How We Built AwardSpring NOW

Did you know that there are two different versions of the AwardSpring platform?

AwardSpring PRO is our main platform, used by both big and small schools to manage scholarship programs with more than five scholarships. 

AwardSpring NOW is a version made for foundations, businesses, and small organizations with five or fewer scholarships to administer. Since most scholarship management platforms focus on bigger schools (with bigger budgets), we saw an opportunity to create something that would help smaller organizations get all the benefits of our platform, without paying big bucks for it.

When we designed AwardSpring NOW, our goal was to preserve the features that made the biggest impact and were of greatest utility to small foundations and organizations - and then lose the rest. We knew this would simplify the software and make it even more manageable for administrators who may not be well-versed in scholarship administration. It would also reduce the price to a point where it made good financial sense for any organization with more than one scholarship to manage.

Our conversations with administrators from small foundations and organizations revealed four main problems with their scholarship management process that we could alleviate:

1. Too much overhead or effort involved in matching students to scholarships

For a small team, manually matching incoming applications to the right opportunities is a burdensome enterprise. AwardSpring NOW totally eliminates this step by automatically matching students to the opportunities for which they’re qualified.

2. Lack of expertise in scholarship administration

At smaller organizations, scholarship management is usually just one aspect of a person’s job, which means they have many other priorities and obligations. By partnering with AwardSpring, all administrators get access to our team’s knowledge and experience in addition to our platform.

3. Tracking down and collating application materials from applicants

Contacting applicants for essays, letters of recommendation, transcripts and other documents can take up a lot of time and energy. By requiring these documents within the AwardSpring NOW application, administrators no longer spend any time at all on this frustrating part of the job.

4. Low volume of applications

AwardSpring NOW is designed to be super simple for students to use, which makes it easier and more likely that students will actually finish their applications. Administrators can expect to see 50%+ more applications when they switch to AwardSpring NOW.

By focusing the AwardSpring NOW platform on solving these main problems, we’ve created a solution that has everything smaller foundations need - and nothing that they don’t. At $99 per month for one scholarship, plus $29 for each additional scholarship, it’s a small investment that should pay dividends in time savings and scholarship program growth.

If you administer five or fewer scholarships, you can try AwardSpring NOW for two weeks for FREE before committing. Start your trial now.