later this week for the CASE Conference for Community College Advancement, we’re watching closely. Community college advancement faces unique challenges—and the conversations happening on the floor, in breakout rooms, and over coffee are going to map closely to the most urgent demands on scholarship and donor teams alike.

Here are several topics we expect to surface repeatedly—and how AwardSpring is primed to contribute to them.

1. Scaling Scholarship Programs with Limited Resources

Why it’s hot: Many community colleges are under pressure to do more with tighter budgets, smaller teams, and increasing student need. The question is no longer whether to expand scholarship support—but how to reach more students without burning out staff.

Our view: Automation, intelligent workflows, and integrated donor-student systems are central. We’ll be discussing how technology can relieve the administrative burden so teams can refocus on strategy and equity.

2. The Role of Data in Demonstrating Impact

Why it’s hot: Foundations, donors, and institutional leadership increasingly demand clear outcomes—who got funded, by how much, and what that meant for student success. Community colleges must show that scholarship dollars are making measurable difference.

Our view: Fund-level dashboards, demographic breakdowns, and longitudinal tracking are no longer optional. Tools that make this reporting easy—without creating manual overhead—will stand out at the conference.

3. Deepening Stewardship Between Cycles

Why it’s hot: Too many scholarship programs treat stewardship as a checkbox—thank-off, send report, move on. But donors want to be part of a story. Sustaining funders’ attention through the gaps is a key challenge.

Our view: Mid-cycle updates, optional engagement opportunities, and donor-facing dashboards allow advancement teams to foster loyalty and renewals. Expect to hear about creative stewardship models and how to scale them.

4. Equity, Access & Inclusive Awarding

Why it’s hot: Institutional goals increasingly emphasize inclusion—giving more opportunities to first-generation, Pell-eligible, underrepresented students. Scholarship programs must align with those equity goals ethically and transparently.

Our view: Clarity in rubrics, reviewer training, and bias-detection tools (especially with AI) will be central here. Being able to audit, explain, and adjust awards in light of equity is a conversation we’ll be contributing to.

5. AI and Automation in Scholarship Workflows

Why it’s hot: The word “AI” is everywhere—and advancement and financial aid teams are asking: how real is it, how risky, and how useful? From reviewer assistance to scorecard automation, AI is becoming a conversation—not just an aspiration.



Our view: At AwardSpring, we’re introducing SpringIQ—our suite of AI tools including SpringScore and SpringAward. We’ll be showing how smart automation can reduce bias, speed up review, and strengthen confidence without replacing human judgment. Check out our Roadmap Series for more.

6. Breaking Silos: Advancement + Financial Aid + Academic Units

Why it’s hot: Scholarship success depends on collaboration—not isolation. Academic departments, student life, financial aid, and advancement teams must coordinate to drive awareness, alignment, and cross-campus support.

Our view: Integrated systems and shared workflows can unlock this collaboration. Expect to hear examples from campuses that have broken down silos and achieved smoother scholarship cycles.

What We’ll Be Listening For (and Where to Find Us)

At CASE CCCA, we’ll be watching sessions and conversations around:

• Community college funding strategies
• Donor engagement during tight budgets
• Technology and platform demos
• Collaboration best practices across campus units

You’ll find us in the exhibitor area, ready to show how AwardSpring can help community colleges manage scholarships, demonstrate impact, and deepen donor relations without adding complexity.

If you’ll be attending, we’d love to connect in person—grab a coffee, talk shop, and hear what you’re seeing in your scholarship world.

See you in New Orleans.