# AwardSpring (awardspring.com), full site content Every marketing page on awardspring.com, concatenated as Markdown. For the API reference and developer documentation, see https://docs.awardspring.com/llms.txt # Scholarship, Donor & Fund Management Software | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/ Rated 4.7/5 on G2 # Scholarship dollars deserve a better operating system. Most institutions still run scholarships, donor stewardship, and fund management on three disconnected systems. Our Fund Platform connects all three, so the same dollar, donor, and student show up in one operating picture. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) * * * The Fund Platform ## Four products. One vision. ![Scholarship Management interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/02-scholarship-management.DC-pdFJZ_Z1RzKuz.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) LIVE ### Scholarship Management Select and disburse with confidence. Automate the full selection process, from application to award letter. Compliance checks run in the background so your team can focus on impact. - One universal application, matched automatically to every fund a student qualifies for. - Cut review time in half and handle twice the applications, no extra headcount. - Unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins. No per-seat fees. - SpringIQ handles matching and screening, so your team focuses on students. [Learn More about Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/scholarship-management) ![Donor Management interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/01-donor-management.Ry-hgiFt_1WiTQ3.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) LIVE ### Donor Management Build relationships that last. Track every interaction, segment by intent, and run stewardship that doesn't drop off after the gift. - A system of action your team will actually use, built for gift officers. - Native newsletters, events, online fundraising, and built-in SMS. - Automated actions and communications that nail engagement, every time. - SpringIQ enriches donor records, preps meeting briefs, and suggests the next gift. [Learn More about Donor Management](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management) ![Fund Management interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/04-fund-management.Dqu3RyxY_Zuct6J.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Fall '26 ### Fund Management Track every dollar. Monitor balances in real time. Stay UPMIFA-compliant. Close the books without the scramble. - Track every dollar from gift to award, so no fund quietly goes unused. - Flags surface underutilized funds before reporting season. - Forecast balances and utilization across multiple years. - SpringIQ monitors for challenges and drafts gift agreement changes. [Learn More about Fund Management](https://www.awardspring.com/fund-management) ![Donor Experience interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/03-donor-experience-stewardship.B-9w4oPK_mi7Re.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) LIVE ### Donor Experience Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. - Beautiful stewardship creative that doesn't depend on who's on staff. - Rich digital experiences, premium direct mail, and the right channel for each donor. - Engagement data makes stewardship a measurable loop. - Give every donor the major gift experience, and a reason to give again. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) By the numbers ## Built for institutions that demand results on G2 across over 100 reviews, and rated easiest to use in scholarship management software. 4.7/5 on G2 across over 100 reviews, and rated easiest to use in scholarship management software. institutions of all sizes use AwardSpring to manage scholarship programs. 600+ institutions of all sizes use AwardSpring to manage scholarship programs. average response time, so our team is there when you need us most. 16 min average response time, so our team is there when you need us most. ## SpringIQ: AI with purpose. SpringIQ works inside the Fund Platform, reading the context your teams already share across scholarships, donors, and funds. It turns connected data into practical guidance, faster review cycles, cleaner records, and stewardship moments that feel specific. [Learn more](https://www.awardspring.com/springiq) 1. 01 AI-assisted scholarship review 2. 02 Donor record intelligence 3. 03 Fund health recommendations 4. 04 Donor impact stories ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/who-we-serve-awardspring.CbkSViOo_23rqOf.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Who we serve ## One platform for every office. Scholarship, donor, and fund management on one platform, so every team works from the same source of truth. 1. ### Advancement and foundation Engage donors, manage giving history, and close gifts without leaving the platform. Stewardship that actually closes the loop. 2. ### Financial aid Automate awards, verify eligibility, and disburse funds while staying compliant. Less manual work, faster decisions. 3. ### Enrollment management Align scholarships with recruitment and retention strategies and award on your schedule, when it matters most. 4. ### Finance Real-time fund accounting, audit trails, and UPMIFA compliance, in one system that closes the books, not opens new questions. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## Integrated with your stack Banner. Colleague. Workday. Raiser's Edge. AwardSpring connects to your SIS and CRM so the data stays in sync, without manual re-keying. More integrations are added as customers ask for them. ![Double the Donation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/double-the-donation.BKV_cKhH_Z2eqmJU.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC)![Ellucian Banner](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ellucian.B0Jc7hHV_Z1ibTvo.svg?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ![Ellucian Colleague](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ellucian.B0Jc7hHV_Z1ibTvo.svg?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ![Google](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/google.DvCDWB9Q_ZDerF7.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ![Raiser's Edge](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/blackbaud.CG5dC5w3_Z1ibTvo.svg?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ![Workday](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/workday.DZ1Ym9Sw_Z1ibTvo.svg?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Wall of love ## Real results, real fast. - > From the moment the contract was signed, every team member at AwardSpring made sure our platform was ready and performed to our highest expectations. This product has improved our entire scholarship season. Amanda J. Higher Education Administrator - > An all-in-one platform for student applications, reviewing, awarding, and receiving thank you letters. Implementation has been smooth and the AwardSpring team is very personable. After 2 years of use, we are very happy with the program. Chapel A. Operations Venue Manager - > AwardSpring is so user-friendly for students, admins, and reviewers. We’ve received tremendous positive feedback across campus. The automation features are a game-changer. The system can pre-screen applicants, send automated reminders, and assign reviewers to applications. Meghann N. Director of Financial Aid - > An all-in-one platform that seamlessly allows for quick and straightforward application submissions, grading, and awarding. The 30+ scholarships we have were easily integrated. Raymond A. Alumni Relations Officer - > Onboarding with Sam was spectacular. She was thorough and ensured that we were all on the same page. The software is user friendly and robust enough to meet our needs. We stayed on target and met our launch date well in advance! Ashley G. President, Small Organization - > Great onboarding, great training resources, ability to create and export multiple reports, a great way to match multiple scholarship programs with various criteria by one application account. Our applicants, administrators, and reviewers have expressed a user-friendly experience. Hugo C. Student Services Manager - > Responsive and superior customer service. Incredible at implementing feedback from the user community. Very robust product with many features. Michael P. Sr. Manager, Grants & Scholarships Administration - > Our scholarship applications increased 80% from implementing this software. I estimated that this saved us almost 160 hours of work. Before AwardSpring, we spent countless hours on paper applications, Excel documents, and manual processes. We struggled with getting good scholarship application numbers. Samantha H. AVP of Financial Aid & Scholarships - > The best things about AwardSpring: EXCELLENT Customer Support, platform was easy to implement and easy to use. Even though we are a very small customer, we’ve always felt like we mattered and our questions were addressed with our ONE scholarship the same as those who might have ONE HUNDRED. Beth M. Scholarship Administrator - > AwardSpring centralizes the entire scholarship process. Rather than juggling paper applications, spreadsheets, and endless email threads, everything is organized within a single, intuitive platform. For students, applying is less intimidating: they can view opportunities, check eligibility, and submit materials all in one place. Kerstin A. Director of Financial Aid & Veteran Services - > AwardSpring is intuitive and user-friendly for students. The build-out of our scholarship cycle was done efficiently and with excellent communication. We were able to easily understand how to make changes from the dashboard, a fantastic upgrade to our application process. Natalie H. Executive Director - > I love the user friendly platform experience this software provides to everyone who utilizes it, whether that be the person on the back end setting up the system or a student applying on the platform for the first time. The reporting tools are great and allow everyone responsible for scholarship reporting to stay connected year round. The customer service we receive every time we need to troubleshoot an issue is phenomenal. Stacey W. Scholarship Specialist ## From the resource library - [ ![Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-engagement-awarding-campus-bridge-blue-hour.kqjy2O_z_2cHiXv.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Scholarship Management ### Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process ](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connect-donor-engagement-scholarship-awarding) - [ ![Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/data-transparency-transparent-glass-building.CiNVZW-6_Z1Ih31g.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Donor Stewardship ### Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust ](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/data-transparency-builds-donor-confidence) - [ ![Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/presidential-leadership-partnership-handshake.CRD9cjKY_1LIn29.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Donor Stewardship ### Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority ](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/presidential-leadership-connected-philanthropy) [See all resources](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) ## Connect your work with the Fund Platform. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # About AwardSpring | The team behind donor-funded support Source: https://www.awardspring.com/about ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) # Built for the institutions that change students' lives. 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) We turn donor generosity into student opportunity. And empower every institution to change students' lives. Core Values ## How we operate - ### Lead with Humanity We lead with genuine empathy and kindness, and we care enough to be candid. Honest conversations, even the hard ones, are how we respect each other and the institutions we serve. - ### Take Smart Risks We move with urgency and make informed calls before we have every answer. We'd rather run a thoughtful experiment than debate in circles, and we know the difference between a smart risk and a reckless one. - ### Take Pride in the Process Speed and thoughtfulness are not at odds. We focus on the work we can control and trust that quality execution, done consistently, produces the results we're after. - ### Own the Results We hold ourselves accountable for outcomes, measure with real data, and treat every result, good or bad, as something to learn from. Leadership ## The people behind the platform AwardSpring is led by a team with deep roots in higher education and a shared belief that donor-funded support should drive real institutional impact. - ![Alex Stepien, CEO](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/alex-stepien-navy.Cdey2mWR_Z1cGqjG.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Alex Stepien CEO - ![Kurt Reilly, CTO](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kurt-reilly-navy.DlpwROjq_1ut5Ag.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Kurt Reilly CTO - ![James Francis, CAIO](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/james-francis-navy.DBfDZHkf_26nrqe.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### James Francis CAIO - ![Brandon Weisenberger, VP of Sales](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/brandon-weisenberger-navy.ruEcRv3__ZGM7FI.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Brandon Weisenberger VP of Sales - ![Dan Rovito, Director of Engineering](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dan-rovito-navy.BZMm_wak_Z3z1w.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Dan Rovito Director of Engineering - ![Doris Espiritu, Controller](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/doris-espiritu-navy.CB1PHOhW_Z1w1PeC.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Doris Espiritu Controller - ![Kevin Martin, President](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kevin-martin-navy.B_hz5KVu_1mHEEV.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Kevin Martin President - ![Alex Stepien, CEO](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/alex-stepien.CMVT3U42_ZwWWqc.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Kurt Reilly, CTO](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kurt-reilly.h5HbpLae_JnmC6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![James Francis, CAIO](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/james-francis.BNlhdnOv_ZDByej.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Abby Trowbridge](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/abby-trowbridge.DekC-YQs_Z1U1Hhs.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Brandon Weisenberger, VP of Sales](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/brandon-weisenberger.BgSDOa7g_LPRmT.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Brooke Hart](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/brooke-hart.BFBk6ukf_Z2bLToF.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Carmen](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/carmen.CXySfHyZ_Z1WbO1K.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Cass Montemagni](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cass-montemagni.DXCYVmsS_iLp7v.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Dan Kovalsky](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dan-kovalsky.BluoLRj1_ZJb6z9.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Dan Rovito, Director of Engineering](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dan-rovito.DXWtCRVU_Z1CPcFw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Dennis Leise](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dennis-leise.BHDEMROY_Z2vFA8z.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Doris Espiritu, Controller](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/doris-espiritu.j_Cj44IO_Z12TGxX.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Gil Rogers](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/gil-rogers.CIund8yH_5pVzu.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Joe Schlidt](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/joe-schlidt.DiQ4lK-l_2uosYt.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Joseph Albury](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/joseph-albury.MiTeB4bi_1kTV1U.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Kailyn Warner](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kailyn-warner.CQHgJHLD_Z19yLer.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Kelsi Harris](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kelsi-harris.B0CZPtU4_Z2vFCYz.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Kevin Martin, President](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kevin-martin.yUg3Kd1p_c56rQ.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Lora Barber](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lora-barber.CnmuMJwg_pVjeF.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Marina Pavićević](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/marina-pavi-evi.PtXZQVyB_ZUhQI6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Mike Frame](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/mike-frame.B6Sgq02T_Z2fSuUr.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Milan Bhatnagar](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/milan-bhatnagar.E39UQ-5G_1iuHel.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Reid Smithe](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/reid-smithe.CUPLQCBX_qHsyR.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Samantha Lucas](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/samantha-lucas.DNlnG8Eu_Z3jn3m.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Sandra Ye](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/sandra-ye.BVtTkGWd_l6cP8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Tessa Fedchenko](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tessa-fedchenko.D9N1gvdS_XYR0f.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Traci Richards](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/traci-richards.D01JyXW2_Z2ubyXc.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Vaughn Zmolek](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/vaughn-zmolek.-jZ5AIaO_Zwiz2Y.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) At your service ## We're an extension of your team. Our average response time is 16 minutes. But fast replies are the easy part. What sets us apart is a team that knows higher education firsthand, takes your goals seriously, and stays in step with how you actually work, from your first conversation onward. Careers ## Join our team We're building something that matters to higher education. [View open positions](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) ## Connect your work with the Fund Platform. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # AI Summer School | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/ai-summer-school AI Summer School # Learn practical AI for higher ed. A 5-week, hands-on cohort that teaches you to actually use AI in your day-to-day work: agents, real tools, and workflows, through a higher-ed lens. You finish having built your first working agent. Registration is now closed. If you'd like to be added to the waitlist, please email [inquiries@awardspring.com](mailto:inquiries@awardspring.com). ## What it is AI Summer School teaches practical, general AI for the way higher-ed teams actually work. Not a product demo, not a tech seminar. - ### Term-based cohort Five weeks, a fixed group, weekly live sessions, peer work, and assignments. - ### Real outcomes You graduate with an artifact: your first working agent. - ### We place you in the right room A quick survey profiles where you are and groups you with people at your level. ## The details Format Five weekly live sessions. Term 1 dates July 14 – August 11, 2026. Who teaches Led by James Francis, Chief AI Officer. Alex Stepien opens and closes each cohort, and guest experts headline modules. Pricing Flat $799/seat. One free seat included for every AwardSpring Pro and Enterprise customers. Availability A limited number of summer cohorts. ## How it works 1. ### Take the survey The placement survey takes about 2 minutes. 2. ### Intake Intake runs June 4–18. 3. ### We form cohorts We group people by level and goals. You'll hear your placement by about June 20. 4. ### Term 1 begins Your first session is July 14. ## Want a seat in the next cohort? Registration is now closed. If you'd like to be added to the waitlist, please email [inquiries@awardspring.com](mailto:inquiries@awardspring.com). --- # Placement survey | AI Summer School | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/ai-summer-school/survey [AI Summer School](https://www.awardspring.com/ai-summer-school) Placement survey # Find your cohort. About two minutes. It tells us where you are with AI so we can place you with people at your level and build cohorts around real goals. There are no wrong answers. About you First name Last name Work email Role / title Which area do you work in?Select one... Which best describes your level?Select one... Team sizeSelect one... Your AI experience How would you rate your current AI proficiency?Select one... In the last 90 days, which of these have you done? Used ChatGPT, Claude, or similar chat agent for a work taskWritten a reusable prompt or custom instructions you use repeatedlySet up a Project or custom GPT for a specific workflowConnected AI to your data or tools (integrations, Zapier, etc.)Used an AI agent that completes multi-step tasks on its ownUsed or configured an MCP serverCreated a skill, custom workflow, or automation for an AI toolNone of these yet What's your biggest AI blocker or frustration? What you want from the cohort What do you most want to walk away able to do? How do you learn best?Select one... Are you an AwardSpring customer?Select one... By submitting, you agree to receive communications from AwardSpring. Submit --- # AI Summer School: YouTube Watch List | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/ai-summer-school/watch-list AI Summer School Watch List # Some AI YouTubers worth a look A few YouTube channels worth checking out for AI Summer School, grouped by where they tend to meet you: keeping up, getting better, building, and staying ahead. A short list of channels for AI Summer School. They're all easy to watch and genuinely useful. The main difference is where they meet you: some are good for just keeping up, some for building your own things, and some for staying close to whatever's new. Pick a tier, follow one or two, and see what sticks. How to use this Pick the tier that matches where you are today, not where you'd like to be. It's easy to bounce off the frontier stuff before the basics feel comfortable, so there's no rush. You can always move up. A good place to start ## If you only want a couple - Orient Matt Wolfe - Build Nate Herk + Cole Medin - Stay ahead Matthew Berman These cover the range pretty well: one for keeping up, two for building, and one for what's new. A fine place to jump in if you're not sure where to start. ## Keep up Getting oriented For folks who mostly want to understand what's going on and get comfortable with the tools. Non-technical, low commitment, no coding. - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/Xfsv8L8S4Dt2PPpgaexoMluK9gkm4H77TY-Sae7DbY8qKSaGI0FOS_uzw65kxVtdQlYvc02bB6k=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Matt Wolfe](https://www.youtube.com/@mreflow) Future Tools A weekly AI news roundup. Nicely produced, plain language, no coding. An easy way to feel current without much effort. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@mreflow) - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/fHDMaIjQYS0XTz17AL-iIxdfyrGJfLliAJTQmJE931P1OareLsLIvFeJDcDtI3QpkD9HLnvI7Gw=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Jeff Su](https://www.youtube.com/@JeffSu) Productivity + AI Short, clean videos on using ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini at work. Practical and easy to follow. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@JeffSu) ## Get better Practical power users For folks already using the tools who want to get a bit better at working them into everyday tasks. - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/DvaUGxvtI8_VHscLePaF-JO0kMrzluLkGQWDIOtbHvAkmlRaX_gh3YATlFu8046lrNjBQ0cmIw=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [The AI Advantage](https://www.youtube.com/@aiadvantage) Igor Pogany Structured walkthroughs of tools and workflows, aimed at getting real work done. Calm and easy to follow. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@aiadvantage) - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/Cm_AOGXEC3TYdp2iOXTUj07zgqBkCMJjh4C-0iD0DJOALbMb-D2tz9fJ2e-EDE5DJnJCnd3PaA=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Riley Brown](https://www.youtube.com/@rileybrownai) AI for non-coders Good for non-coders who want to start building. App-building and vibe-coding without an engineering background. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@rileybrownai) ## Build Builders and automation The n8n, agents, and RAG tier. For folks who want to wire tools together and build automations of their own. - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/rjiskq1h4EjTgsqvP_BOsnpwCdHUHKvSo00RmUraoWqDuHQN6RAUMdo1ircHs0ZcKQrrWNvukEs=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Nate Herk](https://www.youtube.com/@nateherk) n8n + AI automation Already a team favorite. Practical, project-driven builds with n8n and AI agents. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@nateherk) - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/hypu_gAVvu_zrtDWjVw833AeSwI2OwJSJ5ZSy1QAhgbIPs1qmNnKreOnHMhaU55bBRLMA47E=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Cole Medin](https://www.youtube.com/@ColeMedin) AI agents + RAG A nice next step past Nate: more on agents, RAG, and how the pieces fit together, still easy to follow. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ColeMedin) - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/81YBrChz5qTRqj6J2rrzqJgD4y_n3SMkfVdQX66X7EhpfVwDh-xUJBEG5GaneiO5Bpr_km96VQ=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Liam Ottley](https://www.youtube.com/@LiamOttley) AI as a business The same automation stack, framed around outcomes and building a service. Handy if you tend to think in terms of ROI. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@LiamOttley) ## Stay ahead Frontier and technical For the more technical or more curious. New model releases, capabilities, and how the systems work underneath. - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/1X83USLZjNCWy21jOEP9rhsLujx6airwI-ANVsBhWMoErFuUkbx6-tDBjM-OAaIwxDv8MoUlHUk=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Matthew Berman](https://www.youtube.com/@matthew_berman) Frontier + agentic Tries out new model releases and agent tooling as they land. Handy for keeping tabs on what's new. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@matthew_berman) - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/3fPNbkf_xPyCleq77ZhcxyeorY97NtMHVNUbaAON_RBDH9ydL4hJkjxC8x_4mpuopkB8oI7Ct6Y=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Fireship](https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship) Developer-flavored Fast, sharp, and fun takes for a developer audience. Good for a quick technical read on something new. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@Fireship) - ![](https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/ytc/AIdro_nDvyq2NoPL626bk1IbxQ94SfQsD-B0qgZchghtQNkLWoEz=s160-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj) ### [Andrej Karpathy](https://www.youtube.com/@AndrejKarpathy) First principles Posts occasionally, but well worth it if you want to understand how large language models actually work underneath. [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@AndrejKarpathy) Grouped by where they tend to meet you, not by quality. They're all worth a look, so pick where you are and go from there. --- # AwardSpring Alpha | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/alpha AwardSpring Alpha # Be first. Shape what's next. The opt-in program for institutions who want new capabilities the moment they're built, on The Fund Platform. [Join AwardSpring Alpha](#join) ## Why now The AwardSpring platform is evolving faster than ever before, and we're not slowing down. Alpha is your chance to ride the front edge of that pace. Release frequency 1. 2024 every 6–8 weeks 2. 2025 every 4 weeks 3. 2026 Today every 2 weeks ## How it works ### Alpha You choose The only stage you choose Opt-in, front edge, evolving. ### Beta Wider release Stable, opt-in. ### GA Default-on Fully supported. Alpha is the only stage you raise your hand for. Beta and GA come to you on the platform's schedule. Membership ## What you get Early access is just the start. Here's everything that comes with joining Alpha. - ### See it first Early access to capabilities before Beta or GA. - ### Shape the roadmap Your feedback routes directly into product decisions. - ### A direct line to our product team A recurring roundtable and a dedicated feedback channel, not a ticket queue. - ### Innovator status Recognition as one of the institutions defining the platform's edge. ## Be first on The Fund Platform. Sign up once to get first access. From there, we bring each new Alpha release to your attention so you can try it. Work email address Join AwardSpring Alpha By submitting, you agree to receive communications from AwardSpring. --- # Best Scholarship Management Software (2026) | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/best-scholarship-management-software # Best Scholarship Management Software This guide compares eight scholarship management platforms: AwardSpring, Blackbaud Award Management, Foundant SLM, Submittable, SmarterSelect, OpenWater, Kaleidoscope, and ScholarshipUniverse. Each is scored on six criteria, with competitor claims sourced to current public documentation, and matched to the buyers it genuinely fits. Every scholarship management platform demos well. The hard part of buying isn't comparing feature lists; it's predicting outcomes. ## How we evaluated Six criteria: application experience, fund matching, donor reporting, integrations, support quality, and AI-assisted awarding. Competitor claims are sourced to each vendor's current public documentation and review-site listings; where something is not publicly documented, we say so rather than guessing. AwardSpring is scored by the same rubric. ### Application experience The application is where volume is won or lost. Look for a single application a student completes once, on a phone, that matches them to every fund they qualify for. ### Fund matching The platform should match students to funds automatically against complex, overlapping eligibility rules, including the narrow donor-restricted funds that are hardest to award by hand. ### Donor reporting Scholarships don't end at the award; they end when the donor sees the impact and funds again. Strong platforms make it straightforward to report back to donors and to give Advancement the data it needs without a manual export every spring. ### Integrations A platform that doesn't talk to your SIS creates a second system of record and a new reconciliation job. Ask specifically how it integrates with your student information system, your finance system, and your CRM, and what that sync actually keeps current. ### Support quality You will need support most in the two weeks around your deadline, when volume spikes and something always breaks. Ask for the average response time, not the promised one, and ask to talk to a reference institution about what support felt like during their busiest week. ### AI-assisted awarding The useful version speeds up work humans already do: flagging likely matches, surfacing students for under-awarded funds, drafting the first pass of donor reports. Ask any vendor what their AI actually decides versus what it assists, and be skeptical of anything that can't answer plainly. ## The eight platforms 1. 01 ### AwardSpring Scholarship and donor management on one platform, built for community colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations that report impact to donors. One application matches students to every fund they qualify for; support answers in 16 minutes on average and teams rate it 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews. Honest limit: a grants-first community foundation deep in a competing suite may be better served staying suite-native. [Inside AwardSpring Scholarship Management →](https://www.awardspring.com/scholarship-management) 2. 02 ### Blackbaud Award Management (formerly AcademicWorks) The scholarship module inside Blackbaud's fundraising ecosystem; deepest when a campus already runs Blackbaud for advancement and wants one vendor. [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) 3. 03 ### Foundant SLM Part of the Foundant suite (GLM grants, CommunitySuite fund accounting); a natural fit for community foundations already living in that suite, where the suite-to-suite integration has real value. Offers a Universal Application with eligibility matching on its Advanced license. [AwardSpring vs Foundant SLM →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) 4. 04 ### Submittable General-purpose submission management spanning grants, corporate giving, and scholarships; chosen by Scholarship America in 2025 as its technology provider. Eligibility screening is documented per program rather than as cross-fund matching. [AwardSpring vs Submittable →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) 5. 05 ### SmarterSelect Affordable, self-serve application management for nonprofits, foundations, and associations running many program types; fast setup with strong support commitments. Scholarship matching is included in its top tier. [AwardSpring vs SmarterSelect →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) 6. 06 ### OpenWater A generalist application-and-review engine for awards, abstracts, grants, and scholarships, owned by ASI (the maker of iMIS); standout high-volume judging workflows and a published 10-minute average support response. Cross-fund matching and a donor module are not documented as of August 2026. [AwardSpring vs OpenWater →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) 7. 07 ### Kaleidoscope Scholarship marketplace and administration with built-in disbursement and optional full-service program management; common for corporate and national programs that need applicant reach. Documents auto-matching from a single application. [AwardSpring vs Kaleidoscope →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) 8. 08 ### ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) University scholarship matching inside Ellucian Student Aid, pairing institutional awards with a vetted database of 17,000+ external scholarships; strongest for campuses in the Ellucian ecosystem. [AwardSpring vs ScholarshipUniverse →](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) ## How the eight platforms compare Six criteria AwardSpring Blackbaud Award Management Foundant SLM Submittable SmarterSelect OpenWater Kaleidoscope ScholarshipUniverse Application experience One application with conditional questions and matching across eligible funds. Personalized student view of scholarships matched to their qualifications, per Blackbaud's product page Yes (Universal Application) Per-program eligibility screening; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 Pre-qualification in all plans; Scholarship Matching in the Enterprise tier Eligibility rules block ineligible submissions; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 Yes; also matches programs to learners across its marketplace Intelligent matching to institutional awards, in the Ellucian Student Aid suite Fund matching Fund criteria and applicant answers are evaluated together to surface eligible scholarships. Automatic match recommends available scholarships to students, per Blackbaud's product page Yes (Universal Application) Per-program eligibility screening; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 Pre-qualification in all plans; Scholarship Matching in the Enterprise tier Eligibility rules block ineligible submissions; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 Yes; also matches programs to learners across its marketplace Intelligent matching to institutional awards, in the Ellucian Student Aid suite Donor reporting Award data can continue into donor records, impact reporting, and stewardship work in the Fund Platform. Editable digital thank-you letters and donor reports, per Blackbaud's product page Separate products (SLM + CommunitySuite) that integrate Donor reporting documented in its corporate-giving products, not the scholarship product Award tracking (Enterprise tier); no donor CRM or stewardship module documented as of August 2026 Stakeholder reports and disbursement tracking; no donor module documented as of August 2026 Funder outcome reporting and a Scholar Relationship Management module Donor portal and stewardship management included per Ellucian's materials Integrations Designed to work alongside student information, finance, and advancement systems. Nightly imports from your student information system; connects to Raiser's Edge NXT through a partner connector Integrates with Foundant's own CommunitySuite fund accounting Two-way API; Salesforce, DocuSign, Candid, PeopleSoft; SAML/OIDC SSO Zapier plus SSO for member-management systems; no SIS or finance integrations documented as of August 2026 65+ AMS, CRM, directory, and payment platforms; SAML SSO Not publicly documented Workflows integrate directly with the SIS inside Ellucian Student Aid Support quality Support requests receive an answer in 16 minutes on average. Not publicly documented Not publicly documented Published 12-minute average tech-support response Published sub-hour average response and 98% support satisfaction Published 10-minute average response; 4.4 on G2; Capterra 4.6 across 73 reviews Chat, email, webinar library; optional managed services No published response-time targets; customer stories describe responsive onboarding AI-assisted awarding SpringIQ assists scholarship work while people retain the final decision. Not publicly documented Not publicly documented AI Assistant generates application forms; document parsing and review summaries No shipped AI features listed as of August 2026 OpenWater AI (announced January 2025): submission condensing and judge scoring assistance, opt-in beta with metered tokens AI and plagiarism detection for applicant essays (optional add-on) Suite-level AI form assistance and a virtual student assistant ## Choosing by institution type - **Community colleges:** shortlist AwardSpring and Blackbaud Award Management; decide on implementation effort and whether foundation and financial aid share one system. - **Universities:** AwardSpring, Blackbaud Award Management, ScholarshipUniverse. - **Community foundations:** AwardSpring and Foundant SLM; the suite question decides it. - **Corporate and national programs:** Kaleidoscope, Submittable, AwardSpring. - **4.7 of 5**on G2 across 110 reviews - **16-minute**average support response - [Coastal Carolina University more than tripled applications, from **811 to 2,693**](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/coastal-carolina-university) - [Grayson College lifted application volume **10%**](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/grayson-college) [ ## Our research: the 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark, a study of 125 scholarship foundations. ](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) ## FAQ What is the best scholarship management software? It depends on who you are. Campus and foundation programs that award their own funds shortlist AwardSpring and Blackbaud Award Management; community foundations weigh Foundant's suite; corporate and national programs look at Kaleidoscope and Submittable. Score the six criteria against where your program hurts. How do I choose scholarship management software? Weight the six criteria by your bottleneck, make every demo about your own funds and cycle, and talk to a reference that switched from your current setup. What should scholarship management software cost? Most platforms in this category price annually, scoped to program size and volume, and several publish no figures. Compare what is included at the tier you are quoted: matching, seats, support, and donor reporting are the common gating points. ## Request a demo [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Blog | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog Blog # Insights for those who move scholarship dollars. Strategies, benchmarks, and practical guides for the people running scholarship management, donor stewardship, and fund operations. All [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) AwardSpring October 19, 2026 8 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) AwardSpring September 16, 2026 4 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Introducing Donor Experience](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-donor-experience) Kevin Martin August 26, 2026 3 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) AwardSpring July 27, 2026 5 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) AwardSpring July 24, 2026 6 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) Alex Stepien June 29, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [How to Increase Scholarship Applications: A Playbook for Financial Aid Teams](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/increase-scholarship-applications) AwardSpring June 24, 2026 4 min read [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) ## [What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien June 17, 2026 4 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Alex Stepien June 5, 2026 4 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) Alex Stepien June 5, 2026 4 min read 1 [2](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2) [3](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/3) [4](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/4) [Next](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2) Sign up now ## Get the AwardSpring monthly briefing One email a month. Practical strategies, peer benchmarks, and what's working at organizations like yours. No spam, no daily noise. Email address Subscribe By submitting, you agree to receive communications from AwardSpring. Trusted by 600+ institutions --- # Blog · Page 2 | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2 Blog # Insights for those who move scholarship dollars. All [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Beyond efficiency: how Cloud County proved that human connection still wins in enrollment](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cloud-county-connection-efficiency-awardspring) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connect-donor-engagement-scholarship-awarding) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 3 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cross-campus-collaboration-scholarship-impact) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/data-transparency-builds-donor-confidence) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 10 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 2 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 1 min read [Prev](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [1](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) 2 [3](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/3) [4](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/4) [Next](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/3) --- # Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship Alex Stepien · June 29, 2026 · 2 min read ![Advancement staff working at dusk in a modern campus office with floor-to-ceiling windows](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-stewardship-benchmark-advancement-office-dusk.1nJCTySU_129TWE.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. For years, donor stewardship has been treated as the part of fundraising you cannot measure. [_The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark_](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark), out today, shows it is not unmeasurable. It has just gone unmeasured. It is a benchmark of how scholarship donor stewardship works across higher education. 125 foundations told us how the work actually gets done: how it is staffed, how reports go out, how thank-you letters are handled, and where AI fits. The picture is candid, and it is more clarifying than comfortable. ## What the data shows - **Capacity is the constraint.** 46% of programs run on one FTE or less, and 53% name staff time, not budget or technology, as their single biggest barrier. - **Reporting is stuck in the past.** 79% still deliver by U.S. mail, and 45% have no way to know whether a donor read what they sent. - **Quality is a quiet worry.** The field rates its own work 2.66 out of 5, and only 5% regularly collect donor feedback to check. - **Unawarded funds are a silent risk.** 71% had at least one fund go unawarded last year, and 37% had no protocol for telling the donor. - **AI adoption is wide but shallow.** Half are experimenting; only 15% use it consistently. ## The pattern underneath Read together, the findings group into three pillars: a capacity-quality trap, a measurement blind spot, and an AI inflection point. And they point to one conclusion that should change how you read the rest: this is not a story about people who do not care. It is a story about people who care a great deal and do not have the infrastructure to act on it. A systems problem has a systems answer. ## What to do about it The report closes with three recommendations you can start on without new budget: audit your capacity against your fund count, build a measurement baseline so you can see whether donors engage, and operationalize AI in one high-volume workflow instead of experimenting at the edges. ## Get the report _The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark_ is a free download. It includes all seven findings with the data, the methodology, and the three recommendations in full. While you are there, you can watch the on-demand webinar, grab the executive brief, and score your own stewardship work against the field with our free benchmarking tool. [**Download the report**](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) Tags Donor Stewardship Scholarship Management Fund Strategy Industry Trends AI & SpringIQ ## More from this author - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) - [Scholarship Management From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) - [Scholarship Management From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) --- # Blog · Page 3 | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/3 Blog # Insights for those who move scholarship dollars. All [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Preparing for the season of gratitude: strengthening scholarship and donor connections before the holidays](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/holiday-prep-scholarship-donor-gratitude) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Year-end isn’t just for giving appeals. It’s for donor trust](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/holiday-scholarship-donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/presidential-leadership-connected-philanthropy) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [From firefighting to forward thinking: reframing scholarship operations for what comes next](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-management-strategy-middle-managers) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Scholarships aren’t just financial aid anymore. They’re strategy.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarships-as-strategy-leadership-higher-ed) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Scholarships as strategy: how financial aid drives enrollment and retention in 2026](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarships-enrollment-retention-strategy) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The stewardship measurement blind spot](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-measurement-blind-spot) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 3 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [From stewardship to strategy: elevating donor engagement beyond the annual report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/strategic-donor-engagement-scholarships) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Prev](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2) [1](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [2](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2) 3 [4](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/4) [Next](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/4) --- # Blog · Page 4 | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/4 Blog # Insights for those who move scholarship dollars. All [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) ## [A year of impact: the AwardSpring blog posts our community found most valuable](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/top-scholarship-donor-management-blogs-year) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [The top 3 scholarship moves leaders should make right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/top-scholarship-strategy-moves-leaders) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) ## [Donor stewardship: what the data says about where higher ed foundations stand](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 3 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Scholarship stewardship: what it is, why it fails, and how to get it right](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-stewardship) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 6 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Donor stewardship is running on one FTE. Here’s what that costs.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-capacity-quality) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 2 min read [Prev](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/3) [1](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [2](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2) [3](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/3) 4 --- # Beyond efficiency: how Cloud County proved that human connection still wins in enrollment | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cloud-county-connection-efficiency-awardspring [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # Beyond efficiency: how Cloud County proved that human connection still wins in enrollment Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Beyond efficiency: how Cloud County proved that human connection still wins in enrollment](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cloud-county-students-commons-motion.IM8HD6ia_Z7SyuN.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Cloud County Community College faced a familiar challenge: a small team, a growing list of responsibilities, and a critical need to reach and support more students without losing the personal touch that defines their mission. Manual processes slowed down awarding. Communication with applicants and reviewers often required extra steps. And donors weren’t always getting the visibility they deserved. Cloud County turned to AwardSpring to simplify their scholarship and donor engagement workflows, freeing staff to focus on what truly matters: meaningful connection. ## What changed By centralizing scholarship management and automating administrative steps: - Reviewers could spend more time understanding applicants’ stories - Students found the process easier and more transparent - Donors saw real-time impact, not just end-of-year reports ## Results Streamlined awarding and reporting eliminated manual bottlenecks, improved student access led to stronger application numbers, and enhanced donor visibility strengthened relationships and future giving. But what stood out most wasn’t just efficiency. It was culture. Cloud County’s team rediscovered that technology, when designed with empathy, doesn’t replace human connection. It amplifies it. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now Gil Rogers · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/compounding-impact-scholarship-ripples-reflection.CQ00SSKr_1gsFtM.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Gil Rogers Better scholarship systems don’t just improve processes. They create momentum. That realization led AwardSpring to create a booklet: **The Compounding Impact of Better Scholarship Systems.** ## Why this booklet was created In conversations with financial aid leaders, foundation teams, and executive leadership, one pattern kept emerging: when scholarship systems improve, the benefits don’t stop at operations. They cascade. A better system doesn’t just help one team. It creates ripple effects across enrollment, advancement, and student success. But those ripple effects are rarely articulated clearly. ## The shift from efficiency to impact Most institutions first explore scholarship platforms to solve immediate problems: too many spreadsheets, disconnected data, slow awarding timelines, limited visibility into fund utilization. But what often happens next is more interesting. Once systems improve, institutions begin to notice that the impact compounds. Better visibility leads to better decisions. Better decisions lead to stronger outcomes. Stronger outcomes create new opportunities. ## What ‘compounding impact’ really means A more unified system improves fund utilization. Higher utilization strengthens donor confidence. Stronger donor confidence fuels future giving. Or: cleaner workflows accelerate awarding timelines. Earlier awards support yield and retention. Stronger outcomes reshape institutional strategy. None of these connections happen in isolation. Each improvement enables the next. ## Connecting systems that were never meant to be separate Awarding often lives in financial aid. Donor stewardship lives in advancement. Fund visibility lives somewhere else entirely. When those systems remain disconnected, impact is harder to see, and even harder to scale. The booklet is for financial aid leaders, foundation teams, and executive leaders who all play a role in whether this compounding impact actually happens. Tags Scholarship Management Comparisons and Buyer Guides ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) - [Donor Stewardship The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) Author Gil Rogers Related posts - [Donor Stewardship The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) - [Donor Stewardship The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) --- # Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connect-donor-engagement-scholarship-awarding [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-engagement-awarding-campus-bridge-blue-hour.kqjy2O_z_Z1IDA1V.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. For most institutions, scholarship management and donor stewardship live in different worlds. But the students benefiting from those scholarships, and the donors funding them, don’t see two separate systems. They see one story. ## The missed opportunity: when systems don’t talk When scholarship awarding and donor engagement happen in isolation, donors don’t see the full impact of their investment, financial aid teams lose visibility into donor intent, and students miss chances to form meaningful connections with the individuals supporting their education. The result? A scholarship program that works, but doesn’t inspire. ## The leadership imperative: aligning mission and management By uniting donor engagement and scholarship awarding, leaders can show tangible outcomes that connect philanthropy directly to student success, build trust among donors through transparency and accountability, and elevate institutional storytelling, turning data points into narratives that attract future giving. ## The technology shift: from reporting to relationship Modern scholarship management platforms like AwardSpring allow institutions to automatically match donors with the funds they support, share real-time impact updates as awards are made, and integrate student stories and metrics into donor-facing dashboards. When donors see their impact unfold, giving becomes more personal, and more sustainable. ## The student experience: visibility as value A connected scholarship ecosystem ensures awards are distributed equitably and transparently, students understand who made their scholarship possible, and thank-you messages and impact stories flow naturally, strengthening community ties. For institutional leaders focused on belonging and student engagement, this reinforces one of higher education’s most powerful messages: someone believes in you. Tags Scholarship Management Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 3 min read ![Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/financial-aid-advancement-divided-office-wings.BlyXGgxT_2wlDup.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Most donor stewardship failures don’t look like failures from the inside. They look like everyone doing their job. The Director of Financial Aid is awarding scholarships against criteria, watching application volume, and trying to spend the dollars the institution committed to spend. The VP of Advancement is cultivating donors, reporting on impact, and protecting the relationships that fund the next gift. Each function is running its own playbook competently. The problem is that at most institutions, the donor lives in Advancement and the fund lives in Financial Aid, and the two functions barely share a system. That gap is where stewardship breaks. Not because anyone is failing at their job. Because nobody owns the seam between them. ## What the data shows about the seam In our 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmarking Report (125 higher education foundations), three numbers describe this gap with uncomfortable clarity. 71% of foundations had at least one scholarship fund go unawarded last year, and 37% had no protocol for telling the donor it happened. 46% of stewardship programs operate on one full-time equivalent or less. Only one in three foundations could confidently report on the impact of donor-restricted funds across their portfolio. The other two thirds had pieces of the picture: awarded amounts in the SIS, donor history in the CRM, fund balances in Finance, narrative reports in someone’s drafts folder. The information existed. It just wasn’t connected. ## Why the structure produces the gap Financial Aid is built around the student-fund match: eligibility, compliance, packaging, disbursement. The team is measured on awards completed on time and in compliance. Advancement is built around the donor relationship: cultivation, solicitation, recognition, retention. The team is measured on dollars raised, donor retention, and reportable impact. A donor-restricted scholarship fund sits in the middle. The donor side cares about whether the fund honored intent. The aid side cares about whether the dollars were awarded compliantly. Neither side, on its own, owns the question of whether the donor knows what the aid side did with the donor’s gift. ## The handoffs that actually close the loop The institutions doing this well treat the FA–Advancement seam as its own operational surface and define the handoffs explicitly. A few patterns show up consistently: **A shared view of the fund, not the function.** The high-confidence institutions stitched together a single read-only view of each fund: award status from the SIS, donor history from the CRM, fund balance and restrictions from Finance, recipient outcomes where available. **A monthly or cycle-aligned check-in with both teams in the room.** The check-in is short, fund-level, and operational. Which funds are tracking under-utilization. Which donors are due for an interim communication. Which restrictions need a conversation before the next cycle. **One protocol per fund state, owned at the seam.** Awarded in full, partially awarded, unawarded with explanation, criteria-modified, held intentionally. Each state has a template, a turnaround time, and an owner who isn’t fully in FA or fully in Advancement. **Donor-aware criteria conversations.** When a fund consistently tracks under-utilization, the protocol triggers a conversation about widening the criteria. The conversation includes the donor early. Most donors understand the operational reality once it is explained. AwardSpring’s role here is to make the awarding side of every donor-restricted fund visible in one place: fund setup, eligibility logic, matching, awarding, underutilization patterns, and stewardship-ready insights. [Request a walkthrough](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) of how AwardSpring gives FA and Advancement one view of the fund. Tags Donor Stewardship Fund Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cross-campus-collaboration-scholarship-impact [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cross-campus-collaboration-team-glass-room.iLfL3Dfh_ZWvfm4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Scholarship success happens at the intersection of departments, not within a single silo. This post explores how stronger collaboration across Financial Aid, Advancement, and Academic Affairs drives better awarding, stronger donor relationships, and more meaningful student outcomes. ## 1\. How financial aid + advancement can strengthen donor confidence Proactively identify underfunded areas, personalize donor communication, highlight unmet student need with real data, strengthen donor retention and future giving. When both teams share visibility into fund utilization and student outcomes, stewardship becomes specific, credible, and timely. ## 2\. How academic departments can amplify student access Faculty and advisors often know which students are struggling financially, who may be eligible for niche awards, who needs encouragement to apply. Bringing them in can increase qualified applicant volume, broaden access, and surface emerging needs tied to specific programs. ## 3\. How cross-campus insights improve awarding equity When departments share the same data, they can collectively identify opportunity gaps, update award criteria, cultivate new donor partnerships, build pipelines for underrepresented students, and ensure awarding reflects institutional priorities. ## 4\. How shared systems reduce administrative burden One centralized system = one shared source of truth. That allows teams to reduce duplicative work, eliminate manual task tracking, streamline communication, and stay aligned throughout the full cycle. ## Leadership takeaway Scholarship success is no longer just about awarding dollars. It’s about building a coordinated, mission-driven ecosystem where students, donors, and staff all benefit. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Scholarship Management Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/data-transparency-builds-donor-confidence [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/data-transparency-transparent-glass-building.CiNVZW-6_Z1h61sS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Donors are no longer content with annual reports or broad impact summaries. They want to see the story behind the numbers. In this new era of philanthropy, data is more than accountability. It’s opportunity. ## Why transparency has become a leadership imperative When leaders can speak confidently about how scholarship dollars are awarded, tracked, and felt, they strengthen both trust and reputation. Data is no longer just a reporting function. It’s a strategic asset that communicates credibility, stewardship, and vision. ## The confidence gap: when donors can’t see impact A lack of visibility often leads to assumptions. When impact data lives in spreadsheets or disconnected systems, the story never reaches the people who need to hear it most. Donors who can’t see what their gift accomplished quietly disengage, often before anyone notices. ## From data to dialogue: turning numbers into narrative The most trusted institutions use data to tell a story connecting donor intent, student experience, and institutional mission. Examples include showing how retention improved among scholarship recipients, highlighting first-generation student success stories tied to donor funds, and using real-time dashboards in board meetings or town halls. ## Technology as the enabler of trust Modern scholarship and donor management systems like AwardSpring empower leaders to lead transparently, giving presidents and vice presidents clear, real-time insights into how donor dollars translate into student outcomes. ## Final thought: leadership that shares the story Transparency isn’t about releasing more data. It’s about sharing the right data in ways that build connection and confidence. When presidents use data to show not just what was done, but why it matters, they transform philanthropy from obligation to inspiration. Tags Donor Stewardship Fund Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact Gil Rogers · September 22, 2026 · 10 min read ![The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-fund-lifecycle-aerial-twilight-path.LolnDTBC_18vX0L.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Gil Rogers **Donor fund lifecycle management** is the process of connecting every stage of donor-funded support, from fund creation through stewardship and renewed giving, so institutions can manage those funds with greater clarity, accountability, and impact. Every scholarship fund starts the same way. A donor decides to help students they will probably never meet, and someone at your institution says yes. What happens over the next twelve months decides whether that gift reaches a student, whether the donor ever hears about it, and whether they give again. The stakes are bigger than most teams realize: in the [2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark), 71% of the 125 institutions we surveyed had at least one fund go unawarded last year. That money was given in good faith and sat unused because of a [handoff](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff). This guide walks the full donor fund lifecycle, stage by stage: what happens at each step, where funds quietly fail, and what to do about it. ## What is the donor fund lifecycle? The donor fund lifecycle is the full path a charitable gift travels: gift acceptance, fund setup, matching to eligible students, awarding and disbursement, student outcomes and donor stewardship, and renewed giving. Six stages, one loop. Here is the whole arc at a glance: - **Fund creation and donor intent (gift acceptance).** A documented agreement with a purpose and terms. - **Criteria design and fund setup.** The agreement becomes a working fund with criteria, amounts, and deadlines. - **Student matching.** Eligible students are identified against each fund’s criteria. - **Scholarship awarding and disbursement.** Committees select recipients and dollars reach students. - **Student outcomes, stewardship, and donor reporting.** You measure what the fund did and show the donor. - **Renewed giving.** The donor gives again, and the loop restarts. ## Why does the donor fund lifecycle matter more now? When the lifecycle is not well connected, donor intent gets diluted, underutilized funds go unnoticed, impact is harder to measure and communicate, stewardship becomes manual and inconsistent, and opportunities for stronger future giving are missed. At most institutions, these stages live in different systems with different owners. Advancement holds the gift agreement, financial aid runs the awards, and the impact report is a scramble every spring. The handoffs between stages are where dollars and donors get lost. Managing the six stages as one continuous process has a name: donor fund lifecycle management. That discipline is what the rest of this post covers. ## What happens when a donor’s gift is accepted? Gift acceptance turns donor intent into a documented agreement: the amount, the purpose, any restrictions, and how impact will be reported back. Two things at this stage determine how the whole lifecycle goes. First, the purpose language. Criteria written at acceptance become the fund’s eligibility rules for decades, and language that felt generous in the room (“a junior from the donor’s home county pursuing nursing”) can leave a fund unable to find a single match five years later. It is worth pressure-testing proposed criteria against your recent applicant pool before anyone signs. Second, the report-back plan. Decide at acceptance what the donor will see each year: recipient names or aggregate impact, a student thank-you, a fund balance. Write it into the agreement and into your donor system of record, so stewardship is a commitment with an owner from day one. Where advancement and financial aid sit in different buildings, this is also the moment to agree on [who owns which stage](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement). ## How is a scholarship fund set up? Fund setup turns the gift agreement into a working fund record: eligibility criteria, award amounts, renewal terms, deadlines, and a named owner. This is administrative work, and it is also where funds start to drift. A foundation may hold hundreds of funds, each with its own criteria and cycle. A college holds them inside an endowment, with the same problem at larger scale. Either way, the failure mode is identical: criteria live in a binder or a spreadsheet, the person who understood the donor intent moves on, and the fund becomes a mystery the next administrator inherits. The fix is unglamorous. Give every fund a single structured record that carries its criteria, its history, and its donor connection, in the same system where matching and awarding happen. When the criteria and the applicant pool sit in one place, mismatches surface before the cycle starts. ## How do funds get matched to eligible students? Student matching compares every applicant against the criteria of every open scholarship fund, ideally from one application. The single biggest lever here is the student’s experience. When each fund requires its own form, students apply to the three they have heard of and everything else starves. When one application feeds every fund, and it is short enough to finish on a phone, both sides of the match improve at once. [North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/north-kansas-city-schools-education-foundation) went from 189 to 575 applicants in one year on AwardSpring after making that shift, and [Coastal Carolina University](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/coastal-carolina-university) more than tripled applications, from 811 to 2,693. Lower the [cost of applying](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/increase-scholarship-applications), and the students your funds were built for show up. On AwardSpring, this matching is the core job of [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/scholarship-management), which reads each fund’s criteria and builds the eligible list automatically. ## How do awards and disbursement work? Committees review matched candidates, students accept their awards, and dollars move through your finance office or student information system. The mechanics are familiar: scoring, selection, award letters, acceptance. One habit at this stage pays off for the rest of the lifecycle. Collect the student’s thank-you at the moment they accept the award, while the gratitude is fresh and the login is open. Chasing thank-you letters in July is a familiar [scholarship stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-stewardship) bottleneck, and it is avoidable with one required step in the acceptance flow. ## Why do scholarship funds go unawarded? Funds go unawarded when criteria, deadlines, and the applicant pool drift apart, and nobody notices until the cycle closes. This is more common than most boards know. The [2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) put a number on it: of the 125 institutions we surveyed, 71% had at least one fund go unawarded last year, and 37% have no protocol for telling the donor when it happens. Each unawarded fund is a student who did not get help and a donor conversation nobody wants to have. We have written before about how [narrow criteria drain fund utilization](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization). The problem is timing. By the time an annual report shows a fund went unawarded, the deadline is months gone. The funds that get rescued are the ones somebody spotted mid-cycle, while there was still time to recruit applicants or revisit criteria. That mid-cycle visibility is what [Fund Management](https://www.awardspring.com/fund-management), available November 2026 on AwardSpring’s Fund Platform, is built for: one real-time view of the fund portfolio that scores every fund as on-track, at-risk, or sitting unawarded, with the reason why (criteria too tight, no applicants, spending too conservative), while there is still time to act. ## What does donor stewardship look like after the award? Stewardship shows the donor what their fund did: who received it, what it made possible, and a word of thanks from the student. Report outcomes, not just activity: utilization rate for each fund, renewal trends, and the persistence or retention of the students it supported. Those are the numbers a board asks for and the story a donor remembers. Most teams know this and still struggle to do it, for a plain reason: capacity. In the 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark, 53% of the 125 institutions we surveyed named staff time as their single biggest stewardship barrier, and 46% run stewardship on one FTE or less. The intent is there. The hours are not. Capacity is a systems problem. Keep every donor commitment and touchpoint in your donor system of record, so nothing depends on memory. On the Fund Platform, that record is [Donor Management](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management), which also queues and tracks the next touch. [Donor Experience](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-experience-stewardship) gives every donor a personalized portal and an [impact report built from your actual fund, award, and student data](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting), alongside the student’s thank-you letter, and your team reviews every report and letter before it reaches the donor. And [SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/springiq), AwardSpring’s AI layer, drafts first-pass impact reports and donor briefs under human review, so a one-person team can put a real update in front of every donor without working weekends. ## How do donors renew a scholarship fund? Renewal happens when a donor sees clear, specific impact and decides the experience is worth repeating, often before you ask. Renewal is a lagging indicator of every stage before it. Donors who hear nothing drift. Donors who read a named student’s story, in the student’s own words, tend to give again, sometimes as a second fund, a larger commitment, or an endowed version of an annual gift. When the renewal gift arrives, the lifecycle restarts, and this time you have the history: criteria that matched real students, awards on time, and a stewardship plan already written into the agreement. ## What does donor fund lifecycle management software do? Donor fund lifecycle management software keeps every stage of the lifecycle in one connected record, so a gift accepted in year one still has its criteria, awards, and impact story attached in year five. You can run the lifecycle on [spreadsheets, a CRM, and institutional memory](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence), and many programs do. The honest question is volume: how many funds can your team carry that way before a handoff drops? AwardSpring’s [Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/platform) connects the four products that cover the loop: Scholarship Management for matching and awarding, Donor Management for the donor record and every touch that follows, Donor Experience for impact reporting, and Fund Management for fund-level visibility, available November 2026. More than 600 organizations run their scholarship programs on AwardSpring. The point of the connected record is simple: when the donor calls, anyone on your team can answer. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between donor management and fund management? Donor management is your donor system of record and action layer: who gave, what they were promised, every touchpoint since, and what happens next. Fund management tracks the money's side of the story: which funds are on track, which are at risk, and which are sitting unawarded, and why. They answer different questions, which is why they are separate products on the Fund Platform. Fund Management is available November 2026. ### When do spreadsheets stop working for donor fund management? Spreadsheets stop working at the first handoff you cannot see: when fund criteria live in one file, awards in another, and donor commitments in a third. A practical test is whether anyone on your team could tell a donor, today, what their fund did last year without opening three systems. If the answer depends on one person's memory, you have outgrown the spreadsheet. ### How long does one donor fund lifecycle take? A typical annual fund runs about a year: acceptance and setup in the fall, applications and awarding in the spring, stewardship over the summer, and a renewal conversation the following fall. Endowed funds repeat the loop indefinitely, which is exactly why the record-keeping matters more for them. ### Who should own the donor fund lifecycle? Every fund needs one named owner, and the lifecycle needs a shared record. At a foundation, the owner is often the executive director by default. At a college or university, advancement owns the donor relationship while financial aid owns awarding, and [the handoff between those two offices](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) is where a shared system earns its keep. * * * If you want to see the full lifecycle in one place, from gift agreement to renewal report, [see a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) and bring your hardest fund: the one with criteria nobody has matched in years. You will learn more from that conversation than from any feature list. Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) - [Donor Stewardship The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) Author Gil Rogers Related posts - [Scholarship Management The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) - [Donor Stewardship The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) --- # How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read AwardSpring · July 24, 2026 · 6 min read ![A mailed donor impact report in a campus mailbox at dusk](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-impact-reporting-campus-mailbox-dusk.Xkorjpjh_ZxaNrP.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) AwardSpring Most donor impact reports are written with care, mailed off, and never heard from again. You spend a week pulling the numbers, writing the letter, and picking the student photo. Then it goes in an envelope, and that’s the last data point you ever get. The [_2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark_](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) surveyed 125 foundations, and one number should stop you: 45% have no way to know whether a report was read. (79% of programs still deliver stewardship reports by U.S. mail, which is part of the reason why.) You’re writing into a void and hoping for the best. The donors most worth keeping are often the ones who quietly notice when a report says nothing, and then give a little less next year. This guide is the practical companion to that benchmark: how to write a donor impact report someone opens, and how to know whether it landed. ## Why most reports fail Three reasons, and they stack on top of each other. **Written for the file, not the donor.** They read like an internal record: totals disbursed, number of awards, a thank-you paragraph that could be addressed to anyone. Accurate, complete, and forgettable. A donor gave to change a specific thing in the world, and the report never mentions that thing. **Generic by necessity.** When one person is producing every report by hand, the fastest path is a template with the name swapped out. But a donor who funded first-generation nursing students doesn’t want the same letter as the donor who funded a memorial award for a lost classmate. The gift meant something particular, and a template flattens it. **No feedback loop.** Only 8% track engagement systematically, and just 5% regularly collect donor feedback. So even the good reports disappear into the same silence as the weak ones, and you never learn which is which. From your desk, a report that got read and a report that got tossed look exactly the same, and that’s the real problem. None of this is a skill gap. 46% run stewardship on one FTE or less, and 53% name staff time their #1 barrier. The people writing these reports are stretched thin and doing careful work with no signal coming back. So the answer has little to do with putting more hours into the letter. Two changes get you most of the way: fix what goes in the report, and add one way to measure whether it worked. Both are within reach of a one-person shop. ## What a good report actually contains You don’t need more pages. You need four things, done well. **The specific students.** Name them, or at least describe them concretely. “Your award went to Maria, a first-generation biology major who worked two jobs her freshman year.” One real person beats a headcount every time. If you have permission, use a photo and a line in the student’s own words. **The fund-level numbers.** Not the whole program, the donor’s fund. How much was awarded from their gift this year, to how many students, at what average award size, and what remains. Donors want to see their money working, not the institution’s grand total. **One real outcome story.** What happened because of the award. A student stayed enrolled, graduated, got into the program she wanted, took the unpaid internship she couldn’t otherwise afford. One story, told in a few sentences, does more than a page of gratitude. **The donor’s original intent.** Go back to why they gave. If they set up the fund to honor a parent who was a teacher, say the award went to a future teacher. Writing to intent is the difference between a report a donor files and one they keep. **Keep it short.** A donor impact report earns attention by respecting the reader’s time, so one page, or one screen, usually beats four. Cut the boilerplate history of your foundation and the paragraph of adjectives. If you wouldn’t read it end to end, neither will a busy donor. ## How to know it landed Here’s the part most programs skip. A report you can’t measure is a report you can’t improve. **Start small.** Move at least one report, one donor tier, or one fund, to a channel you can measure. An email, a simple hosted page, a short video with a view count. You don’t have to convert your whole program to learn something. You just need one report where “did they open it?” has an answer. **Then track the basics:** - Did they open it? - Did they click through to a longer story or a photo gallery? - Did they reply? Over a year, those answers tell you which donors are engaged, which are drifting, and which reports are worth the hours you put into them. **Set a rhythm you can keep.** One measurable report a quarter for your top donors beats an annual mailing you can’t track. A steady cadence teaches donors what to expect from you, and it gives you a run of data instead of a single snapshot you can’t compare to anything. **Plan for silence.** Decide in advance what you’ll do with a donor who never opens anything. That’s useful information, not a failure. It usually means the channel is wrong, not the donor. Someone who ignores three emails may read one printed note, or take a phone call, or respond to a text from a name they recognize. Silence is a prompt to change the approach, not a reason to give up on the relationship. ## Grade one of your own reports Programs in the benchmark rated their own stewardship quality 2.66 out of 5 on average. That’s a field being honest with itself, and a good place to start improving. Pull your most recent donor impact report and give it an honest self-check: - Does it name real students? - Does it show fund-level results? - Does it tell one outcome story? - Does it connect back to donor intent? - Is it written to be read, not filed? - Can you tell whether it was opened? Be honest with the grades. Expect the gaps in the two places this whole guide has been circling: the outcome story, and the measurement. Those are also the two easiest to fix, which is the encouraging part. Then run your report through the real thing: the six-dimension scoring drawn from the CASE and ADRP stewardship awards criteria, at [benchmark.awardspring.com/survey](https://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey). It takes a few minutes with a report you already wrote, and it shows you exactly where the next hour of effort should go. ## Where the data lives matters Most of this gets easier when a donor’s history sits in one place. AwardSpring Donor Management keeps the stewardship history, awards, gifts, and past reports on the donor’s record, so every report builds on what you already know instead of starting from a blank page. Programs describe that difference in our [testimonials](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials). If that sounds useful for your program, [see it with your own funds](https://www.awardspring.com/demo). _Want the full findings? Read the [2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark)._ Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) Author AwardSpring Related posts - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) --- # Donor stewardship: what the data says about where higher ed foundations stand | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-stewardship [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) # Donor stewardship: what the data says about where higher ed foundations stand Alex Stepien · August 20, 2025 · 3 min read ![Donor stewardship: what the data says about where higher ed foundations stand](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-data-benchmarks-analyst-dashboard.CFmQQVRG_1TGqC6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. **Donor stewardship** is the practice of maintaining and deepening the relationship between a donor and the institution after a gift is made. For higher education foundations, it means closing the loop: showing donors that their money moved, that a student was helped, and that their continued investment matters. Most foundations know this. Far fewer are doing it well. In early 2026, AwardSpring surveyed 125 higher education foundations on their stewardship programs, practices, and confidence levels. What came back wasn’t a picture of best practices in action. It was a picture of a field running on empty, and knowing it. ## The capacity problem is structural, not personal 46% of stewardship programs run on one FTE or less. Twenty-two percent operate on less than half an FTE. One person managing dozens or hundreds of donor relationships, annual reports, thank-you letters, and fund compliance reviews cannot do all of it well. Something gives. Usually it’s the relationship. The answer isn’t always more staff. It’s systems that handle the volume so your team can handle the relationship. ## The measurement blind spot 79% of foundations still deliver donor reports by U.S. mail. 45% have no way to know whether donors read what they sent. Reports go out. Engagement data doesn’t come back. When renewal time comes, the relationship may be thinner than anyone realized. The foundations with the strongest stewardship programs share one trait: they’ve built measurement into the process, not as an afterthought, but as a design principle. ## The confidence gap When we asked foundations to rate their stewardship materials on a 1–5 scale, the average came back at 2.66. Fewer than 20% felt confident in what they were producing. A 2.66 average isn’t a staff problem or a motivation problem. It’s a systems and support problem. ## What best-in-class donor stewardship actually looks like **They close the loop on every fund, every year.** 71% of foundations had a fund go unawarded last year, and 37% had no protocol for communicating that to the donor. Best-in-class programs have a protocol, and they follow it. **They measure engagement, not just output.** Sending a report isn’t stewardship. Knowing whether the donor read it, responded, or felt moved by it: that’s stewardship. **They use technology to handle volume, not to replace relationship.** The most effective stewardship teams automate the repeatable work so staff capacity goes toward relationships that require a human touch. **They connect Advancement and Financial Aid.** When those offices share data, stewardship letters are more accurate, fund utilization improves, and donors get a clearer picture of their impact. ## The AI inflection point 50% of foundations are experimenting with AI for stewardship tasks. Only 15% use it consistently. The institutions moving fastest use AI to handle volume-based work: drafting impact letters, flagging funds at utilization risk, reviewing report quality. That frees the team for the work that requires genuine relationship. 81% of respondents said they’d be interested in an AI-powered quality assessment of their stewardship materials. The interest is there. The operationalized path is what most programs are still building. Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more Gil Rogers · June 2, 2026 · 2 min read ![Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/aid-advancement-parallel-corridors-glass-divide.B29kXoH1_Z1VoCr2.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Gil Rogers At many institutions, financial aid and advancement both care deeply about donor-funded scholarships. But too often, they work from different systems, different timelines, and different definitions of success. That disconnect creates real problems: donor funds become harder to deploy strategically, stewardship becomes harder to execute consistently, impact becomes harder to measure and share. **Connecting financial aid and advancement means building the workflows, visibility, and shared accountability needed to move from fund distribution to fund strategy.** ## Why do financial aid and advancement so often operate in silos? The separation is structural, not intentional. Financial Aid is focused on packaging, compliance, review workflows, deadlines, student eligibility, and making sure funds are awarded accurately and on time. Advancement is focused on donor relationships, stewardship, reporting, engagement, and long-term fundraising strategy. Both are running competent playbooks. The problem is the fund sits in the middle of both, and nobody owns the seam. ## What happens when donor-funded scholarships are managed without coordination? Fund deployment becomes harder to optimize. Stewardship becomes more manual and more reactive. Leadership loses visibility into the bigger picture. Students feel the effects too. When criteria are misaligned with actual student need, dollars go unawarded while qualified students go unsupported. ## What does connected financial aid and advancement look like? Donor intent is easier to translate into awarding strategy. Fund utilization is easier to monitor and improve. Student outcomes are easier to document and communicate. Stewardship is easier to execute with confidence. Future fundraising conversations start from stronger evidence. ## How can institutions start building stronger alignment? **Start by defining shared outcomes.** What does a successful scholarship cycle look like for FA? For Advancement? For the donor? For the student? The answers often differ, and the gaps between them are where fragmentation lives. **Look at where information breaks down.** Where does the handoff between FA and Advancement get lost? What data does each team need that only the other team has? The map of where information breaks down is the map of where the relationship breaks down. **Build around the lifecycle, not just the handoff.** A single handoff from FA to Advancement doesn’t close the loop. The loop closes when both teams share visibility across the full fund lifecycle: from criteria design through awarding through stewardship through renewal. AwardSpring is building toward this broader platform story: deployment, stewardship, fund intelligence, and donor relationships in one place. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) to see how it works. Tags Donor Stewardship Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) - [Donor Stewardship The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) - [Donor Stewardship The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) Author Gil Rogers Related posts - [Scholarship Management The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) - [Donor Stewardship The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) - [Donor Stewardship The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) --- # The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum. | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum. Gil Rogers · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-management-momentum-people-motion-plaza.DB2rA8SF_ZjO8rs.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Gil Rogers For decades, donor management in higher education has centered on a familiar rhythm: raise funds, award scholarships, send reports, repeat. Today’s donors aren’t just asking whether funds were used responsibly. They’re asking whether their giving is **creating momentum.** ## The stewardship era is giving way to the impact era Traditional donor stewardship focused on answers: Did the money get awarded? Did students meet criteria? Was the fund used correctly? Today’s donors want something deeper: clear visibility into outcomes, emotional connection to student journeys, confidence their giving is making a measurable difference, and evidence that their investment is growing opportunity. The conversation is moving from compliance to contribution. ## Why the old model is showing its age Many advancement teams are working harder than ever to keep donors informed, but the underlying infrastructure hasn’t evolved at the same pace. Common friction points include manual reporting cycles that lag real impact, disconnected systems between awarding and stewardship, limited access to real-time outcomes, and stories trapped in silos across campus. ## The rise of the donor experience Higher education has spent years refining the student experience. Now, institutions are beginning to recognize the importance of the **donor experience.** Donor experience isn’t defined by events or campaigns alone. It’s defined by clarity. When donors understand impact intuitively, generosity compounds. ## The end of the reporting lag The biggest unlock ahead for donor management is the elimination of the reporting delay. As institutions modernize how awarding and donor insight connect, stewardship evolves from an annual exercise into an ongoing narrative. The most sophisticated donor teams are asking: How do we move from appreciation to acceleration? That mindset reframes stewardship as a growth engine: not transactional, relational; not static, compounding. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) - [Donor Stewardship The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) Author Gil Rogers Related posts - [Scholarship Management The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) - [Donor Stewardship The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) --- # Preparing for the season of gratitude: strengthening scholarship and donor connections before the holidays | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/holiday-prep-scholarship-donor-gratitude [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Preparing for the season of gratitude: strengthening scholarship and donor connections before the holidays Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Preparing for the season of gratitude: strengthening scholarship and donor connections before the holidays](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/season-of-gratitude-autumn-campus-foliage-aerial.CRTC64Fg_ZoE02r.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Five ways to make the most of the pre-holiday season and set your institution up for a confident start in 2026: ## 1\. Lead with gratitude now, not later Don’t wait until the last week of December. November is the perfect time to send early messages of appreciation before inboxes fill with end-of-year campaigns. Use AwardSpring’s donor reporting tools to identify this year’s most impactful funds and share quick thank-you notes highlighting their reach. ## 2\. Share the stories that matter most Feature a student who achieved something remarkable thanks to scholarship support, or a donor whose commitment to access continues to inspire others. Authentic, concise storytelling builds community and reinforces trust. ## 3\. Reflect on this year’s impact Ask your team: which scholarships were most competitive or underfunded? Where did applicants struggle or drop off? What bottlenecks can be removed before the next cycle begins? ## 4\. Re-engage donors before year-end November is prime time for outreach: donors are still active, but not yet overwhelmed by holiday appeals. Share mid-cycle updates or data-driven summaries that show the continued need for support. ## 5\. Lay the groundwork for a smooth January Refresh scholarship pages and application copy, double-check fund balances and eligibility rules, and schedule first-quarter communications with internal reviewers and partners. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Year-end isn’t just for giving appeals. It’s for donor trust | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/holiday-scholarship-donor-stewardship [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Year-end isn’t just for giving appeals. It’s for donor trust Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Year-end isn’t just for giving appeals. It’s for donor trust](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/year-end-donor-trust-conversation-by-window.BP7wJlNR_6GCT.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Early December is a strange time for donor management teams. Budgets are closing. Appeals are everywhere. Teams are tired. And yet, this is one of the most emotionally charged moments of the year for donors. For scholarship funders, the holidays aren’t just about generosity. They’re about reflection: Did my gift actually make a difference? Were students helped the way I hoped? Do I trust this institution to steward my support well? ## What donors are really looking for in December Most scholarship donors aren’t waiting for another email asking them to give. They’re waiting for reassurance. Effective year-end donor engagement focuses on three quiet questions donors rarely ask out loud: Was my fund used well? Did students benefit meaningfully? Does this institution see me as a partner, not a transaction? ## Simple year-end touchpoints that go a long way Small, timely gestures often land harder than polished appeals: a short message sharing how many students were supported, a single student quote, a quick snapshot of what awarding looked like this cycle, a note previewing what’s coming next year (without an ask). ## The overlooked link: awarding → donor confidence When scholarship awarding feels rushed internally, donor communication often becomes an afterthought. But donors feel that gap. Strong donor trust is built when award decisions are consistent and documented, applications are complete and reviewed equitably, student data can be confidently shared, and reporting reflects reality. ## December is about stewardship, not speed The institutions that retain and grow scholarship support treat December like a handoff. “Here’s what your generosity made possible. Here’s what we learned this year. Here’s how we’re thinking about the future.” That tone builds continuity, and makes January conversations easier. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # How to Increase Scholarship Applications: A Playbook for Financial Aid Teams | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/increase-scholarship-applications [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # How to Increase Scholarship Applications: A Playbook for Financial Aid Teams AwardSpring · June 24, 2026 · 4 min read ![A first-generation student completing a scholarship application on a phone at night](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/first-gen-student-scholarship-application-phone-night.DeP7Z62h_ZaDiGd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) AwardSpring Ask a financial aid director why scholarship applications are down and you’ll rarely hear that students don’t want money. You’ll hear that the application form has twenty-two fields, that half of them ask for documents students have to dig up, and that the people who most need the funding are the ones who give up at field fourteen. Application volume is an operations problem long before it’s a marketing one, and the levers that raise it are mostly inside your own process. ## Count what you’re actually losing Before you spend a dollar promoting your scholarships, look at the gap between students who start an application and students who finish one. Most programs have never measured it, so they assume the problem is awareness. It usually isn’t. A program that gets 600 starts and 300 completions doesn’t need twice the traffic; it needs to find the 300 students who already raised their hand and got stuck. Pull last cycle’s numbers: applications started, applications completed, and the single question or document most students abandon on. Find that gap and the field where it opens, and you know where to start. ## Cut the friction in the application itself Every field you require is a small tax on the applicant, and the students with the least time and the least support pay it first. Go through your application as if you were a first-generation student filing it on a phone at 11 p.m. Which questions are truly required to make an award decision? Which documents could you collect later, only from students who advance? Which essays could be shorter? Programs that trim their applications to the essentials routinely see completion rates climb without touching their outreach at all. [Grayson College](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/grayson-college), which used to sort 500 to 800 paper applications by hand, lifted application volume by 10% after moving to a single streamlined process and freeing staff from the manual sort. ## Widen the pool before you widen the budget Most outreach pushes the same scholarships to the same students who already apply. Growth comes from the students who never saw themselves as eligible. Work with academic advisors, TRIO and student-success offices, and faculty in specific departments to reach students who match the funds you struggle to award. Translate eligibility into plain language; “open to sophomores in a STEM major with financial need” lands better than a fund’s formal name. The goal is to put the right scholarship in front of the student who fits it, not to shout louder at everyone. ## Time the ask to the academic calendar Application volume is sensitive to timing in ways marketing volume never is. A deadline that lands during finals or over a break loses the students who meant to apply and forgot. Open your cycle when students are on campus and attentive, send reminders that name both the deadline and the dollar amount, and give one clear final push in the last 72 hours, which is when a large share of completions actually happen. A predictable, well-timed cycle does more for volume than a bigger promotional spend. ## Let one application feed many funds The single biggest structural lever is the universal application: one form a student fills out once that automatically matches them to every fund they qualify for. It removes the most common reason students stop applying, which is being asked to re-enter the same information for the next scholarship. It also surfaces students for funds nobody thought to promote, which is how restricted and rarely-awarded funds finally get used. And it connects two problems programs usually treat separately. When matching is automatic, more students apply and more of your funds get awarded. That is the groundwork for the kind of [scholarship stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-stewardship) that keeps donors funding those scholarships year after year. ## What more applications are actually worth More applications isn’t a vanity number. A wider pool means a better fit between student and fund, and a better fit is what makes a scholarship more likely to affect whether a student stays enrolled. Programs that have made these changes have seen application volume climb by 80% or more while spending less staff time per application, not more, because the manual work that used to cap their capacity is gone. AwardSpring is rated 4.7 out of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews and answers support requests in an average of 16 minutes, which matters most in the two weeks around your deadline when every hour counts. If you do one thing this cycle, measure your start-to-completion gap and cut the three fields most students abandon on. If you want the structural fix, move to a single application that matches students to every fund automatically. See how AwardSpring handles it, or [explore the Scholarship Management product](https://www.awardspring.com/scholarship-management?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=scholarship-ops-evergreen&utm_content=increase-scholarship-applications-post). The students who need the funding are already raising their hands. The work is getting out of their way. Tags Scholarship Management Financial Aid ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) Author AwardSpring Related posts - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) --- # Introducing Donor Experience | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-donor-experience [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Introducing Donor Experience Kevin Martin · August 26, 2026 · 3 min read ![Introducing Donor Experience](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/introducing-donor-experience-hero.Dmi4urU1_1VjH6D.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Kevin Martin President, AwardSpring **Every donor gets a major gift experience. Here is what we built, and why the rest of the donor pyramid deserved it.** _By Kevin Martin, President, AwardSpring_ Roughly 80% of first-time donors never make a second gift, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. Widely cited fundraising benchmarks put the cost of acquiring a new donor at about five times the cost of renewing one. And donor counts across higher education have been falling for years. Those three facts add up to an uncomfortable arithmetic: no amount of new-donor recruiting closes a leak that big. The leak has a location. It sits in the gap between a donor’s first gift and the first time anyone shows them what that gift did. ## The pyramid problem Most stewardship effort goes to the top of the donor pyramid, because that is all the hours allow. The donor who gave $25,000 gets a visit, a custom report, and a relationship. The donor who gave $100 gets a receipt. It was never a question of caring less. In the 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark, our study of 125 scholarship foundations, 53% named staff time as their single biggest barrier to better stewardship, ahead of budget and technology. And the stewardship that does happen mostly disappears. Among the foundations we surveyed, 79% mail printed impact reports, 45% can’t tell whether a donor ever opened one, and just 8% track donor engagement in any systematic way. The work gets done, then vanishes into the mail. ## What we built Donor Experience gives every donor the experience only major donors usually receive, without adding headcount. It comes down to three pieces: - **Impact artifacts.** Impact reports and thank-you letters assembled from the real award and outcome data already in your system, including video thank-yous from the students themselves. A named student, the fund that reached them, and the outcome, assembled the day a donor asks. - **Approval workflows.** Nothing reaches a donor without your team’s sign-off, and student content clears consent gates before a donor ever sees it. Your team signs every piece the system assembles. - **A donor portal.** A branded space where each donor sees their funds, their gifts, and the students their generosity reached, any day of the year. And because delivery is digital, stewardship finally becomes measurable. You know whether the report was opened, and the engagement history stays with your gift officers. ## One record underneath Donor Experience is the newest product on the AwardSpring Fund Platform, alongside Scholarship Management, Donor Management, and Fund Management. It runs on the same record as your awarding, which is why the impact story can assemble itself: the awards, the students, and the funds are already there. Advancement gets the impact story without adding a single request to financial aid’s queue. ## See it first Donor Experience is available now. [Watch the First Look replay](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/donor-experience-first-look). Alex Stepien and Brandon Weisenberger are hosting a first look on Tuesday, September 1 at 2:00 PM ET: the artifacts, the workflows, and the portal, live, with your questions answered as we go. [Watch the replay](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/donor-experience-first-look). If you’re one of the 600+ organizations already on AwardSpring, the award and student records Donor Experience draws from are already in your account. And if you’d rather see it one on one, [see a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) and we’ll tailor the walkthrough to your funds. Tags Scholarship Management Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) - [Donor Stewardship How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) Author Kevin Martin President, AwardSpring Related posts - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) - [Donor Stewardship How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) --- # Introducing the Fund Platform | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) # Introducing the Fund Platform Alex Stepien · June 5, 2026 · 4 min read ![Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/fund-platform-three-offices-one-connected-system.5sViD9Vw_1RIGDy.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. **The scholarship, donor, and fund work that has always lived in three separate offices now runs on one connected system. Here is what we built, and why.** Higher education is at an inflection point. State aid per student keeps slipping. Federal policy shifts from year to year, so no one can plan a decade out on the rules. Families weigh cost harder than they ever have, and they walk when the math does not work. In that environment, private donor dollars are one of the most powerful levers an institution has left. Most are not treating them that way. Not because anyone stopped caring, but because of how the work is divided. ## Three offices, one dollar, no shared view At most institutions, a single donor scholarship dollar passes through three offices. Advancement raises it. Financial Aid awards it. Finance accounts for it. Each works in its own system, and none of those systems share a view. Advancement does not know what Financial Aid awarded. Financial Aid does not know what Advancement promised the donor. Finance sees neither in real time. So the loop never closes. The donor gives, the fund awards, and no one tells the story back. Funds sit unspent. Eligible students get missed. And when a donor asks what their gift did, it takes two weeks and a spreadsheet to reconstruct the answer. This is not a technology problem. It is a structural one: three offices, three systems, no shared view of a dollar that was given in trust. The cost is real. Across US higher education, hundreds of millions of dollars in scholarship funds go unawarded every year, money that exists, is earmarked, and never reaches the students it was meant for. And the donors who funded it, four out of five of whom never give a second time, rarely hear what happened. ## What it looks like when it works It does not have to run this way. Picture the same dollar on a system built for it: - A scholarship is awarded, and the donor hears about it within days, not months. - The fund is tracked in real time, and Financial Aid, Advancement, and Finance all work from one view. - When it is time to ask the donor again, the conversation is about impact, not apology. That is what we built. ## Introducing the Fund Platform The Fund Platform connects the entire donor-fund lifecycle on one data graph, so the same dollar, donor, and student show up in one picture instead of three. Every fund, every award, and every donor is tied to what actually happened to a student. When a fund is drifting toward going unawarded, you see it before year-end, not after. When an award is made, the people who steward the donor already have the story. Four products sit on the platform: - **Scholarship Management** (live). The leading scholarship management platform, trusted by more than 600 organizations, run from application open to award decision. - **Donor Management** (live). Your system of record and your system of action: where every donor lives, and where advancement work actually gets done. - **Donor Experience** (coming summer 2026). A major-gift experience for every donor, at any gift size. - **Fund Management** (coming autumn 2026). One real-time view of your entire fund portfolio: which funds are thriving, which are stuck, and which have not awarded a dollar in years. ## SpringIQ: a second set of eyes, today Running across all of it is SpringIQ, AwardSpring’s AI, built into every product. Today, SpringIQ is a second set of eyes. It assembles briefs, scores, drafts, and flags from your real records in seconds, fact-checked against your data, never guessed. You are always in control, and can decide whether autopilot, co-pilot, or human-in-the-loop fits best for you and your institution. That is where it is today. Where it is going is more of the routine work running itself, co-pilot or autopilot by workflow, with your team keeping the judgment calls. The destination is easy to say and hard to build: nothing slips. Every eligible student surfaced. Every fund deployed. Every donor told what their gift did. ## If you are already a customer Here is the part that matters most: you are already on the Fund Platform. Your scholarship and donor work runs on it today. There is nothing to migrate and nothing new to buy. The platform is the foundation that the next products and the next SpringIQ capabilities are being built on, and you are already standing on it. ## What this comes down to We have spent more than ten years, across 600+ organizations, learning what it takes to move a scholarship dollar from a donor’s intent to a student’s hands. The Fund Platform is what that decade taught us, built into one connected system. It is how we make sure the dollars given in trust reach the students they were meant for. See what is on the platform at [awardspring.com/platform](https://www.awardspring.com/platform). Tags AI in Higher Ed Fund Management Donor Stewardship Scholarship Management Industry News ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Scholarship Management From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Scholarship Management From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) --- # Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/presidential-leadership-connected-philanthropy [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/presidential-leadership-partnership-handshake.CRD9cjKY_Z1NVCG0.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. The conversation about scholarships and donor engagement doesn’t belong only to advancement or financial aid. It belongs in the president’s office. ## Scholarships as a mirror of mission For presidents and vice presidents of enrollment or advancement, scholarships are expressions of institutional mission. When scholarship awarding and donor engagement are siloed, that message becomes fragmented. A president’s voice can unify those threads, turning scholarships into a living embodiment of institutional purpose. ## The strategic payoff of presidential involvement When presidents take an active role in connecting scholarship programs to institutional strategy, they elevate donor trust (donors see transparency and accountability at the highest level), inspire alignment (advancement, financial aid, and enrollment teams rally around shared outcomes), and model stewardship (leadership engagement signals that donor relationships are partnerships, not transactions). A president’s participation doesn’t mean more meetings. It means intentional alignment: embedding philanthropy in the same conversations as access, retention, and student success. ## Breaking the “end-of-year” mindset Today’s donors, especially younger philanthropists and corporate partners, want continuity and connection. When executive leadership champions mid-cycle engagement, like periodic impact updates or student storytelling, it moves the institution from gratitude to partnership, from reactive to relational. ## Technology as an enabler of leadership Platforms like AwardSpring bridge the gap between data and storytelling, giving presidents and vice presidents clear, real-time insights into how donor dollars translate into student outcomes. This allows leadership to tell a stronger story to the board, the community, and future donors. Tags Donor Stewardship Fund Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Scholarship Compliance: The New Pell COA Rule Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant AwardSpring · October 19, 2026 · 8 min read ![Stacked scholarship award envelopes under a brass ceiling.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-compliance-pell.BAOk_7T2_Z24mUXH.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) AwardSpring Starting with the 2026-27 award year, a student whose non-federal grant and scholarship aid equals or exceeds their cost of attendance loses their Pell Grant entirely. The regulation then hands the institution a choice: cut the scholarship, or give back the Pell. Here’s who has to catch it, and why the foundation side is where it usually breaks. Most scholarship compliance work is familiar. You check criteria, you document the award, you keep the gift agreement on file. This one is different, because the thing that triggers it is generosity, and the office that triggers it usually can’t see the number that matters. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a student is not eligible for a Pell Grant during any period in which they receive grant aid from non-federal sources that equals or exceeds their cost of attendance for that period. That’s section 401(d)(6) of the Higher Education Act, added by section 83004 of the law, and the [Department of Education’s final rule](https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-10013) published May 19, 2026 put it into regulation at 34 CFR 690.5. It applies to award years beginning on or after July 1, 2026, which means it’s live right now. ## What the rule actually does **It’s a cliff, not a slope.** Pell has always been reduced when other aid pushes a student past need. This is different. If non-federal grant or scholarship aid equals or exceeds cost of attendance, the student is ineligible for Pell for that period. The grant isn’t prorated down to the overage. It’s eliminated. **Non-federal means almost everything your foundation does.** The regulation names states, eligible institutions, and private sources. Your institutional scholarships, your foundation’s donor-funded awards, outside community scholarships, state grants: all of it counts toward the total. What doesn’t count is what the Higher Education Act already excludes from other financial assistance, including tax credits, 529 plan distributions, and emergency aid. **Cost of attendance means the student’s actual budget.** Not a published sticker figure. The exact cost of attendance for that award year, which moves with enrollment status. A student who drops to part time has a smaller budget, which means a fixed scholarship amount gets closer to the line without anyone touching the scholarship. ## The part written for you, not the aid office Here’s the provision that should change how your awarding calendar works. The Department added 34 CFR 690.80(d), which requires the institution, in a case where a student would receive non-federal grant or scholarship aid that equals or exceeds cost of attendance, to do one of two things: reduce that non-federal aid insofar as it’s within the institution’s control, or return all Pell Grant funds disbursed for the award year and cancel any future disbursements. Which branch you land in is mostly a question of when you notice. Catch the stack before the award is final and you still have the option to move or reduce it. Catch it after disbursement and you’re in the return branch, which means money going back and a conversation with a student who already spent it. Read the qualifier again. Insofar as it’s within the institution’s control. An outside private scholarship mailed in by a service club isn’t within your control. An institutional scholarship is. A donor-funded award administered by your foundation is. So when the rule forces a reduction, the dollars most likely to get cut are your own donors’ dollars, awarded to a student you already told yes. That’s not a compliance footnote. That’s a stewardship event. Somebody has to tell a donor that part of their named scholarship was reduced so a federal grant could stand, or tell a student their award shrank between the letter and the disbursement. Which one happens is decided by whoever is holding the running total at the moment the award posts. ## Why this breaks on the foundation side The financial aid office owns the cost of attendance figure, the packaging, and the Pell determination. The foundation owns the funds, the criteria, and the awarding calendar. In most institutions those two things reconcile on a schedule, not in real time. So picture the ordinary version. A committee awards in April against criteria and fund balances. The aid office packages in June against a cost of attendance that reflects the student’s actual enrollment. A $4,000 donor-funded award that looked routine in April lands on a part-time student with a $9,200 budget who already has a $5,500 state grant. Nobody did anything wrong, and the student’s Pell is now at risk. We’ve written before about [the gap between financial aid and advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) and about [what gets lost in the handoff between the two](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff). This rule puts a federal consequence on that gap for the first time. The failure mode isn’t a bad decision. It’s two correct decisions made four weeks and one system apart. ## Who’s actually exposed The exposed student is specific, and it’s worth naming so you don’t go looking in the wrong place. Not your highest-need student, who has a large budget and plenty of room. The exposed student has a small cost of attendance and a stack of non-federal aid: part-time or commuter enrollment, a short program, an in-district tuition rate, and two or three scholarships that each looked modest on their own. Community colleges and foundations that award many small scholarships to the same students should look hardest. So should anyone whose foundation and aid office run on different calendars. This also makes unawarded balances a worse answer than they already were. In our [2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark), 71% of the 125 institutions and foundations we surveyed had at least one fund go unawarded in the prior year. Spreading those balances late in the cycle, across the students who are easiest to find, is exactly the pattern that stacks aid onto a small budget. [Fund utilization](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization) and this rule pull in opposite directions unless somebody is watching the per-student total. ## Four things to do before spring awarding 1. **Decide who holds the running total, and write the name down.** One person or one system needs to know a student’s cumulative non-federal grant aid against their current cost of attendance before an award is finalized. If the answer today is that it gets caught at packaging, the answer is that it gets caught too late to avoid the choice in 690.80(d). 2. **Set a flag threshold below the line.** Don’t wait for aid to equal cost of attendance. Flag at something like 85% so there’s room to move an award to another student rather than reduce it. The rule has no tolerance band, so build your own. 3. **Write the reduction protocol before you need it.** Who approves reducing an institutional or foundation award? Who tells the donor, and in what language? Who tells the student? Most offices have no written answer, and the first time they need one is the week of disbursement. 4. **Put the sequencing question to your aid office in writing.** Ask them, for your institution specifically: at what point in your cycle is cost of attendance final enough to award against, and what’s the latest date we can change an award without creating a return? The answer is institution-specific and it determines your awarding calendar. ## Where AwardSpring fits To be plain about the boundary: a scholarship platform does not calculate Pell and does not set cost of attendance. Your financial aid office does both, in its financial aid system, and reports to the Department. Any vendor who tells you otherwise is selling you a problem. What the foundation side needs is the other half of the picture, in time to act on it. [Fund Management](https://www.awardspring.com/fund-management), part of the Fund Platform, gives you one view of every scholarship awarded from your funds and surfaces and ranks the funds still carrying unawarded balances. Be clear about what that is: it’s your half of the number. What your foundation has committed to a given student, visible while the award is still moveable rather than after it’s packaged. The aid office holds the other half, the cost of attendance and the state and outside aid your foundation never sees, and the two halves only mean something read together. You award from your existing workflow, and your aid office keeps its own system of record for the federal math. Fund summaries powered by SpringIQ draft the first pass, with your team deciding what goes out. The point isn’t the software. The point is that this rule turns a reconciliation lag into a federal consequence, and the institutions that handle it well will be the ones where the foundation and the aid office are looking at the same per-student number in the same week. Want to see what your awarded totals look like in one view before spring awarding opens? [Book a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=scholarship-ops-evergreen&utm_content=scholarship-compliance) and bring your actual fund list. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does a scholarship reduce a student’s Pell Grant under the new rule? No. It’s all or nothing. If non-federal grant and scholarship aid equals or exceeds the student’s cost of attendance for the period, the student is ineligible for Pell for that period and the grant is eliminated rather than reduced. Below that line, normal packaging rules apply. ### Which scholarships count toward the cost of attendance total? Grant and scholarship aid from non-federal sources, which the regulation describes as including states, eligible institutions, and private sources. Items the Higher Education Act already excludes from other financial assistance, such as tax credits, 529 plan distributions, and emergency aid, aren’t counted. ### Who has to fix it when a student goes over? The institution. Under 34 CFR 690.80(d), the institution either reduces the non-federal aid insofar as it’s within the institution’s control, or returns all Pell Grant funds for the award year and cancels future disbursements. Institutional and foundation-administered awards are typically within that control; an outside private scholarship typically isn’t. ### When did this take effect? It applies to award years beginning on or after July 1, 2026, including crossover periods assigned to 2026-27. The Department’s final rule implementing it published May 19, 2026. Tags Scholarship Management Financial Aid ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) - [Scholarship Management Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization) Author AwardSpring Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) - [Scholarship Management Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization) --- # Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 2 min read ![Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-fund-utilization-students-hall-motion.DWb2iECm_zEeh5.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. **Scholarship fund utilization** is the institution’s ability to use available scholarship funds effectively and completely in a way that aligns donor intent, student need, and institutional priorities. Scholarship funding is one of the most important tools institutions have to support students, improve access, and strengthen donor relationships. But having funds available is not the same as using them well. ## What is scholarship fund utilization? Scholarship fund utilization refers to how effectively an institution awards and deploys the scholarship dollars available to it. Strong utilization means funds are being awarded in a timely way, donor intent is being honored, eligible students can be matched efficiently, and institutional leaders can see where funds are being used well and where they are not. Weak utilization can show up in different ways. A fund may go partially unused because the criteria are too narrow. A fund may technically be awarded, but only after delays that reduce impact. Some funds are simply hard to find in disconnected systems. ## Why do scholarship funds go unused or underused? Unused scholarship funds are rarely caused by a lack of care. More often, they are the result of fragmentation: overly narrow criteria, disconnected workflows, limited visibility into fund performance, manual awarding processes, and misalignment between fund intent and student reality. ## Why should leadership care? When scholarship dollars go unused or are difficult to deploy, institutions miss opportunities to support students, meet donor expectations, strengthen enrollment strategy, and demonstrate impact more clearly. Fund utilization touches student access and affordability, donor confidence and stewardship, institutional visibility into available resources, alignment between Advancement and Financial Aid, and credibility around how philanthropic support is being used. ## How does poor utilization affect donor relationships? When utilization is inconsistent or unclear, stewardship becomes harder. Donors ask: Was my fund fully used? Who did it support? Why was some of it left untouched? Is the institution managing this fund the way it was intended? Without clear answers, donor confidence erodes quietly, often without a formal break in the relationship. ## What does strong scholarship fund utilization look like? Strong fund utilization means institutions can see which funds are fully utilized and which are not, understand why utilization issues are happening, match students to funds more effectively, preserve donor intent while reducing friction, monitor awarding patterns over time, and communicate impact more clearly to donors and leadership. ## How can institutions improve? Review funds that are repeatedly underused. Create better visibility across teams. Look beyond whether a fund was awarded at all. Reduce manual friction in the awarding process. Connect utilization data to advancement strategy. Technology should help institutions see what is happening across the full scholarship ecosystem: fund setup, eligibility logic, matching, awarding, underutilization patterns, and stewardship-ready insights. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) to see how AwardSpring approaches fund utilization. Tags Scholarship Management Fund Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # The Scholarship Handoff: 2026 Data from 125 Foundations | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement AwardSpring · July 27, 2026 · 5 min read ![Isometric illustration of two separate platform plates converging along a single amber path into one shared record card](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-handoff-two-systems-one-record.DoUcotBp_1g0yAA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) AwardSpring Every scholarship gift lives a double life. To advancement, it’s a donor relationship: a gift agreement, a stewardship plan, a renewal conversation. To financial aid, it’s an operational job: eligibility rules, an application cycle, an award decision, a disbursement. The gift is one thing, but the work happens in two offices, on two calendars, in two systems that were never designed to talk to each other. The handoff between them, from the office that made the award to the office that has to tell the donor about it, is where scholarship stewardship most often breaks. We’ve written before about [connecting financial aid and advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) and why the org structure creates the gap. This piece is the data: what 125 foundations told us about how the handoff actually works, and the four agreements that fix it. ## What the data says about the gap In our [2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-stewardship), a survey of 125 foundations across higher education, we asked institutions how this work is actually divided. Of the programs that answered: - **48%** said advancement handles all donor stewardship - **30%** split the responsibilities between the two offices - **18%** said financial aid carries both the scholarship administration and the donor communication itself, usually on top of an already full aid workload Then we asked about friction, and the answers are easy to misread. A slim majority (53%) said their processes are well coordinated, with no significant friction. But 19% gave a more revealing answer: there is no friction because there is no coordination. The offices operate entirely independently. That’s the number to sit with. You can’t have a rough handoff if there’s no handoff at all. Programs rated the alignment between disbursement timelines and advancement’s reporting cycle a 3.7 out of 5, workable but not smooth. And the downstream effects show up across the rest of the study: 79% of programs still mail donor reports, 45% can’t track whether those reports ever land, and 71% have had a fund go unawarded. An unawarded fund is exactly the kind of news a donor should hear from you early, and it’s usually the news that travels slowest between buildings. ## Why the handoff breaks None of this is anyone’s fault, which is part of why it persists. Three structural gaps do most of the damage. **Different systems of record.** The award lives in a scholarship platform or the SIS. The donor lives in a CRM. Neither system shows the whole picture, so every donor report starts with an export, a spreadsheet, and someone re-keying student names next to fund names and hoping nothing shifted since the pull. **Different calendars.** The award cycle follows the academic year. Stewardship reporting follows the fiscal year and each donor’s renewal window. The data advancement needs in October was final in May, sat untouched all summer, and now needs to be reconstructed by someone in financial aid during their busiest month. **Different units of work.** Financial aid thinks in students and awards. Advancement thinks in donors, gifts, and funds. Mapping one onto the other, which students received which specific funds, was named the biggest source of friction by about one in ten programs, and it’s the hardest question to answer at exactly the moment the donor asks it. ## Four moves that fix most of it You don’t need new software to start. You need agreements. **Name the handoff.** One sentence, written down: within 30 days of disbursement, financial aid delivers student, fund, and amount to a named person in advancement. Most institutions have never made the handoff that explicit, and the ambiguity is where reports go to die. **Put the two calendars on one page.** Once a year, overlay the award cycle and the stewardship reporting cycle. Find the two or three dates where advancement will need data, and schedule the pulls in advance instead of by emergency email. **Agree on one report.** Build a single donor-ready template both offices trust: fund, students supported, amounts, a line of student voice. When the report is shared infrastructure instead of a favor, it stops depending on who’s free that week. **Give the unawarded fund an owner.** Decide in advance who calls the donor when a fund doesn’t award, and by when. Among programs that have faced an unawarded fund, more than a third told us they have no standard protocol for that conversation. The protocol is one sentence and one name. ## The structural fix is one record Every move above is a workaround for the same root condition: two offices working from two systems. The structural fix puts the award and the donor on one shared record, so the donor report assembles from the same system that made the award. That is the design idea behind the Fund Platform. Scholarship Management runs the cycle from [application to award](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/increase-scholarship-applications). Donor Management keeps every donor on one record, connected to the funds they gave and the awards those funds actually made. SpringIQ drafts the impact summary from that record and flags the fund at risk of going unawarded before it becomes an apology. No export, no re-keying, no “can you pull that by Friday.” The foundations and colleges that have made this move describe it the same way: one centralized source both offices trust. When financial aid and advancement work from the same record, the handoff stops being a handoff. It’s just the next person picking up the same file. Dozens of them tell that story in their own words on [our customer stories page](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials). If your donor reports still start with an export from one building and a spreadsheet in another, start with the four agreements above. When you’re ready to retire the workaround, [see how the Fund Platform works](https://www.awardspring.com/platform?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=fund-platform-evergreen&utm_content=financial-aid-advancement-post). The donors funding your students shouldn’t need to know your org chart, and with one record, they never will. Tags Donor Stewardship Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) Author AwardSpring Related posts - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) - [Donor Stewardship How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) --- # From firefighting to forward thinking: reframing scholarship operations for what comes next | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-management-strategy-middle-managers [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # From firefighting to forward thinking: reframing scholarship operations for what comes next Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 2 min read ![From firefighting to forward thinking: reframing scholarship operations for what comes next](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-operations-manager-campus-sunrise.BUUGO3FE_dhJ2b.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Most scholarship and financial aid leaders didn’t sign up to be firefighters. Yet for many teams, that’s exactly what the work has become. Every cycle brings familiar pressures: incomplete applications, last-minute donor questions, review bottlenecks, manual reporting, tight awarding timelines tied to enrollment deadlines. The challenge isn’t that the work is unimportant. It’s that the work **rarely leaves room to think ahead.** ## What fires are scholarship teams really putting out today? Process overload (manual workflows, spreadsheets, disconnected systems), timing pressure (awards need to go out earlier to support yield and retention), visibility gaps (which funds are underutilized? where is student demand exceeding available dollars?), and equity concerns (rushed decisions can unintentionally introduce bias). ## Why leadership is asking bigger questions about scholarships Presidents, VPs of Enrollment, and Advancement leaders are asking: How are scholarships supporting enrollment and retention goals? Are donor-funded awards being deployed strategically, or reactively? Do we know where additional scholarship dollars would make the biggest impact? Middle managers are measured on **getting the work done**, but leadership is evaluating **what the work enables.** ## How middle managers can connect today’s work to tomorrow’s strategy **Turn operational data into strategic signals:** The data you already manage can answer leadership-level questions when surfaced clearly: consistently underutilized funds, programs where qualified applicants go unfunded, how award timing aligns with enrollment milestones. **Use process improvements to buy back strategic time:** Automated application validation, centralized reviewer workflows, and built-in reporting free up time for planning and collaboration. **Strengthen the connection between awarding and donor engagement:** Provide clear, timely insight into who was supported, how funds were used, where unmet need still exists. **Anticipate the questions leadership will ask next:** If we had more scholarship dollars, where would they go? Which awards most directly support retention? What changes would improve equity without slowing the process? Scholarship teams are no longer operating in the background. Middle managers are uniquely positioned: they understand the realities of the work, control the systems and data, and translate between frontline execution and executive priorities. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Scholarship Management AI in Higher Ed ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Scholarship stewardship: what it is, why it fails, and how to get it right | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-stewardship [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Scholarship stewardship: what it is, why it fails, and how to get it right Alex Stepien · August 20, 2025 · 6 min read ![Scholarship stewardship: what it is, why it fails, and how to get it right](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-mentor-student-campus-steps.JDbPd02C_1ntlVD.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. **Scholarship stewardship** is the practice of demonstrating to donors that their scholarship gift achieved its intended purpose: that a real student received the award, that the fund criteria were honored, and that the donor’s continued investment is worth making. Done well, scholarship stewardship is one of the most powerful tools in higher education fundraising. Done poorly, or not at all, it quietly erodes the donor relationships that funds depend on. Most institutions are somewhere in the middle. And the gap between where they are and where they need to be is wider than most advancement teams want to admit. ## What scholarship stewardship actually requires Scholarship stewardship sits at an unusual intersection. It requires data from Financial Aid (who received the award, what the fund criteria were, whether any funds went unawarded), materials from Advancement (personalized impact reports, thank-you facilitation, donor acknowledgment), and accountability from Finance (fund balance, utilization rate, compliance status). At most institutions, those three offices don’t share a system. Sometimes they barely share a spreadsheet. The result is stewardship that’s generic, delayed, or incomplete, not because anyone doesn’t care, but because the data to do it well is scattered across systems that weren’t designed to talk to each other. Scholarship stewardship isn’t a communications problem. It’s a data infrastructure problem wearing a communications costume. ## Where most programs fall short The AwardSpring 2026 Donor Stewardship and Administration Survey (n=125) found consistent patterns in where scholarship stewardship breaks down. **The unawarded fund problem.** Seventy-one percent of foundations had at least one scholarship fund go unawarded in the past year. Thirty-seven percent had no protocol for communicating that to the donor. An unawarded fund is not inherently a failure. Criteria may not have been met, the applicant pool may have been thin, or the award cycle may be biennial. But a donor who hears nothing assumes something went wrong. Without a protocol for proactive communication, the silence speaks for itself. **The measurement blind spot.** Seventy-nine percent of respondents still deliver donor reports by U.S. mail. Forty-five percent have no way to know whether the donor read what they sent. A stewardship program that can’t measure engagement can’t improve, and can’t tell the difference between a donor who feels connected and one who’s quietly deciding not to renew. **The quality confidence gap.** When asked to rate the quality of their stewardship materials, respondents averaged 2.66 out of 5. Fewer than 20% felt genuinely confident in what they were producing. That number matters because donor confidence tracks closely with material quality. Donors who receive personalized, accurate, timely stewardship give again at higher rates. Donors who receive generic reports on a vague schedule do not. **The capacity ceiling.** Forty-six percent of stewardship programs operate on one FTE or less. When a single person is responsible for dozens or hundreds of scholarship funds, each with its own donor, its own criteria, its own reporting timeline, the math doesn’t work. The work that gets done is the work that has to get done. Proactive, high-quality stewardship is the first thing that slips. ## The student connection is the most underused asset in scholarship stewardship Every scholarship has a student. The student’s story is the most compelling stewardship tool available, and most programs use it inconsistently, if at all. A thank-you letter from a scholarship recipient, a brief video message, a one-paragraph update on a student’s progress: these are the pieces of stewardship that make donors feel like partners in a real outcome, not contributors to an endowment line item. When that connection is made well, it doesn’t just retain donors. It deepens them. The challenge is logistics. Coordinating student thank-you letters at scale requires Financial Aid to identify recipients, Advancement to request and collect letters, and someone to match letters to the right donors and get them out on time. Without a system that connects those steps, it happens inconsistently. Some donors get a letter. Some don’t. The experience is uneven, and donors notice. ## What best-in-class scholarship stewardship looks like The strongest scholarship stewardship programs share a few characteristics that are worth naming directly. **They have a protocol for every fund state.** Awarded, unawarded, partially awarded, criteria-modified: every state has a communication plan. Donors never have to wonder what happened to their fund. The institution tells them, proactively, every year. **They connect the student to the donor.** Not every program can facilitate direct contact, and some donors prefer not to receive letters. But the programs that consistently facilitate some form of student-donor connection, even a brief, anonymized impact summary, outperform those that don’t on donor retention. **They measure beyond delivery.** Sending a report is an output. Knowing whether the donor opened it, responded to it, or took any action based on it is an outcome. The shift from output-tracking to outcome-tracking is where the most meaningful stewardship improvements happen. **They’ve connected their systems.** The institutions with the most consistent scholarship stewardship aren’t necessarily the ones with the largest advancement teams. They’re the ones where Financial Aid, Advancement, and Finance are working from shared data. Award status, fund utilization, donor contact history: when that information is in one place, stewardship becomes a process instead of a scramble. ## The role of AI in scholarship stewardship Fifty percent of foundations in our survey are experimenting with AI for stewardship-related tasks. The use cases gaining the most traction aren’t the speculative ones. They’re the practical ones: drafting first versions of impact letters from structured data, flagging funds at utilization risk before the end of the award cycle, reviewing stewardship materials for quality and consistency before they go out. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they’d be interested in an AI-powered quality assessment of their stewardship artifacts. The appetite is there. What most programs are still building is the operationalized path: the workflow where AI handles the volume work so staff can handle the relationship work. That distinction matters. Scholarship stewardship is, at its core, a relationship practice. The goal of AI in this context isn’t to replace that relationship. It’s to protect the time and capacity required to maintain it. ## Stewardship isn’t a report. It’s a relationship. The foundations that treat stewardship as a deliverable, something to produce and send, tend to struggle with donor retention. The ones that treat it as a relationship practice, something to maintain and deepen, year over year, tend to build the kind of donor loyalty that sustains scholarship programs across generations. The data from 125 foundations makes clear that most programs have real room to grow. The capacity constraints are real. The measurement gaps are real. The confidence deficit is real. But so is the appetite for something better, and the technology to support it is further along than most programs realize. The question isn’t whether your stewardship program could be stronger. It’s whether you have the systems to make it so. Tags Donor Stewardship Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Scholarships aren’t just financial aid anymore. They’re strategy. | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarships-as-strategy-leadership-higher-ed [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # Scholarships aren’t just financial aid anymore. They’re strategy. Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 2 min read ![Scholarships aren’t just financial aid anymore. They’re strategy.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarships-as-strategy-directed-light-trails.CRyccWwl_1KdLLx.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. In today’s environment of enrollment pressure, constrained public funding, and heightened donor expectations, scholarships are no longer a downstream task. They are one of the most powerful and underutilized strategic levers institutions have. ## The leadership blind spot: scholarships as “process” Most executive teams would agree scholarships matter. Few treat them as strategy. Scholarships are often framed as an administrative obligation, a compliance exercise, or a workflow problem buried inside financial aid. That framing misses the bigger picture. Scholarships sit at the intersection of enrollment, advancement, finance, and student success. When managed strategically, they influence yield and melt, retention and persistence, donor confidence and future giving, and institutional credibility and trust. ## The cost of fragmentation At most institutions, the scholarship lifecycle is fractured: financial aid focuses on awarding and packaging, advancement focuses on stewardship and reporting, business offices track fund balances and compliance, and leadership sees only fragments. The result: donor dollars sitting unused, awards misaligned with enrollment timelines, limited visibility into impact, and missed opportunities to grow giving or improve retention. ## What strategic institutions are doing differently They’re asking: How do scholarship dollars support our enrollment goals? Which donor funds are underutilized, and why? Where are qualified students falling through the cracks due to timing or process? How clearly can we show donors the outcomes of their giving? ## Why donor engagement can’t be an afterthought When donor visibility is connected directly to awarding decisions and student outcomes, stewardship becomes timely and credible, impact stories become specific and personal, renewal and growth conversations become easier, and trust compounds over time. ## The leadership opportunity Scholarships should no longer be viewed as a back-office function, a compliance burden, or a static pool of restricted funds. They should be treated as a coordinated institutional strategy, a bridge between advancement and enrollment, and a driver of student success and donor confidence. > “Are we using our scholarship dollars as intentionally and effectively as possible to advance our mission?” Tags Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Scholarships as strategy: how financial aid drives enrollment and retention in 2026 | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarships-enrollment-retention-strategy [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # Scholarships as strategy: how financial aid drives enrollment and retention in 2026 Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![Scholarships as strategy: how financial aid drives enrollment and retention in 2026](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarships-enrollment-retention-students-arriving-golden-hour.CGETsR8H_25dYVs.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. As institutions enter a new year facing enrollment volatility, increased competition, rising price sensitivity, and greater scrutiny from boards and donors, one of the most powerful and underutilized strategic levers already exists inside the institution: scholarships. Not as a discount. Not as an afterthought. But as a coordinated strategy for enrollment, retention, and institutional trust. ## Scholarships are no longer just financial aid Scholarships sit at the intersection of three leadership priorities: enrollment growth, student persistence, and donor confidence. When aligned intentionally, they become a signal of institutional commitment. ## How scholarships influence enrollment decisions For many students, scholarships are not simply financial. They’re emotional. They answer unspoken questions: Do I belong here? Is this institution invested in my success? Will I be supported beyond admission? Early scholarship visibility can influence yield, clear accessible applications reduce friction, and thoughtful awarding builds confidence in enrollment decisions. ## Retention starts with trust Students who understand their aid, feel the process is fair, and trust the institution’s commitment are more likely to persist, especially during moments of academic or financial stress. Scholarship continuity matters as much as initial awards. Renewable and follow-up workflows should be intentional. ## Donor alignment strengthens the strategy Scholarships funded by donors are most effective when donor intent, student need, and institutional goals are aligned. When donors understand how their contributions support enrollment and persistence, not just individual awards, they become partners in institutional strategy. ## What leadership teams should be asking now Are scholarships integrated into our enrollment strategy, or operating in parallel? Do we have visibility into how scholarships impact yield and retention? Are donor-funded scholarships aligned with student demand and institutional priorities? Do our systems support collaboration across enrollment, financial aid, and advancement? [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide Alex Stepien · June 5, 2026 · 4 min read ![From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-data-review-workstation.CNFrPxrU_ZCn4wE.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Most scholarship programs do not run on bad software. They run on a spreadsheet, a shared drive, and a few people who know where everything is. That setup gets a program surprisingly far. It also has a ceiling, and the programs that hit it tend to hit it the same way: the work scales faster than the people, and the spreadsheet stops being a record of what happened and starts being the thing standing between a fund and a student. If your program is somewhere on that curve, this is a practical look at what actually changes when you move scholarship administration onto the Fund Platform, and just as important, what stays the same. ## What the spreadsheet is good at, and where it stops A spreadsheet is a good list. It will hold your funds, your criteria, and your award amounts, and it will let one person hold the whole picture in their head. The trouble starts when the picture has to be shared, updated mid-cycle, and reconciled against what Financial Aid actually disbursed. The spreadsheet cannot tell you which funds are tracking toward going unawarded with weeks left in the cycle. It cannot match a thin applicant pool to the criteria that caused it. It cannot show Advancement what a donor’s fund did this year without someone exporting, formatting, and emailing a tab. The spreadsheet was never the problem. The problem was that the spreadsheet could not tell you which funds were drifting toward going unawarded while there was still time to act. Grayson College ran into the ceiling the way most programs do. The team was sorting 500 to 800 applications by hand each cycle. After moving the work onto AwardSpring, they saw a 10 percent increase in applications, not because they marketed harder, but because the process stopped losing people. ## What scholarship lifecycle management actually means Scholarship lifecycle management is the idea that a scholarship dollar has a life from a donor’s intent to a student’s hands, and that the whole life should be visible in one place: the fund, the criteria, the applicant pool, the award decision, the disbursement, and the story that goes back to the donor. On a spreadsheet, those stages live in different tabs, different systems, and different offices. On the Fund Platform, they live on one connected record, with SpringIQ, AwardSpring’s AI, running across all of it as a second set of eyes. SpringIQ assembles briefs, scores, and flags from your real records, fact-checked against your data and human-reviewed. It surfaces a recommendation a person approves. It never awards, denies, or changes a score on its own. ## What changes, by the calendar The move is less disruptive than it looks from the outside. Here is what the first quarter realistically feels like. ### Week 1 Nothing student-facing changes yet. You import your funds and criteria, and the picture you have been holding in a spreadsheet becomes a structured record. Most teams are surprised how much cleaner their fund list looks once duplicate and stale criteria surface during the import. ### Month 1 The application experience moves onto the platform, and the hand-sorting stops. Applications route by criteria automatically, so the work that used to consume a week of manual matching becomes review and judgment instead of triage. This is usually the first moment a stretched team gets time back. ### Quarter 1 The mid-cycle view comes online. You can see which funds are tracking toward going unawarded with time left to act, and Advancement can pull a donor’s impact picture without asking you to build it. The conversations about at-risk funds start happening in weeks, not at year-end post-mortems. ## What stays the same Your criteria are still yours. Your award decisions are still made by people. Your donor relationships still belong to the people who hold them. The platform does not take the judgment out of scholarship work. It takes the manual reconstruction out, so the judgment has better information behind it and more time around it. ## A low-risk way to start this quarter You do not have to migrate everything at once to find out whether this fits your program. Start with one question you cannot answer from the spreadsheet today: which of your funds are at risk of going unawarded this cycle, and how would you know before it is too late? Pull last cycle’s unawarded funds, and for each one, ask whether anyone could have caught it mid-cycle with the data you had. That short list is the clearest case for what scholarship lifecycle management is for, and it is the most useful thing to bring to a walkthrough. [See what is on the platform](https://www.awardspring.com/platform?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=fundos-launch&utm_content=spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence-post) Tags Scholarship Management AI in Higher Ed ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) # What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship Alex Stepien · June 17, 2026 · 4 min read ![Advancement data flowing through a bright atrium, converging into a single connected donor record](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/springiq-donor-stewardship-data-flow-atrium.C-8_6I7Z_MzLOe.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. I have spent enough time in advancement offices to be skeptical of any sentence that starts with what AI will do for fundraising. Most of those sentences are written by people who have never had to reconstruct a donor’s impact report from four systems the week before a renewal ask. In our [2026 survey of higher education foundations](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark), half of advancement teams said they were experimenting with AI. Only 15 percent said they used it consistently. And 81 percent said they wanted a quality review of their stewardship materials before those materials went to a donor. Read those three numbers together and you get the real state of things: people are curious, people are cautious, and what they actually want is not a robot that takes the work away. It is to stay in control of where the work runs on its own and where it does not. That is the lens I would ask you to use for SpringIQ, AwardSpring’s AI. Not as an on/off switch between a human doing everything and a machine doing everything, but as a dial you set, task by task. ## Where it actually moves the needle Donor stewardship in higher education is mostly two kinds of work. There is the relationship work; the calls, the visits, the judgment about when and how to ask. And there is the production work; assembling the impact report, pulling the award data, drafting the thank-you, checking that the named fund actually awarded this year before you tell the donor it did. The second kind is where stewardship teams drown. SpringIQ is built for the second kind. It assembles a donor brief from your real records in seconds: which funds this donor supports, what those funds awarded, which students were affected, what was promised last year. It drafts the impact summary. It flags the fund that did not award so you find out before the donor does. Every output is fact-checked against your data, never guessed. Here is the part that matters: you decide how much of it runs on its own. Set the routine production work to autopilot and let it move while you sleep. Keep the donor-facing pieces in co-pilot, where SpringIQ drafts and you approve. For anything you want to own outright, stay fully in the loop. Autopilot, co-pilot, or human-in-the-loop, your call per workflow. The 81 percent who want a quality review before something reaches a donor are not asking AI to stay out of the work. They are asking to keep their hand on the parts that touch the relationship, and to let go of the parts that do not. ## Where you keep your hand on it There is a version of AI in fundraising that I would not build and would not use: the version that quietly sends a warm personal note to a major donor that neither the donor nor the gift officer believes. Donors can tell. The moment stewardship feels generic, it stops being stewardship. So the controls exist for a reason. SpringIQ does not decide who is ready for a larger gift. It does not replace the visit, the handwritten line, or the judgment about a donor who just lost a spouse and should not get a renewal email this month. Those are the things the relationship is made of, and most teams keep them firmly human-in-the-loop. The point is not that the machine cannot act; it is that you choose where it does. The useful mental model is still [volume versus relationship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization). Put the volume on autopilot. Keep your hand on the relationship. ## What changes in the day-to-day If you are a stewardship lead running this well, the change is not dramatic. It is quiet, and it shows up in your calendar. The impact report that took a day to assemble now assembles itself overnight, and you review it in an hour. The fund that quietly went unawarded surfaces in a flag instead of in an awkward call six months later. The donor brief is ready before the meeting instead of half-built during it. None of that is glamorous. All of it is the difference between a stewardship program that runs on one stretched FTE and one that does not. We wrote about the [foundational state of donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-stewardship) earlier this spring, including how thin most teams are stretched. SpringIQ is the part of the answer that does not require hiring three more people you do not have the budget for. ## The honest version AI is not going to write the donor relationship. But it can give the people who hold those relationships their afternoons back. That is the whole game. Not a machine that fundraises, but a system you point at the production work and dial up or down as you trust it, so the person who does the relationship has the time to do it well. If you want to see what that looks like inside the donor record, that is what Donor Management on the Fund Platform is built to show. [See how Donor Management works](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=donor-management-evergreen&utm_content=springiq-donor-stewardship-post) _By Alex Stepien, CEO, AwardSpring_ Tags AI & SpringIQ Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) - [Scholarship Management From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) - [Scholarship Management From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) --- # What the 2026 Stewardship Benchmark Deep Dive Covered | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # 45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report AwardSpring · September 16, 2026 · 4 min read ![Advancement staff working together in a modern campus office at dusk](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-stewardship-benchmark-advancement-office-dusk.1nJCTySU_129TWE.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) AwardSpring Forty-five percent of scholarship programs cannot tell whether a donor ever opened the report they were sent. That comes from the [2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark), a survey of 125 institutions fielded February through April 2026. On September 15, Kevin Martin walked through all seven findings behind it. The session ran about thirty minutes plus live questions, and it is now available on demand. What follows is the shape of the argument, with the numbers as they were presented. ## The study, in one paragraph We asked 125 institutions how scholarship donor stewardship actually gets done: who does it, how often reports go out, whether anyone can judge the quality, and where AI fits. The field skewed toward two-year institutions, at 52% community college, 29% four-year, and 15% private and community foundations. The findings group into three pillars. ## Pillar one: the capacity-quality trap Stewardship is mostly a fraction of somebody’s job. Forty-six percent of the programs surveyed run the entire operation on one full-time equivalent or less, which means the work competes with everything else on one person’s plate. Asked to grade their own stewardship, institutions averaged 2.7 out of 5. That is below the midpoint, and more telling than the number itself is that few programs have a reliable way to check whether their own read is accurate. Thank-you letters show the pattern clearly. Nearly every program sends one. Twenty-nine percent say they send letters they know are low quality anyway, because the letter going out on time matters more than the letter being memorable. ## Pillar two: the measurement blind spot This is where the headline number lives. Seventy-nine percent of programs still deliver [donor reports](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) by U.S. mail, and 45% cannot track whether those reports are ever opened. The report leaves the building and the signal stops there. Two related findings compound it. Nineteen percent report zero coordination between financial aid and advancement, which means in nearly one in five shops the two offices that share the same donors and the same students barely talk. And 71% had a [fund go unawarded](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization) last year, with 37% having no protocol at all for the conversation with the donor that should follow. ## Pillar three: the AI inflection point Interest is nearly universal and disciplined use is rare. Half the field is experimenting with AI for stewardship work. Fifteen percent have folded it into how the work actually gets done. The gap between those two numbers is the whole story of where the category is right now. ## The through line Kevin’s framing tied the three pillars together: [stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-experience-stewardship) is the only part of the fundraising cycle with no scoreboard. Gift officers have pipeline. Annual fund has response rates. Stewardship has a stack of letters that went out and no way to know what any of them did. That is why the capacity finding and the measurement finding belong together. A program running on half a person is not going to build a measurement practice on its own time, and a program with no measurement cannot make the case for more than half a person. The loop closes on itself. ## Watch the session The [full recording](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive) covers all seven findings with the data behind each, and what the strongest programs in the sample do differently. Slides are available as a PDF alongside the recording. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark? It is the first comprehensive benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship, based on a survey of 125 institutions across U.S. higher education fielded February through April 2026. It covers staffing, reporting cadence, quality, and AI adoption across seven findings in three pillars. ### Who was surveyed? 125 institutions, weighted toward two-year schools: 52% community college, 29% four-year, 15% private and community foundations, and 4% other. ### What is the single most cited finding? That 79% of programs still deliver donor reports by mail and 45% cannot tell whether those reports were opened. Together they describe a stewardship practice that produces output with no feedback. ### How do I see where my own program stands? The benchmark survey tool scores your program against the 125-institution field in about two minutes, and optionally scores a real thank-you letter or donor report you upload. [Watch the deep dive on demand](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive), or score your own program at [benchmark.awardspring.com/survey](http://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey). Tags Donor Stewardship Industry Trends ## More from this author - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) - [Donor Stewardship How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) Author AwardSpring Related posts - [Scholarship Management A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) - [Donor Stewardship The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) - [Donor Stewardship How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) --- # Donor stewardship is running on one FTE. Here’s what that costs. | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-capacity-quality [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # Donor stewardship is running on one FTE. Here’s what that costs. Alex Stepien · August 20, 2025 · 2 min read ![Donor stewardship is running on one FTE. Here’s what that costs.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/one-lit-office-window-night._dtmM8GX_v6RrP.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Finding #1 from the 2026 AwardSpring Donor Stewardship Benchmark: 46% of higher education foundations are running their entire stewardship operation on one full-time person or less. That number, on its own, reads as a staffing observation. Put it next to the rest of the data, and it becomes a root-cause explanation for nearly everything else we found. ## The capacity-quality connection is direct When we asked 125 foundations to rate the quality of their own stewardship materials on a 1–5 scale, the average came back at 2.66. Fewer than 20% said they felt genuinely confident in what they were producing. A single FTE managing dozens or hundreds of donor relationships, with annual reports to produce, fund statuses to track, student letters to coordinate, and compliance reviews to complete, cannot do all of it to a high standard. Something has to give. Usually it’s quality. And when quality slips, so does donor confidence. And when donor confidence slips, renewal rates follow. The 2.66 average isn’t a motivation problem. It’s a math problem that shows up in the materials. ## The staffing breakdown by institution type One of the more surprising findings: community colleges came in as the best-staffed for stewardship. Private foundations, despite their focus on donor relationships, frequently operate solo. Stewardship capacity doesn’t follow the prestige gradient we might expect. ## The role perception gap Advancement respondents rated their own stewardship materials at 2.38 out of 5. Donor Relations respondents rated the same work at 2.94. The people who depend on those materials for fundraising are significantly less satisfied than the people producing them. ## What high-performing programs are doing differently The foundations in our survey that outperformed on quality weren’t necessarily the best-staffed. **They had systems that handled volume work:** report templates, fund status alerts, structured workflows, so staff capacity went toward relationships that require a human touch. And they measured what they sent: not just whether the report went out, but whether the donor read it and responded. Foundations that track even basic engagement signals have something to improve against. Foundations that don’t have no feedback loop. ## What the data means for the field 46% of programs running on one FTE or less isn’t a fact about those institutions. It’s a fact about the field. This is one of five findings from the 2026 AwardSpring Donor Stewardship Benchmark. The full report releases at NASFAA on June 29. _The 2026 AwardSpring Donor Stewardship Benchmark surveyed 125 active stewardship professionals across higher education foundations, colleges, and universities._ Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # The stewardship measurement blind spot | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-measurement-blind-spot [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) # The stewardship measurement blind spot Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 3 min read ![The stewardship measurement blind spot](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-stewardship-unopened-report-envelope.Guf0qf02_kSny7.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. 79% of foundations in our 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark still deliver stewardship reports by U.S. mail. That number alone is striking. But the number that follows it is the one that matters: 45% have no way to know whether donors opened or read what they sent. These two findings don’t just exist alongside each other. One causes the other. When a foundation mails a printed report, engagement tracking becomes impossible by design. There’s no open rate. No click-through. No confirmation the envelope wasn’t recycled unread. The stewardship program fires into the dark and hopes something lands. ## The feedback loop problem Consider what happens without a feedback loop: a foundation produces a stewardship report. They suspect it’s below average. Our data shows the average self-rated quality score is 2.66 out of 5, and fewer than 20% of respondents feel confident their materials would be rated highly by peers. But they send it anyway, because the deadline is there and the donor is waiting. And then, nothing. Only 5% of foundations formally and regularly collect donor feedback. Five percent. That means 95% of stewardship programs are producing output with no feedback mechanism, and no way to distinguish between a report that deepened a donor’s commitment and one they binned without opening. ## The channel is the problem Mailing a printed report is not inherently wrong. For some donors, it’s genuinely the right choice. But when 79% of foundations are defaulting to mail as the primary channel for all stewardship communication, the channel isn’t a strategic choice. It’s a habit. And it’s a habit with a specific cost: zero engagement data, no way to personalize the next touchpoint, and no signal about whether the relationship is strengthening or quietly eroding. ## Timeliness compounds the blind spot 61% of foundations take one to six months from disbursement to report delivery. 18% take longer, or have no consistent timeline at all. By the time a donor receives a report about a fund awarded last academic year, the emotional window has closed. A report that arrives six months late and disappears into a mail pile with no read confirmation doesn’t build the relationship. It checks a compliance box. ## What high-performing programs are doing differently The foundations in our research that outperformed on this dimension had two things in common. **They measured what they sent.** Even basic signals, whether a digital report was opened, whether a donor clicked through to a student’s story, whether a portal was accessed, gave teams something to act on. Engagement data closes the feedback loop. **They moved away from single-channel delivery.** Mail didn’t disappear from their process, but it became one option among several rather than the default. Digital delivery alongside print, living donor portals, personalized email summaries: these opened signal channels that mail alone cannot provide. The 2026 AwardSpring Donor Stewardship Benchmark documents this pattern across 125 foundations. The full report drops at NASFAA on June 29. _The 2026 AwardSpring Donor Stewardship Benchmark surveyed 125 active stewardship professionals across higher education foundations, colleges, and universities._ Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # From stewardship to strategy: elevating donor engagement beyond the annual report | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/strategic-donor-engagement-scholarships [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) # From stewardship to strategy: elevating donor engagement beyond the annual report Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 2 min read ![From stewardship to strategy: elevating donor engagement beyond the annual report](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/stewardship-to-strategy-beyond-annual-report.4wSClCDc_235q2R.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. For many institutions, donor stewardship still follows a familiar pattern: award scholarships, send thank-you letters, deliver an annual impact report, repeat. While this checks the box on stewardship, it misses a larger opportunity. Donor engagement can no longer be treated as a once-a-year activity. It needs to become a continuous, strategic function. ## Why traditional donor stewardship is no longer enough Higher education funding is changing. Tuition pressure, shifting demographics, and evolving public support are forcing institutions to think differently about every dollar. Donor-funded scholarships are becoming more central, not just to advancement goals, but to enrollment and retention outcomes. Yet stewardship models haven’t kept pace. Many teams still rely on fragmented data, manual reporting, and delayed storytelling. ## The shift: from reporting impact to activating it Instead of asking, _How do we report impact?_, leading institutions are asking, _How do we make impact visible earlier and more often?_ When donor engagement becomes continuous, relationships deepen, renewal conversations become easier, larger gifts become more likely, and scholarship growth accelerates. ## The hidden barrier: disconnected scholarship systems At many institutions, donor data and scholarship awarding data live in different systems, managed by different teams, with different priorities. Advancement owns the donor relationship. Financial aid owns the awarding process. And the connection between the two is often manual. This creates delayed impact reporting, incomplete donor visibility, and missed storytelling opportunities. ## Moving from reactive to proactive donor engagement **Bringing impact forward in the cycle:** Instead of waiting until awards are finalized, share milestone updates throughout the year. **Making data more accessible:** When advancement teams can quickly see fund utilization and student outcomes, they can move faster and communicate with confidence. **Turning impact into narrative:** Data builds credibility. Stories build connection. Pair clear metrics with meaningful student experiences. AwardSpring helps institutions connect stewardship and awarding in one place, surface donor-ready insights without manual work, and build programs that grow year over year. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Donor Stewardship ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # A year of impact: the AwardSpring blog posts our community found most valuable | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/top-scholarship-donor-management-blogs-year [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) # A year of impact: the AwardSpring blog posts our community found most valuable Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![A year of impact: the AwardSpring blog posts our community found most valuable](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/year-of-impact-winter-campus-dusk-windows.2DG1tRZD_34IhV.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. A year-end roundup of the 5 most-read AwardSpring blog posts. The five featured posts covered topics our community found most relevant to their day-to-day work and strategic priorities. ## 1\. Why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process Reframed the assumption that donor stewardship happens after awards are made. Helped advancement and financial aid teams see themselves as partners in the awarding process, not sequential handoffs. ## 2\. 6 common scholarship awarding mistakes to avoid next cycle Outlined mistakes institutions often make because of time and system constraints, with small changes that can make a big difference. Resonated with teams heading into a new award cycle. ## 3\. How to build donor impact reports that inspire future scholarship giving Reframed donor reports from a requirement to an opportunity. Showed how combining clean data, student stories, and thoughtful timing can turn reporting into one of the most effective donor engagement tools. ## 4\. How to engage scholarship donors in real time (not just after the awards) Explored how institutions can involve donors thoughtfully and ethically throughout the application, review, and awarding process, without compromising applicant privacy. ## 5\. How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program Showed how Financial Aid, Advancement, and Academic Affairs can work together to improve equity, efficiency, and donor confidence. One of the most-shared posts of the year. Tags Industry News ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # The top 3 scholarship moves leaders should make right now | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/blog/top-scholarship-strategy-moves-leaders [Blog](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) # The top 3 scholarship moves leaders should make right now Alex Stepien · June 2, 2026 · 1 min read ![The top 3 scholarship moves leaders should make right now](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scholarship-moves-three-way-junction-aerial.w6h1QD8D_1yB2t9.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. If scholarships are a strategy, these are the first moves that matter. ## Move 1: connect scholarships to enrollment and retention goals Shift the conversation from “How much did we award?” to “What outcomes are scholarships supporting?” Ask: Which scholarships are influencing enrollment decisions? Where are we seeing unmet need that affects persistence? Are we awarding based on historical patterns, or current student realities? ## Move 2: treat donor engagement as part of the awarding process Build donor engagement into the scholarship lifecycle, not just the end. Give donors visibility into how funds are used, share aggregate progress during the cycle, and connect awards to real student stories and outcomes. When donors understand the impact of their scholarships, they’re more likely to renew, increase support, and become long-term partners. ## Move 3: simplify the experience for everyone involved Reduce friction across the entire scholarship ecosystem. Ensure students submit complete, comparable applications. Give reviewers a consistent, equitable scoring experience. Provide leadership with real-time visibility into progress and outcomes. Efficiency isn’t just operational. It’s strategic. [Get a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact). Tags Scholarship Management ## More from this author - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Author Alex Stepien CEO at AwardSpring. Focused on building the Fund Platform for higher education. Related posts - [Donor Stewardship Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) - [AI & SpringIQ What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) - [Fund Strategy Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) --- # Careers at AwardSpring | Open positions Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/office.C19QYhvy_287loD.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Careers # Join our team. We're on a mission to connect donor generosity with student opportunity. 11 open positions ## For people who run at hard problems. - intellectual curiosity You go find the answer. When you don't know something, you go learn it instead of waiting to be taught. - agency You act without waiting for permission. You take ownership of the problems in front of you and move on them decisively. - ambition You want your work to matter. You are here for real impact, and you are willing to push past your own limits to make it. How we work ## Are you a builder, coach, or seller? Routine work is delegated to AI so you spend your time on the hard stuff. Whatever your title, your work ladders up to the same mission. - ### Builder Create the product and the systems behind it, from the platform institutions log into to the automations that clear the busywork. - ### Coach Partner with the institutions we serve, learn what they are working toward, and help their teams turn the platform into real results. - ### Seller Carry the mission to new campuses and make the case for a better way to turn donor generosity into student opportunity. ## Customer Experience - [ ### Customer Success Manager Full-Time Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week $65,000 - $75,000 base · $90,000 - $100,000 OTE ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/customer-success-manager) - [ ### Onboarding Specialist Full-Time Chicago, West Loop / Fulton Market, hybrid three days a week $55,000 - $60,000 / year ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/onboarding-specialist) - [ ### Solutions Engineer Full-Time Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week, or remote for a strong candidate $80,000 - $100,000 base · $100,000 - $120,000 OTE ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/solutions-engineer) ## Marketing - [ ### Head of Marketing & Demand Gen Full-Time Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week, with travel to the conferences we attend $140,000 - $160,000 base · $175,000 - $200,000 OTE ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/head-of-marketing-demand-gen) ## AI & Automation - [ ### Customer Experience Engineer Full-Time Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week $80,000 - $100,000 / year ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/cx-engineer) - [ ### Go-to-Market Engineer Full-Time Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week $100,000 - $125,000 base · $120,000 - $150,000 OTE ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/gtm-engineer) ## Product Engineering - [ ### Product Builder Intern Part-Time Chicago, IL $25 - $35 / hour ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-builder-intern) - [ ### Product Engineer Full-Time Chicago, IL $100,000 - $135,000 / year ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-engineer) - [ ### Senior Product Engineer Full-Time Chicago, IL $135,000 - $175,000 / year ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/senior-product-engineer) - [ ### Principal Product Engineer Full-Time Chicago, IL $175,000 - $245,000 / year ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/staff-product-engineer) ## Sales - [ ### Sales Development Representative Full-Time Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week $60,000 base · $96,000 OTE ](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/sales-development-representative) --- # Customer Success Manager | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/customer-success-manager [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Customer Success Manager - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week - Customer Experience $65,000 - $75,000 base · $90,000 - $100,000 OTE ~$25,000 variable target · paid quarterly on net revenue retention [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/customer-success-manager/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You own the health of a book of AwardSpring customers, from the day Onboarding hands them to you live, through every renewal after that. Churn at AwardSpring starts about 12 months before a renewal, not in the renewal meeting. So this job is customer health, not renewal paperwork: customers who are current on the product, using every feature that would help them, and singing our praises. You are the customer's one point of contact. Customers bring their questions and requests straight to you. You solve them, or you route them: tickets to Support, feature requests to Product, and interest in a different standalone product to an Account Executive. When an account is at risk, you escalate early and bring in the right leader, and you keep the relationship and the renewal the whole way through. You own the renewal and the upsell, from quote to signature, and you sell add-ons like SpringIQ and SpringAPIs within the product your customer already uses. You teach: you run workshops with customers, share product updates and consult on best practices, because a customer who knows the product uses more of it. Your time goes where the outcome is decided. The account brief is pulled for you before each meeting, follow-ups are drafted for you, meeting outcomes log themselves, and every deal is checked before it goes out. What is left is the part that decides whether an account renews and grows: deciding what the meeting is for, the conversation itself, and knowing the platform well enough to solve what the customer needs. As the machine takes more of the work, your book grows, and you carry more customers than a CSM at a company that has not rebuilt this way. ## How we work AwardSpring is an AI-native company. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every team here operates on the same principle: routine work gets delegated to AI so people spend their hours on the problems that actually need judgment. We hire for three things: - Intellectual curiosity. When you don't know something, you go learn it instead of waiting to be taught. - Agency. You act without waiting for permission. You take ownership of the problems in front of you and move on them decisively. - Ambition. You want your work to matter. You are here for real impact, and you are willing to push past your own limits to make it. We are a small, focused team on a mature, multi-tenant platform. Nobody here has a narrow lane. ## What you'll do - Spend 60% of your week with customers, about 24 hours: live meetings, workshops and best-practice sessions. - Keep every account on its tier's cadence. Top tier: a meeting every quarter and a personal email every month. Middle tier: a meeting every year and a personal email every month. Smallest tier: the monthly automated touch. - Prepare for every meeting. The brief is pulled for you. Read it, sharpen it, and walk in knowing what the meeting is for. - After every meeting, send the customer a written recap with a dated next step within 24 hours, and log it in HubSpot the same day. - Reply to every customer email within 4 business hours, even if the first reply is "I'm on it, here's when you'll hear back." - Start every renewal at least 6 months before the contract ends, and have the service order out by 60 days before the auto-renewal cancellation deadline. - Own the renewal and upsell from quote to signature. The quote and service order are drafted for you and checked before they go out; you decide the terms and send it. - Own the negotiation. Our pricing guardrails tell you where you stand on every quote. When a customer needs something outside them, work it out with the Customer Success Lead and the CEO. - Listen for the next product in every conversation. You are not hunting for cross-sell; you are asking the questions that show where another AwardSpring product would help. When it would, hand it to the Account Executive with the context they need to close it. - Drive adoption in every account. Know which of your accounts are not using what they bought, and why, and have a plan for each one. Watch fund utilization too: money left unawarded is the first sign. - Run workshops for your customers, and webinars once that program starts. Share product updates so your customers are current on every release. - Solve what the platform already does before you escalate. Then route cleanly: tickets to Support, feature requests to Product, cross-sell interest to an Account Executive. - Keep HubSpot current the same day, every day, while we keep moving the CRM toward touchless. - Know your numbers. Customer meeting hours and product adoption are published weekly, net revenue retention monthly. ## Who you are - You know the platform well enough to get a customer anything they need, as long as the product already supports it. You find the way before you file the ticket. - You steer the account. You come to every meeting with a view on what the customer should do next, not only answers to their questions. - You are an active listener, and your questions show you heard. Customers leave a meeting with you having learned something about their own program. - You treat the renewal and the upsell as part of the relationship, not a separate sales call. - You stay current. When a release ships, you know it before your customers ask. - 2 or more years in customer success or account management at a SaaS company, or in a financial aid, advancement or foundation office. We care more about how well you know your customers' world than where you learned it. ## What we're not looking for - Someone who answers requests but never steers the account. - Someone who escalates to Support what they could have solved by knowing the product. - Someone who treats the renewal as paperwork. ## How we'll measure you We also watch, but don't measure: whether every account is current on its touch cadence, fund utilization, how often your customers advocate for us, and whether they are current on new releases. 1. Customer meeting hours per week. Completed meetings with someone from a customer account in your book. Workshops and best-practice sessions count. The bar is 60% of your week, about 24 hours. 2. Net revenue retention, trailing 12 months. Your accounts' recurring revenue today against 12 months ago, counting renewals, upsells, cross-sells, downgrades and churn. Cross-sell counts for you because you find it and hand it over. 3. Product adoption. The share of your accounts that actively use the features that matter most in every product they own. ## On the AI part of this job We will teach you our stack in your first month and check in at day 30. By then you are reading the account brief before every meeting, editing drafted follow-ups instead of writing from scratch, and checking every quote before it goes out. By day 90 we expect more: you have spotted a task you repeat and turned it into a skill or an automation the rest of the team can use. You do not need to arrive knowing how to build these. You do need to want to, and the CSMs who do best here reach for the model before they do a thing by hand. ## How you advance A year in, doing this very well looks like every account in your book adopting what it owns, net revenue retention above 100% because your upsells outpace your churn, and customers who send their peers to us. - Senior CSM, with a larger and more strategic book of accounts. - Customer Experience Engineer, if the part you love most is building the tools and automations that make the team faster. ## Benefits Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave. ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, three days a week. In-office presence is part of the job, with the specific schedule set with your manager. ## How we hire 1. A 20-minute phone screen. 2. A 45-minute conversation with the hiring manager about renewals you have saved, customers you have lost, and expansions you have found. 3. A work sample: we send you an at-risk account ahead of time, you present a 15-minute save plan, role-play the call, and write the follow-up email. 4. A conversation with the Account Executives and Customer Experience team you would work with. 5. A conversation with our CEO. 6. References and an offer. At least one interview is in person at our Chicago office. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/customer-success-manager/apply) --- # Customer Experience Engineer | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/cx-engineer [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Customer Experience Engineer - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week - AI & Automation $80,000 - $100,000 / year Based on experience · 10% annual bonus opportunity [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/cx-engineer/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role The Customer Experience Engineer is responsible for shortening the distance between a customer's problem and a solution, and between a signed contract and a live customer. You own our automated support. Most customer questions should be answered without waiting for a person: by our documentation, by our AI support agents, or by the product itself. You keep the documentation current as the product changes, run the support agents, read the conversations they get wrong, and widen what they can resolve on their own. When a problem gets past the agents and our support team, it comes to you. You find the cause, fix it or hand engineering a bug report they can act on in one read, walk the customer through it, and then build whatever stops it from happening again. You also own the data side of onboarding. Getting a new school or foundation live means taking their spreadsheets, mapping years of scholarship, donor and award history into our schema, and verifying every record. Today that is a long, manual process with dozens of steps. Your job is to make it fast, repeatable and right. This is a hands-on building role reporting directly to the Chief AI Officer, with a dotted line to the Director of Customer Experience, who sets what the CX team needs next. You build for our Support Reps and Onboarding Specialists: agents and automation that take the manual steps out of their day. You'll find the next wins yourself in our support conversations, escalation reasons and onboarding timelines. ## How we work AwardSpring is an AI-native company. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every team here operates on the same principle: routine work gets delegated to AI so people spend their hours on the problems that actually need judgment. We hire for three things: - Intellectual curiosity. When you don't know something, you go learn it instead of waiting to be taught. - Agency. You act without waiting for permission. You take ownership of the problems in front of you and move on them decisively. - Ambition. You want your work to matter. You are here for real impact, and you are willing to push past your own limits to make it. We are a small, focused team on a mature, multi-tenant platform. Nobody here has a narrow lane. ## What you'll do - Run our support agents. Read the conversations they get wrong, fix the answer or the documentation behind it, and widen what they can resolve on their own. - Keep the documentation current with every release. - Take the technical escalations that get past the agents and our support team. Find the cause, fix it or hand engineering a bug report they can act on in one read, and walk the customer through it. - When you see the same issue twice, build what stops the third. - Own the data side of onboarding: map, clean, load and verify each new customer's data, and get their sign-off. - Build the onboarding pipeline so each migration takes fewer human steps than the last. - Build tools that remove the repetitive parts of the work for Support Reps and Onboarding Specialists. ## Who you are - You work with Claude Code, Codex or similar every day, and your agentic process is robust enough that you don't need to read the code you ship. - You debug in steps. You reproduce it, read the logs, check the network tab, and find the cause before you reply. - You write documentation people actually use, and you notice an out-of-date help article before a customer does. - A customer's messy spreadsheet doesn't scare you. You can map someone else's data into our schema and prove it landed right. - You can explain a technical problem to a stressed financial aid director without making them feel foolish. - You fix things for good. When you see the same issue twice, you build what stops the third. - Support, implementation, solutions or engineering backgrounds all work. We care about what you've built, not where you trained. ## What we're not looking for - Someone who avoids the customer. Half of this job is getting on a call with someone who is stressed and making it solvable. - Someone who closes tickets without fixing the cause. - Someone who trusts the script. A migration isn't done because it ran without errors. ## How we'll measure you Also reviewed every week: contact rate, time to resolution, customer satisfaction, data migration turnaround, migration defects, and human hours per onboarding. 1. Escalation rate. The share of support conversations our AI agent or self-serve can't resolve and hands to a person. A conversation the customer reopens within 7 days counts as escalated. 2. CX cost to serve. What it costs to run Customer Experience, against our subscription revenue. Prevention shows up here: the best ticket is the one that never gets opened. 3. Time to launch. Median days from contract start to a live customer. How fast a new customer starts getting value from AwardSpring. ## On the AI part of this job Unlike most roles here, we won't teach you to work AI-native. You arrive fluent: directing agents is already how you build, every day. We check in at day 30 on how you're working, not only on what you've shipped. ## How you advance Growth here doesn't require a management ladder. Strong CX Engineers will slowly but steadily be given more autonomy, more scope, and ownership of higher-level KPIs. If you're looking for career progression into a people management track, this likely isn't the role for you. ## What we give you - Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets - Day-one access to the latest models as they ship - A mature, multi-tenant production codebase with real users and real stakes - Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, three days a week. In-office presence is part of the job, with the specific schedule set with your manager. ## How we hire 1. A conversation with our CEO. 2. A short take-home: build something small with AI, then walk us through how you built it. 3. Interviews with the team you would work with. 4. A second, longer take-home. 5. A final debrief and an offer. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/cx-engineer/apply) --- # Go-to-Market Engineer | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/gtm-engineer [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Go-to-Market Engineer - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week - AI & Automation $100,000 - $125,000 base · $120,000 - $150,000 OTE ~20% variable target [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/gtm-engineer/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role The GTM Engineer is responsible for driving revenue growth by enabling our sellers and CSMs to do what they do best: building productive relationships with prospects and customers. Each hour spent building a list, maintaining the CRM record, logging a call, or hunting for the next account is an hour that could be spent with a customer. Your goal is to give them that time back, and the pipeline and revenue that come from more, higher quality meetings. This is a hands-on building role reporting directly to the Chief AI Officer. You'll start with top-of-funnel demand generation, then extend into pipeline progression and the Customer Success engine, and from there into the systems behind search and answer-engine visibility (SEO/AEO). The Head of Marketing & Demand Gen owns the brand and the message; you build what carries it. ## How we work AwardSpring is an AI-native company. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every team here operates on the same principle: routine work gets delegated to AI so people spend their hours on the problems that actually need judgment. We hire for three things: - Intellectual curiosity. When you don't know something, you go learn it instead of waiting to be taught. - Agency. You act without waiting for permission. You take ownership of the problems in front of you and move on them decisively. - Ambition. You want your work to matter. You are here for real impact, and you are willing to push past your own limits to make it. We are a small, focused team on a mature, multi-tenant platform. Nobody here has a narrow lane. ## What you'll do - Build the top-of-funnel machine: account and contact discovery, enrichment, intent signals and sequenced outreach, all running autonomously. - Make our CRM headless. Agents keep HubSpot updated and clean, so no seller maintains a record by hand. - Automate pipeline progression: lead scoring, routing, follow-up on stalled leads, and the MQL-to-SQL handoff. - Build the Customer Success engine: account briefs, drafted follow-ups, quotes and service orders drafted for the CSM to check, renewal and cadence tasks, and the adoption signals that tell a CSM who to call next. You work with the Customer Success Lead on what comes off the CSMs' plates next. - Find the day-to-day wins yourself in call transcripts, Slack conversations and our data lake. - Ship daily. Then watch it closely, and roll back fast when it's wrong. - When something you built breaks, fix it or roll it back the same business day. ## Who you are - You work with Claude Code, Codex or similar every day. You're technical enough to design simple, resilient systems, and your agentic process is robust enough that you don't need to read the code you ship. - You're energized by a hard, fuzzy problem. "Sellers lose half their day to software admin" is a problem you want, and you start building before anyone asks. - You know CRM data design well (ideally HubSpot), and inconsistent, messy data is one of your pet peeves. - RevOps, engineering, growth or sales backgrounds all work. We care about what you've built, not where you trained. ## What we're not looking for - Someone who waits for a ticket. If you need a spec handed to you before you start, this is the wrong seat. - Someone who configures instead of builds. We aren't hiring a HubSpot admin with a new title. ## How we'll measure you 1. Customer meeting hours per Account Executive and CSM, per week. The most direct way your work enables the team. 2. Pipeline dollars generated each month across new business, cross-sell and upsell. Shared with every seller on purpose: the machine you build is only worth the pipeline it helps create. 3. Net GTM efficiency. Net new recurring revenue in the quarter, after churn and downgrades, against sales, marketing and customer success cost. Your machines make every dollar of revenue cheaper to win and to keep. ## On the AI part of this job Unlike most roles here, we won't teach you to work AI-native. You arrive fluent: directing agents is already how you build, every day. We check in at day 30 on how you're working, not only on what you've shipped. ## How you advance Growth here doesn't require a management ladder. Strong GTM Engineers will slowly but steadily be given more autonomy, more scope, and ownership of higher-level KPIs. If you're looking for career progression into a people management track, this likely isn't the role for you. ## What we give you - Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets - Day-one access to the latest models as they ship - A mature, multi-tenant production codebase with real users and real stakes - Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, three days a week. In-office presence is part of the job, with the specific schedule set with your manager. ## How we hire 1. A conversation with our CEO. 2. A short take-home: build something small with AI, then walk us through how you built it. 3. Interviews with the team you would work with. 4. A second, longer take-home. 5. A final debrief and an offer. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/gtm-engineer/apply) --- # Head of Marketing & Demand Gen | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/head-of-marketing-demand-gen [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Head of Marketing & Demand Gen - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week, with travel to the conferences we attend - Marketing $140,000 - $160,000 base · $175,000 - $200,000 OTE ~$35,000 - $40,000 variable target · plus equity [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/head-of-marketing-demand-gen/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You run the top of the funnel at AwardSpring: marketing and the SDR team, as one function with one number. That number is pipeline dollars created. Demand is the single biggest constraint on the business, and this seat exists to remove it. We sell scholarship and donor management software to colleges, universities and community foundations. After ten years we have about 300 of the 1,300 two-year colleges, and most of the rest run on older tools that haven't kept up. Two-year colleges do not search for this category. They ask a peer, read a publication, hear a podcast. Four-year universities buy through a committee of about five people. Foundations find us on their own, and the work there is speed and disqualification. Today most of our pipeline is outbound that our sellers source by hand. You inherit a paid-media agency, marketing contractors, an SDR team that books first meetings for our Account Executives by phone, and an AI stack that removes most of the production and research work. The SDRs and the marketing contractors report to you. You coach the SDRs, build the inbound engine, and build the category for our Fund Platform. Attribution between marketing and sales does not matter here. The total going up does. ## What you'll do - Lead the SDR team directly: hiring, ramp, daily coaching, call review and the weekly scoreboard. - Decide every week whether the next dollar or the next hour goes to a campaign or to a dial, and write down why. - Feed the call list. The people who engaged with a campaign are who the SDRs call the next morning. - Build demand plays by segment: publications and podcasts for two-year colleges, committee events and thought leadership for four-year universities, inbound speed and disqualification rules for foundations. - Hear the buyer yourself. Listen to at least five SDR and Account Executive calls a week, work the booth at the conferences we attend, and talk to a customer before you write the message for their segment. - Build the Fund Platform category: the message, the proof and the first buyers who can say it out loud. - Run at least eight experiments a month, each with a written hypothesis, a read date and a kill rule set before it launches. - Judge channels on incrementality, not on what the platform reports. A channel that cannot show lift you can defend does not get next quarter's budget. - Own the tracking: UTMs, campaign records, conversion events and the queries that tell you whether a number is real. - Hold the claim standard. Everything we publish is sourced, dated and retired when it stops holding. - Work with the Go-to-Market Engineer on the lead engine that finds, verifies and enriches contacts and hands them to SDR queues. You say what the SDRs need; they build it. - Each week, write the three lines under the dashboard: what moved, why, and what you are changing. ## Who you are - You have owned a pipeline number, missed it at least once, and can say what you changed afterward. - You have run SDRs or BDRs and coached them on the phone, not on a spreadsheet. You can sit beside a new rep, listen to ten calls, and name the one thing to change tomorrow. - You are a builder and a coach at once. You can ship a campaign yourself this week and hire the person who runs it next quarter. - You have range across what an agency usually does: content, paid, events, email, web, analytics. You know which ones to do yourself and which to buy. - You have built demand for a considered purchase with a committee buyer. Higher education, nonprofit technology or public sector is a plus. A degree is not a screen here. - You write, and you can read a GA4 report and fix the UTM that broke it. - You can tell a real effect from a coincidence, and you have killed something you liked because the read said to. ## What we're not looking for - A manager who reports activity without asking what it produced. - Someone who counts MQLs as the goal. - Someone whose best case study is a rebrand. ## How we'll measure you Three more numbers come up every week: speed to first touch on an inbound lead, paid spend with a read on lift, and inbound pipeline created per month. 1. Pipeline dollars created per month, for the whole company. Attribution between marketing and sales does not matter here; the total going up does. 2. First meetings held per week, for the whole company. SDR-booked and inbound-booked both count. It moves every week, and it is what fills an Account Executive's calendar. 3. New recurring revenue booked against plan, each quarter. Pipeline only matters if it closes. ## On the AI part of this job Agents research, draft and produce. You and your team decide what ships and what gets said on the phone. You should arrive having built campaign or prospecting systems with AI, not just written captions with it, and you will be expected to take work off the SDRs' plates by automating it rather than hiring for it. We check this at day 30 and in every quarterly review. If you don't instinctively reach for AI before doing things manually, this role will be a hard adjustment. ## How you advance - Chief Marketing Officer, with brand, product marketing and a larger demand team as the company grows. - Chief Revenue Officer, over marketing, sales and customer success. ## Benefits Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave. ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, three days a week, with travel to the conferences we attend. ## How we hire 1. A conversation with the hiring manager. 2. A short take-home based on the real work. 3. Interviews with the team you would work with. 4. A conversation with our CEO. 5. A final debrief and an offer. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/head-of-marketing-demand-gen/apply) --- # Onboarding Specialist | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/onboarding-specialist [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Onboarding Specialist - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop / Fulton Market, hybrid three days a week - Customer Experience $55,000 - $60,000 / year Based on experience · 10% annual bonus opportunity, based on company performance [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/onboarding-specialist/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You own launch. When an organization signs with us, you are the person who takes them from contract to live, and you own their success. That is the customer-facing half of the job, kickoff calls, training, and honest conversations about timelines, and the behind-the-scenes half, data imports, form and workflow configuration. This is a Coach role at AwardSpring. You partner with institutions to drive results, and the results belong to them: an application cycle that opens on time, an advancement team that can finally see its donors, a department that stops running its process out of spreadsheets. Configuration is the means, not the point. The job is coaching an administrator from "we bought software" to "we changed how we work". ## How we work AwardSpring is an AI-native company. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every team here operates on the same principle: routine work gets delegated to AI so people spend their hours on the problems that actually need judgment. We hire for three things: - Intellectual curiosity. When you don't know something, you go learn it instead of waiting to be taught. - Agency. You act without waiting for permission. You take ownership of the problems in front of you and move on them decisively. - Ambition. You want your work to matter. You are here for real impact, and you are willing to push past your own limits to make it. We are a small, focused team on a mature, multi-tenant platform. Nobody here has a narrow lane. ## What you'll do - Own onboarding and implementation projects end to end, from kickoff through go-live and handoff. - Understand what the customer is actually trying to change about how they work, then sequence the rollout so they get there. - Run your projects and timelines in a project management tool, current enough that anyone can pick up the status without asking you. - Work closely with Support on testing and post-launch readiness so nothing lands on them cold. - Configure forms, workflows, conditional logic, and data integrations across whichever of our products the customer bought. - Import and map customer data, then validate it before launch rather than after. - Use AI tooling to take the repetitive work off your plate: data mapping and cleanup, configuration QA, first drafts of training materials and customer-facing docs, meeting notes and follow-ups. Then bring back what worked so the whole team gets faster. - Deliver live training sessions for scholarship administrators and advancement teams, on the products they actually use. - Host webinars for the broader customer base to train at scale. - Build and run training materials against the priorities set by Customer Experience leadership. ## Who you are - 1 to 3 years in onboarding, implementation, or support for a SaaS product. - Strong organizational skills and real attention to detail. - Comfortable with data. Excel and CSV work, mapping messy customer files, spotting the row that is going to break something. - A clear and patient communicator. - Accountable for timelines and outcomes without being chased. - AI-fluent in your own workflow, or ready to ramp up quickly. - Genuinely curious about how a scholarship, financial aid, or advancement office spends its day, not just about our products. ## Benefits Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave. ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, three days a week. In-office presence is part of the job, with the specific schedule set with your manager. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/onboarding-specialist/apply) --- # Product Builder Intern | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-builder-intern [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Product Builder Intern - Part-Time - Chicago, IL - Product Engineering $25 - $35 / hour [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-builder-intern/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role This is one internship open to builders of any stripe: engineering, design, or product management. We are not asking you to pick a lane before you get here. Tell us what you have built and which of the three you want to spend your time on, and we will shape the work around it. What matters is that you have shipped something real with AI tools. A side project, a class project, something you built because you wanted it to exist. What you made counts for more than where you went to school. ## How we work We're an AI-native product team. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every IC (engineer, PM, designer) ships features end-to-end with agentic tooling. The lines between disciplines are intentionally blurred: PMs ship code, engineers make product calls, designers prototype in production. We hire for fluency in agentic development, not time in any one stack. If you've been building this way on nights and weekends because your day job won't let you (rigid stack, no token budget, "that's not how we do things here"), this is the place where it's the actual job. ## What you'll do - Ship real, well-scoped work into a production codebase with actual users - Work with agentic tooling from day one, with senior review - Learn the codebase and our agent workflows quickly - Push back when a spec does not make sense ## Who you are - Currently a student or a recent graduate - Have built something with Claude Code, Cursor, or a comparable tool - Curious across disciplines, not just the one on your resume - Would rather iterate than wait for perfect direction ## What we give you - Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets - Day-one access to the latest models as they ship - A mature, multi-tenant production codebase with real users and real stakes - Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## A note on workspace Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, roughly three days a week. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-builder-intern/apply) --- # Product Engineer | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-engineer [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Product Engineer - Full-Time - Chicago, IL - Product Engineering $100,000 - $135,000 / year [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-engineer/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You ship complex, high-value features end-to-end, with agentic tooling as your primary interface to the codebase. You make the technical calls on what you own, push back when a spec is wrong, and stay close to the customers who depend on it. You don't wait for groomed tickets, you take a problem and go. ## How we work We're an AI-native product team. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every IC (engineer, PM, designer) ships features end-to-end with agentic tooling. The lines between disciplines are intentionally blurred: PMs ship code, engineers make product calls, designers prototype in production. We hire for fluency in agentic development, not time in any one stack. If you've been building this way on nights and weekends because your day job won't let you (rigid stack, no token budget, "that's not how we do things here"), this is the place where it's the actual job. ## What you'll do - Ship complex features end-to-end across our products - Drive the technical decisions for the systems you own - Push back on weak specs and propose the better version - Keep a direct line to customers and peers ## Who you are - 3+ years shipping production software, now doing it with Claude Code, Cursor, or comparable tools - Comfortable in unfamiliar code - Strong opinions about quality in product and craft - Can hold your own with customers and executives ## What we give you - Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets - Day-one access to the latest models as they ship - A mature, multi-tenant production codebase with real users and real stakes - Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## A note on workspace Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, roughly three days a week. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/product-engineer/apply) --- # Sales Development Representative | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/sales-development-representative [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Sales Development Representative - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week - Sales $60,000 base · $96,000 OTE ~$36,000 variable target · uncapped commission [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/sales-development-representative/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. Our vision: to empower every institution to change students' lives. Our mission: we turn donor generosity into student opportunity. That is not wall art. It is the reason this job exists and it is what you will be selling. ## About this role You build the top of our funnel. You pick the institutions, find the reason to call, and book first meetings that turn into real opportunities. Your meetings round-robin across our whole AE bench, so you are not carrying one rep's calendar, you are carrying the number. This is a phone-first job at a company that has removed almost everything that usually keeps a rep off the phone. No hand-built lists, no sequences written from scratch, no call notes typed by hand. What is left is the part that actually matters: knowing who to call, why now, and what to say when they pick up. There is a clear path forward. SDRs here move to AE or CSM in 9 to 15 months, and it is decided on the numbers rather than on a vibe. ## How we work here We are an AI-native company and that includes sales. You will not hand-build a list, write a sequence from scratch, or type a call note. Our research engine tells you which institutions have a reason to talk right now and why, enrolls them into sequences, and puts a one-page brief in front of you before every call. AwardSpringOS is your command center for account prioritization, institution research, and coaching. Nooks runs the dialing. Gong records and analyzes your calls. HubSpot is the system of record and it is current the same day, every day. You will not be left to work this out alone. You get a weekly 1:1, a weekly call review with your manager, team training every two weeks, and a written ramp plan with your numbers on it from day one. What that buys you is time on the phone and a real reason to be calling. What we expect in return is that you use it. If you have been quietly building your own prospecting workflow with AI on the side, because your last shop made you log into six tools and rebuild every sequence by hand, here that is the actual job. ## What you'll do - Own outbound into your accounts across phone, email, and LinkedIn. - Use our research signal to decide who to call and why now, then let the sequence engine handle enrollment. - Answer inbound the same day. The people who find us convert better than the people we find. - Run short discovery and hand qualified opportunities to an AE. - Keep HubSpot current the same day, every day. - Review your own Gong calls and come to coaching with what you already noticed. ## Who you are - 0–2 years in outbound sales or a comparable high-activity role. SaaS helps, it is not required. - Comfortable on the phone and unbothered by a no. You open cold, handle an objection, and get to a real question fast. - You write a four-sentence email that gets a reply. - Curious about how a financial aid office spends its day, not just about our product. - Data-driven about your own performance. You know your connect rate without being asked. - AI-fluent in your own workflow, or ready to be inside a month. You read the brief before the call and you do not retype what a model can draft. - Coachable, organized, and competitive without being a lone wolf. The meetings you book get worked by someone else. ## How we'll measure you Sixty calls buys about one booked meeting, so staying on top of your daily activity will keep you on pace for your weekly discovery meeting targets. You get there on a three-month ramp we will show you in week one: a third of the number in your first full month, two thirds in the second, full rate in the third. We will not move the goalposts mid-quarter. 1. 60 calls a day. 2. 4 discovery meetings held a week. 3. Pipeline created each month. ## On the AI part of this job We will teach you our stack in your first month and check in on it at day 30. By the time your ramp is complete, working this way is the expectation rather than a bonus. We expect you to learn on the job, not come knowing how to work AI native from day 1. ## What we give you Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets, and day-one access to the latest models as they ship. Uncapped commission with accelerators for top performers. Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave. ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Chicago, West Loop / Fulton Market office, hybrid three days a week. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal opportunity AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/sales-development-representative/apply) --- # Senior Product Engineer | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/senior-product-engineer [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Senior Product Engineer - Full-Time - Chicago, IL - Product Engineering $135,000 - $175,000 / year [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/senior-product-engineer/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You're a serious AI-native engineer. You run agents daily, you've built workflows and probably a skill or two of your own, and you push the tooling past its defaults. You own whole areas end-to-end and make sound product and design calls without a net. You're not a designer, but your instincts are good enough to run autonomously. If you've been doing your best work outside your day job because your environment can't keep up, this is where it becomes the work. ## How we work We're an AI-native product team. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every IC (engineer, PM, designer) ships features end-to-end with agentic tooling. The lines between disciplines are intentionally blurred: PMs ship code, engineers make product calls, designers prototype in production. We hire for fluency in agentic development, not time in any one stack. If you've been building this way on nights and weekends because your day job won't let you (rigid stack, no token budget, "that's not how we do things here"), this is the place where it's the actual job. ## What you'll do - Own significant areas end-to-end, problem to production - Run and refine your own agent workflows, and raise the team's bar - Make the product and design judgment calls your area needs, autonomously - Mentor newer builders ## Who you are - Roughly 5–8 years engineering, now fluent and fast with agentic tooling - You've built your own agents, skills, and workflows, and have opinions about your setup - Autonomous on product and design calls - Probably already the person pushing AI-native practice where you are ## What we give you - Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets - Day-one access to the latest models as they ship - A mature, multi-tenant production codebase with real users and real stakes - Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## A note on workspace Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, roughly three days a week. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/senior-product-engineer/apply) --- # Solutions Engineer | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/solutions-engineer [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Solutions Engineer - Full-Time - Chicago, West Loop, hybrid three days a week, or remote for a strong candidate - Customer Experience $80,000 - $100,000 base · $100,000 - $120,000 OTE ~$20,000 variable target · earned on quarterly team ARR [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/solutions-engineer/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You are the technical voice on AwardSpring's calls. You know each product in the platform at the deepest level, and you use that to show a prospect or customer how AwardSpring can be the solution for the work they need to manage. When a Vice President of Financial Aid wants to see how her scholarship process would actually run, you show her. When there's a better way to get there than the one she asked about, you suggest it and offer alternatives. You are ready to speak with all of the functional and technical teams in an institution. You can walk a financial aid administrator through how awarding, reviews and reporting would work for her office. Then you can turn to the IT team and talk integrations, SSO and data in their language. You know when a deal needs those stakeholders, and you know how to bring them in. Most of your week (at least 60%) is live conversation, about 80% with prospective customers and 20% with current customers. Account Executives bring you in for technical discovery, demos built around what this institution needs, IT and security calls, and the technical and security sections of RFPs. Customer Success Managers invite you in for a setup that needs deep technical work, or an upsell that needs a technical answer. You help with the transition of technical items between Sales and Onboarding. What you scope with the customer is what our Onboarding Specialists build. So you don't overpromise. When something needs a clearer answer before we commit to it, you bring in the right people inside AwardSpring first, and you write down what we agreed to. You don't carry an individual sales target, but your bonus is earned on the outcome of your work. You're on the calls that decide whether we win, retain, and expand our business. You win when the team does. The mechanical work around the call is handled for you: account briefs before a call, call recaps, first drafts of security questionnaires, and demo sites with sample data. What's left is the part that decides the deal: reading the room, knowing what fits, and earning the trust of the person who has to sign off on us. ## How we work AwardSpring is an AI-native company. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every team here operates on the same principle: routine work gets delegated to AI so people spend their hours on the problems that actually need judgment. We hire for three things: - Intellectual curiosity. When you don't know something, you go learn it instead of waiting to be taught. - Agency. You act without waiting for permission. You take ownership of the problems in front of you and move on them decisively. - Ambition. You want your work to matter. You are here for real impact, and you are willing to push past your own limits to make it. We are a small, focused team on a mature, multi-tenant platform. Nobody here has a narrow lane. ## What you'll do - Spend most of your week with prospects and customers, talking through their technical solution. - Keep your calendar open to the Account Executives. They book you directly for the college and foundation deals that need a technical voice. - Be the second voice the Account Executive wants, not the one who takes the call over. - Escalate internally when a deal needs more help. Bring in Engineering leadership when a deal needs an architecture call or a commitment we have not made before. Engineering owns the answers; you are the voice on the call. - When you do a demo, address the real problem, then show the few things that solve it, not the whole product. - Know the product and how it fits each institution's systems: APIs, webhooks, SIS (Banner, Colleague/Ethos, Workday Student and others) and SSO. Scope integrations honestly, and say what fits before the contract, not after. - Own the technical and security sections of every RFP, and every security review, including HECVAT and IT questionnaires. Sales owns the RFP and its timeline. You sign off on the technical and security sections, and you consult the CTO before we commit to anything new. - Hand every closed deal to onboarding with a written scope before kickoff: integrations, configuration, and what was and wasn't promised. Join the kickoff when the deal includes an integration. - When a Customer Success Manager books you, answer the technical question on their account. The CSM owns the account and keeps the relationship the whole way through. - Bring what you hear back to product. Objections, feature gaps and competitor mentions go to product the same week. - Help the Account Executives stand on their own. When the same question comes up twice, turn the answer into something the team and the help center can reuse. ## Who you are - You can go deep with an IT director on SSO, SIS feeds and API integrations, then explain the same thing plainly to a Vice President of Financial Aid five minutes later. - You ask one more question than everyone else, and you find what the customer needs, not just what they asked for. - You don't overpromise. When you aren't sure something will work, you get clarity from the right people before anyone commits to it. - You make the people around you better. Account Executives pick up your answers and use them on their own calls. - You'd rather be on the call than write about it. - Technical enough to read an API doc, follow a data feed, and know when to bring in engineering. - 2 to 5 years in a customer-facing SaaS role: solutions or sales engineering, implementation, or technical support. Higher ed experience helps but isn't required. ## What we're not looking for - Someone who gives the feature-and-benefits dump without letting the customer interrupt. - Someone who says yes to win the deal and leaves onboarding to pay for it. - Someone who's more comfortable in the questionnaire than on the call. ## How we'll measure you 1. Customer meeting hours per week. Demos, technical discovery, and IT and security calls with prospects and customers. The bar is 60% of your week, about 24 hours. 2. Recurring revenue closed per quarter, for the whole team. New business, cross-sell, upsell and renewals, not only the deals you joined. You win when the team does. 3. Implementation satisfaction. Positive launch survey responses from customers whose deal you scoped. What you scoped is what the customer lives with at launch. ## On the AI part of this job We'll teach you our stack in your first month and check in on it at day 30. By the end of your ramp, working this way is the expectation. You don't brief yourself by hand, write recaps from scratch, or start a security questionnaire from a blank page. You do need to judge what the tools draft, because your name is on what we commit to. The people who do best here reach for the model first and save their own hours for the customer. ## How you advance A year in, doing this well means technical questions have a clear owner, and it isn't leadership. Onboarding starts every project with a clear technical plan, security reviews have someone who can speak to them, Account Executives carry more of the common questions on their own, and product hears from the field through you. From there: - Senior Solutions Engineer, if you want the biggest deals and to set the standard for demos, scoping and security answers. - Customer Experience Engineer or Go-to-Market Engineer, if you want to build the systems behind the calls. ## Benefits Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave. ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## Work location Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, three days a week. Remote is open for a strong candidate. ## How we hire 1. A conversation with the hiring manager. 2. A short take-home based on the real work. 3. Interviews with the team you would work with. 4. A conversation with our CEO. 5. A final debrief and an offer. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/solutions-engineer/apply) --- # Principal Product Engineer | Careers at AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/careers/staff-product-engineer [Careers](https://www.awardspring.com/careers) # Principal Product Engineer - Full-Time - Chicago, IL - Product Engineering $175,000 - $245,000 / year Includes an equity grant. We want you invested in what we're building. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/staff-product-engineer/apply) ## Who we are AwardSpring is an established, growing SaaS company that partners with hundreds of colleges, universities, and foundations across the US and Canada to award scholarships and manage their donors. We complete the virtuous cycle of giving, getting, and giving again, on a mature, multi-tenant platform, with a small, focused team. ## About this role You're cracked, and you know it. You run fleets of agents, your token burn would make a CFO wince, you've built your own skills, plugins, and agents, and you've got real opinions about your multiplexer. You're at the bleeding edge of doing engineering the AI-native way, and you own the hardest, most ambiguous, highest-leverage problems we have. Just as important, you're someone the whole company learns from. You set the bar and pull everyone toward it. If you've been quietly building the future on your own time because no one around you could move at your speed, come do it here at full throttle, as the job. ## How we work We're an AI-native product team. Nearly 100% of the code in our product is AI-generated, and every IC (engineer, PM, designer) ships features end-to-end with agentic tooling. The lines between disciplines are intentionally blurred: PMs ship code, engineers make product calls, designers prototype in production. We hire for fluency in agentic development, not time in any one stack. If you've been building this way on nights and weekends because your day job won't let you (rigid stack, no token budget, "that's not how we do things here"), this is the place where it's the actual job. ## What you'll do - Own our hardest, most ambiguous problems end-to-end - Push agentic development past where the rest of us are, and bring us with you - Set the standard for how AwardSpring builds - Make the calls that shape whole surfaces ## Who you are - Roughly 8+ years, operating at the frontier of AI-native practice - You build your own agents, skills, and plugins, run fleets, and burn tokens like it's your job (it is) - Deep end-to-end judgment across product, design, and engineering - People learn from you ## What we give you - Top-tier AI tooling with unlimited token budgets - Day-one access to the latest models as they ship - A mature, multi-tenant production codebase with real users and real stakes - Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and paid parental leave ## Our values Lead with humanity. Genuine empathy for our team, our customers, and the students and donors they serve. That includes candor, saying the hard thing because you respect the person enough to say it. Take smart risks. Urgency. Bold, informed bets before the picture is fully clear. Run the experiment instead of winning the debate. Take pride in the process. Fast is the standard and thoughtfulness is non-negotiable. Eyes on the work you control, not the scoreboard. Own the results. We measure everything. Accountability runs on data, not vibes, and we can tell the difference between an honest miss and a broken process. ## A note on workspace Hybrid, based in our West Loop / Fulton Market office in Chicago, roughly three days a week. ## AI in hiring We use AI tools to assist in screening applications and assessing fit. Final hiring decisions are made by humans. Prefer a review without AI assistance? Email our hiring team at [careers@awardspring.com](mailto:careers@awardspring.com) to request it. It will not disadvantage you. ## Equal Opportunity Employer AwardSpring is an equal opportunity employer and hires without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We're committed to an inclusive, harassment-free workplace. [Apply for this role](https://www.awardspring.com/careers/staff-product-engineer/apply) --- # AI & SpringIQ | AwardSpring Blog Source: https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq Blog # AI & SpringIQ [All](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) AI & SpringIQ [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) Alex Stepien June 29, 2026 2 min read [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) ## [What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien June 17, 2026 4 min read [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) ## [Donor stewardship: what the data says about where higher ed foundations stand](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 3 min read --- # Donor stewardship | AwardSpring Blog Source: https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship Blog # Donor stewardship [All](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) Donor Stewardship [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) AwardSpring September 16, 2026 4 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Introducing Donor Experience](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-donor-experience) Kevin Martin August 26, 2026 3 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) AwardSpring July 27, 2026 5 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [How to Write Donor Impact Reports Donors Actually Read](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-impact-reporting) AwardSpring July 24, 2026 6 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) Alex Stepien June 29, 2026 2 min read [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) ## [What SpringIQ Changes About Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/springiq-donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien June 17, 2026 4 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Alex Stepien June 5, 2026 4 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connect-donor-engagement-scholarship-awarding) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Connecting financial aid and advancement: the org-structure gap behind most stewardship failures](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connecting-financial-aid-and-advancement) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 3 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cross-campus-collaboration-scholarship-impact) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Data with purpose: how transparency builds donor confidence and institutional trust](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/data-transparency-builds-donor-confidence) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The donor fund lifecycle: how institutions turn donor intent into lasting impact](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-fund-lifecycle) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 10 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 2 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The future of donor management isn’t about reporting. It’s about momentum.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/future-of-donor-management-higher-education) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Preparing for the season of gratitude: strengthening scholarship and donor connections before the holidays](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/holiday-prep-scholarship-donor-gratitude) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Year-end isn’t just for giving appeals. It’s for donor trust](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/holiday-scholarship-donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Leading the connection: why donor relationships should be a presidential priority](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/presidential-leadership-connected-philanthropy) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The stewardship measurement blind spot](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-measurement-blind-spot) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 3 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [From stewardship to strategy: elevating donor engagement beyond the annual report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/strategic-donor-engagement-scholarships) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) ## [Donor stewardship: what the data says about where higher ed foundations stand](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/donor-stewardship) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 3 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Scholarship stewardship: what it is, why it fails, and how to get it right](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-stewardship) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 6 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Donor stewardship is running on one FTE. Here’s what that costs.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-capacity-quality) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 2 min read --- # Fund strategy | AwardSpring Blog Source: https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy Blog # Fund strategy [All](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) Fund Strategy [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) Alex Stepien June 29, 2026 2 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Alex Stepien June 5, 2026 4 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [From stewardship to strategy: elevating donor engagement beyond the annual report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/strategic-donor-engagement-scholarships) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read --- # Industry trends | AwardSpring Blog Source: https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends Blog # Industry trends [All](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) Industry Trends [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [45% of scholarship programs never find out if a donor opened the report](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive-recap) AwardSpring September 16, 2026 4 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) Alex Stepien June 29, 2026 2 min read [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) ## [A year of impact: the AwardSpring blog posts our community found most valuable](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/top-scholarship-donor-management-blogs-year) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read --- # Scholarship management | AwardSpring Blog Source: https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management Blog # Scholarship management [All](https://www.awardspring.com/blog) Scholarship Management [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) [Industry Trends](https://www.awardspring.com/category/industry-trends) [AI & SpringIQ](https://www.awardspring.com/category/ai-springiq) [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [A scholarship that covers full cost of attendance now cancels the student's Pell Grant](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-compliance) AwardSpring October 19, 2026 8 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Introducing Donor Experience](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-donor-experience) Kevin Martin August 26, 2026 3 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [The Scholarship Handoff: What 125 Foundations Say About Financial Aid and Advancement](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-handoff) AwardSpring July 27, 2026 5 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Seven findings on the state of scholarship donor stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/2026-donor-stewardship-benchmark) Alex Stepien June 29, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [How to Increase Scholarship Applications: A Playbook for Financial Aid Teams](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/increase-scholarship-applications) AwardSpring June 24, 2026 4 min read [Fund Strategy](https://www.awardspring.com/category/fund-strategy) ## [Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/introducing-fund-platform) Alex Stepien June 5, 2026 4 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [From Spreadsheets to Scholarship Intelligence: A Practical Transition Guide](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/spreadsheets-to-scholarship-intelligence) Alex Stepien June 5, 2026 4 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Beyond efficiency: how Cloud County proved that human connection still wins in enrollment](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cloud-county-connection-efficiency-awardspring) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [The compounding impact of better scholarship systems: why this booklet matters right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/compounding-impact-better-scholarship-systems) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Bridging the gap: why donor engagement belongs in the scholarship awarding process](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/connect-donor-engagement-scholarship-awarding) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [How stronger cross-campus collaboration can transform your scholarship program](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/cross-campus-collaboration-scholarship-impact) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Connecting financial aid and advancement: a practical guide for institutions that want donor funds to do more](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/financial-aid-advancement) Gil Rogers June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Scholarship fund utilization: how institutions can make donor funds work harder](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-fund-utilization) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [From firefighting to forward thinking: reframing scholarship operations for what comes next](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-management-strategy-middle-managers) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Scholarships aren’t just financial aid anymore. They’re strategy.](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarships-as-strategy-leadership-higher-ed) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 2 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [Scholarships as strategy: how financial aid drives enrollment and retention in 2026](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarships-enrollment-retention-strategy) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/category/scholarship-management) ## [The top 3 scholarship moves leaders should make right now](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/top-scholarship-strategy-moves-leaders) Alex Stepien June 2, 2026 1 min read [Donor Stewardship](https://www.awardspring.com/category/donor-stewardship) ## [Scholarship stewardship: what it is, why it fails, and how to get it right](https://www.awardspring.com/blog/scholarship-stewardship) Alex Stepien August 20, 2025 6 min read --- # Compare Scholarship Management Platforms | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. Compare PLATFORM COMPARISONS # Compare scholarship management platforms These are AwardSpring's comparisons of scholarship, donor, and fund management platforms. Each page covers the same six criteria, sources competitor claims to their current public documentation, and includes an honest section on when the other platform may fit better. Start with the platform you are evaluating. HOW TO CHOOSE ## Start with the work, not the feature list. Choosing scholarship management software comes down to six things: the application experience your students get, how funds match to applicants, what donors see after the award, how the platform fits your existing systems, the support you get in deadline week, and how AI is used, including who signs off on its output. Every comparison here scores both platforms on those criteria. Where a competitor is the better fit for your situation, the page says so plainly. COMPARISON DIRECTORY ## Choose the platform you are evaluating. [ BUYER'S GUIDE ### Best Scholarship Management Software A neutral comparison of eight scholarship management platforms, scored on six criteria with claims sourced to public documentation, plus guidance by institution type. Read the buyer's guide](https://www.awardspring.com/best-scholarship-management-software) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Compare AwardSpring and Blackbaud Award Management across application experience, fund matching, donor reporting, integrations, support, and AI-assisted awarding. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### Foundant alternative Comparing AwardSpring and Foundant Scholarship Lifecycle Manager? See how the platforms differ on donor management, campus workflows, and pricing before you renew. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### Kaleidoscope alternative Comparing AwardSpring and Kaleidoscope? See how an institution-first scholarship platform differs from a marketplace model on donor work, review workflows, and fit. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### OpenWater alternative Comparing AwardSpring and OpenWater? See how a purpose-built scholarship and donor platform differs from a generalist application-and-review engine. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative Comparing AwardSpring and Next Gen's Scholarship Manager (a Nelnet company)? See how the platforms differ on donor work, matching, and fit before you decide. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### ScholarshipUniverse alternative Comparing AwardSpring and ScholarshipUniverse (now Ellucian Scholarship Management)? See how the platforms differ on matching, donor work, and fit before you renew. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### SmarterSelect alternative Comparing AwardSpring and SmarterSelect? See how the platforms differ on matching, donor reporting, campus integrations, and what each fits best, before you renew. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) - [ PLATFORM COMPARISON ### Submittable alternative Comparing AwardSpring and Submittable? See how a scholarship-first platform differs from a general submission manager on matching, donor reporting, and campus fit. Read the comparison](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) Bring your renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) WHY BUYERS COMPARE US ## Proof to test in your own evaluation. 4.7/5 on G2 across 110 reviews, and a Momentum Leader. 16 min average support response time. 811 to 2,693 [applications at Coastal Carolina University, more than tripled](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/coastal-carolina-university) ORIGINAL RESEARCH ## See the research behind our point of view. The Donor Stewardship Benchmark studies 125 scholarship foundations and the work required to connect an award back to the donor who funded it. [Read the benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) FAQ ## Questions about platform comparisons How should I compare scholarship management platforms? Score them on six criteria: application experience, fund matching, donor reporting, integrations, support quality, and AI-assisted awarding. Weight the criteria by where your program hurts, make every demo about your own funds and cycle, and talk to a reference that switched from the setup you have now. Does AwardSpring publish honest competitor comparisons? Yes. Competitor claims on these pages are sourced to the competitor's current public documentation, and every comparison includes a section on when the other platform may be the better choice. ## Put the comparison against your own workflow. Bring your renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. Blackbaud Award Management PLATFORM COMPARISON # AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Blackbaud Award Management fits institutions that want scholarship administration connected to an existing Blackbaud fundraising environment. AwardSpring fits teams that want scholarship, donor, and fund work centered on the full life of each fund. The better choice depends on application experience, matching, reporting, integrations, support, and human review of AI. AT A GLANCE ## How do AwardSpring and Blackbaud Award Management compare? Use the same six criteria for both platforms, then test each answer against your own funds and workflow. AwardSpring and Blackbaud Award Management at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring Blackbaud Award Management Application experience One application with conditional questions and matching across eligible funds. Ask to see the complete student path, including mobile use, required fields, and follow-up documents. Fund matching Fund criteria and applicant answers are evaluated together to surface eligible scholarships. Ask how matching rules are built, maintained, and reviewed when applicant records change. Donor reporting Award data can continue into donor records, impact reporting, and stewardship work in the Fund Platform. Ask how award and impact data becomes a donor-facing report and what work remains manual. Integrations Designed to work alongside student information, finance, and advancement systems. Connects to Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT through a partner connector. Support quality Support requests receive an answer in 16 minutes on average. Ask for response-time data and a reference who can describe support during deadline week. AI-assisted awarding SpringIQ assists scholarship work while people retain the final decision. Ask which work AI assists, what it decides, and who approves the output. ### Application experience AwardSpring One application with conditional questions and matching across eligible funds. Blackbaud Award Management Ask to see the complete student path, including mobile use, required fields, and follow-up documents. ### Fund matching AwardSpring Fund criteria and applicant answers are evaluated together to surface eligible scholarships. Blackbaud Award Management Ask how matching rules are built, maintained, and reviewed when applicant records change. ### Donor reporting AwardSpring Award data can continue into donor records, impact reporting, and stewardship work in the Fund Platform. Blackbaud Award Management Ask how award and impact data becomes a donor-facing report and what work remains manual. ### Integrations AwardSpring Designed to work alongside student information, finance, and advancement systems. Blackbaud Award Management Connects to Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT through a partner connector. ### Support quality AwardSpring Support requests receive an answer in 16 minutes on average. Blackbaud Award Management Ask for response-time data and a reference who can describe support during deadline week. ### AI-assisted awarding AwardSpring SpringIQ assists scholarship work while people retain the final decision. Blackbaud Award Management Ask which work AI assists, what it decides, and who approves the output. CENTER OF GRAVITY ## What is each platform built around? Blackbaud is one of the largest software companies serving nonprofits and education. Its Award Management product, formerly AcademicWorks, is the scholarship module in its fundraising and CRM environment. For an institution already standardized on Blackbaud for advancement, the draw can be one vendor and scholarships attached to the fundraising stack it already runs. AwardSpring is the Fund Platform: Scholarship Management, Donor Management, Donor Experience, and Fund Management built around the life of a fund, from the gift through application, awarding, stewardship, and impact reporting. Blackbaud organizes around fundraising, with awards as one module among many. AwardSpring organizes around the fund doing its job. Neither framing is automatically right for you. If your scholarship program is thriving in its current fundraising environment, the honest answer may be to stay. This comparison is for teams that need to test whether a different center of gravity would fix a specific bottleneck. THE SIX CRITERIA ## Questions that reveal the real fit. Feature lists hide the work between steps. These questions keep the evaluation centered on students, staff, donors, and funds. Criterion 1 ### How should you compare the application experience? Ask to see the student's complete path through the application. Check whether a student applies once, can complete the work on a phone, and is considered for every fund they qualify for. Count required fields, then ask whether documents can wait until a student advances. Application friction is where volume quietly leaks. Compare both platforms with the same student scenario and the same fund requirements rather than relying on a feature list. Criterion 2 ### How does each platform approach fund matching? Use one of your harder funds in each demonstration. Ask who writes and maintains the rules, how conditional questions work, what happens when student data changes mid-cycle, and how staff review likely matches before an award is made. The useful test is not whether matching exists. It is whether your team can explain why a student surfaced for a fund and make a final decision with the information in front of them. Criterion 3 ### What should you ask about donor and advancement reporting? A scholarship cycle is not complete when an award is made. Ask how award and impact data becomes something a donor can see, how much work remains manual, and whether staff can trace the result back to the fund and donor record. If your institution runs advancement on Blackbaud, ask precisely how award data returns to that environment. If you are moving to AwardSpring, ask the same question in reverse. Criterion 4 ### How should you compare integrations with existing systems? Whatever you use for advancement, the scholarship platform has to live cleanly alongside your student information, finance, and CRM systems. Ask both vendors what the sync maintains day to day and what happens when a record changes during an active cycle. Blackbaud positions Award Management within its fundraising environment and describes a connection to Raiser's Edge NXT through a partner connector. For institutions already standardized on that environment, keeping scholarships with the same vendor can be the draw. Source: Blackbaud's Award Management product page. Criterion 5 ### How can you evaluate support quality? Support matters most around deadlines, when volume rises and your team has little room to wait. Ask each vendor for the response time they actually reach, then talk to a reference institution about its busiest week. AwardSpring answers support requests in 16 minutes on average. Treat the gap between promised and actual support as a core part of the evaluation. Criterion 6 ### What should you ask about AI-assisted awarding? Useful AI speeds up work people already do, such as preparing a first pass or surfacing likely matches. AwardSpring's SpringIQ assists the work while the committee keeps the final call. Ask every vendor what its AI decides, what it assists, what data it uses, and who signs off on the output. A clear answer matters more than the presence of an AI label. THE HONEST FIT ## When may Blackbaud Award Management fit better? Blackbaud Award Management may be the better choice when keeping scholarship administration inside your existing vendor environment matters more than changing the program's center of gravity. - Your institution is already standardized on Blackbaud for advancement and wants to keep one vendor relationship. - Your scholarship program is working well in its current setup, and switching would not address a specific operational bottleneck. - Your team values alignment with the existing fundraising environment above a platform organized around the full life of each fund. SWITCHING ## How should you evaluate a switch from Blackbaud? Make every demonstration about your program: your fund types, your cycle, and your actual bottlenecks. Ask how historical awards, donor records, and fund criteria move, who does the work, and what a realistic implementation looks like. Then score each platform against the same six criteria, weighted by where your program hurts. A switch is worthwhile only if it fixes that specific bottleneck. [See how switching to AwardSpring works](https://www.awardspring.com/switch) COMPARE YOUR WORKFLOW ### Bring your renewal quote. We will walk the same workflow side by side using your fund types and questions. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) THE EVIDENCE ## What AwardSpring teams report. [Read the Donor Stewardship Benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) 4.7/5 on G2 across 110 reviews. 16 min average support response time. 811 to 2,693 [applications at Coastal Carolina University.](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/coastal-carolina-university) FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good Blackbaud Award Management alternative? AwardSpring may be a good alternative for teams that want scholarship, donor, and fund work organized around each fund and its outcomes. Blackbaud Award Management may fit better when keeping scholarships within an existing Blackbaud environment is the priority. Compare both against your own funds, systems, and cycle. How does AwardSpring pricing compare with Blackbaud Award Management? AwardSpring uses a flat annual subscription. Ask both vendors for a proposal based on the same program scope, implementation needs, integrations, and support expectations, then compare the work and outcomes included rather than relying on a headline amount. Can I migrate from Blackbaud Award Management to AwardSpring? Yes. Start by identifying the historical awards, fund criteria, donor records, applicant data, and integrations that need to move. AwardSpring can walk through the migration plan and the same live workflow before you decide. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Compare the same workflow side by side. Bring your renewal quote and we will walk through your funds, your cycle, and your questions. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Foundant SLM Alternative for Scholarship Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. Foundant SLM PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Foundant Scholarship Lifecycle Manager is a solid product with deep roots in community foundations. But if you are a college, university, or a foundation that wants scholarship and donor work on one platform, it is worth comparing AwardSpring before you renew. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and Foundant SLM at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring Foundant SLM Core buyer Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Community foundations Scholarship + donor management One platform, one record Separate products (SLM + CommunitySuite) that integrate Single application with auto-matching Yes Yes (Universal Application) Grants management suite No Yes (GLM) Seats Unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins Unlimited user licenses Pricing Annual subscription scoped to institution size and award volume Quote request on their site; third-party listings show flat annual plans ### Core buyer AwardSpring Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Foundant SLM Community foundations ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring One platform, one record Foundant SLM Separate products (SLM + CommunitySuite) that integrate ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes Foundant SLM Yes (Universal Application) ### Grants management suite AwardSpring No Foundant SLM Yes (GLM) ### Seats AwardSpring Unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins Foundant SLM Unlimited user licenses ### Pricing AwardSpring Annual subscription scoped to institution size and award volume Foundant SLM Quote request on their site; third-party listings show flat annual plans WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over Foundant Criterion 1 ### Scholarship and donor management on one platform. AwardSpring's Donor Management product runs on the same platform and the same record as Scholarship Management, so award data flows straight into donor impact reports and stewardship communication. No exports, no third-party donor system to sync. At Foundant, scholarship management (SLM) and donor and fund work (CommunitySuite) are separate products that integrate. Source: Foundant's products, Scholarship Lifecycle Manager, and CommunitySuite pages. Criterion 2 ### One application, automatic matching, for every customer. Students complete a single application and AwardSpring automatically matches them to every scholarship they qualify for, so committees start scoring on day one. Foundant offers a Universal Application with eligibility matching on its Advanced license, but scholarships with unique requirements or timelines run as separate standalone applications, and matched students often still complete supplemental questions one scholarship at a time. Sources: Foundant's Scholarship Lifecycle Manager product page and Universal Application documentation. Criterion 3 ### Built for the campus workflow. Financial aid and foundation offices at two-year and four-year institutions are AwardSpring's core customer base, so committee review, departmental awards, and disbursement tracking match how campuses actually operate. Criterion 4 ### Predictable pricing with no per-seat math. An annual subscription scoped to your institution's size and award volume, with unlimited applicants, reviewers, and administrators. THE HONEST FIT ## When Foundant may fit better If you are a community foundation already running Foundant's grant management (GLM) and CommunitySuite for fund accounting, staying inside that suite has real integration value. - The right comparison there is suite to suite, and for some community foundations Foundant wins it. SWITCHING ## Switching from Foundant: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, funds, and historical cycles come out of Foundant as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** AwardSpring's SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports your historical data so reporting keeps its history. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring, with no mid-cycle disruption. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to Foundant SLM? For colleges, universities, and foundations that want scholarship and donor management on one platform, yes. For community foundations committed to the full Foundant suite, compare integration needs first. Can we switch from Foundant to AwardSpring mid-cycle? Most customers switch between award cycles. Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring, with no mid-cycle disruption. Does AwardSpring import our historical scholarship data? Yes. Historical scholarships, applicants, and awards come across as part of onboarding, so your reporting keeps its history rather than starting from zero. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a 20-minute demo. Bring your Foundant renewal quote and your questions, and we will show you what the same work looks like on AwardSpring. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Kaleidoscope Alternative for Scholarship Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. Kaleidoscope PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Kaleidoscope is a scholarship marketplace and administration platform with built-in disbursement and optional full-service program management, strong for corporate and national programs that need applicant volume. AwardSpring is built for institutions and foundations awarding their own funds to their own students, with donor management on the same record. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and Kaleidoscope at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring Kaleidoscope Core buyer Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations awarding their own funds Corporate, community, and family foundation sponsors, with an applicant marketplace Single application with auto-matching Yes, for every customer Yes; also matches programs to learners across its marketplace Scholarship + donor management One platform, one record Funder outcome reporting and a Scholar Relationship Management module Disbursement Awards post through your institution's processes Built-in: ACH, wire, check, Stripe, or prepaid debit card Support 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Chat, email, webinar library; optional managed services AI SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide AI and plagiarism detection for applicant essays (optional add-on) ### Core buyer AwardSpring Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations awarding their own funds Kaleidoscope Corporate, community, and family foundation sponsors, with an applicant marketplace ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes, for every customer Kaleidoscope Yes; also matches programs to learners across its marketplace ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring One platform, one record Kaleidoscope Funder outcome reporting and a Scholar Relationship Management module ### Disbursement AwardSpring Awards post through your institution's processes Kaleidoscope Built-in: ACH, wire, check, Stripe, or prepaid debit card ### Support AwardSpring 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Kaleidoscope Chat, email, webinar library; optional managed services ### AI AwardSpring SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide Kaleidoscope AI and plagiarism detection for applicant essays (optional add-on) WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over Kaleidoscope Criterion 1 ### Your applicants, your funds, your system. AwardSpring is built around an institution's own scholarship season: your students complete one application and are matched to your funds, and your committees score in your workflows. Kaleidoscope's model centers on a cross-sponsor marketplace where programs also reach learners already in its ecosystem, a genuine strength for sponsors without a captive applicant population, and a different shape than a campus awarding cycle. Criterion 2 ### Donor management as a product, not a report. AwardSpring's Donor Management keeps donor records, gift history, and fund reporting on the awarding record, and Donor Experience (available now) turns award data into donor impact reporting. Kaleidoscope documents funder-facing outcome reporting and a Scholar Relationship Management module for post-award tracking. Criterion 3 ### A deeper review base. On G2, AwardSpring holds 4.7 of 5 across 110 reviews; Kaleidoscope holds 4.8 across 22, and Capterra and Software Advice each showed no user reviews as of August 2026. THE HONEST FIT ## When Kaleidoscope may fit better - A corporate or family foundation with no internal staff to run its program: Kaleidoscope sells hands-on program management and a Selection Committee service that can run the entire award cycle. - A national or employer-sponsored scholarship that needs applicant volume quickly, via a marketplace listing 10,000+ opportunities to learners with existing profiles. - A funder that wants the platform itself to move the money: Kaleidoscope disburses via ACH, wire, check, Stripe, or prepaid debit card, useful when there is no campus financial aid office to hand awards to, including trade and workforce-training programs. SWITCHING ## Switching from Kaleidoscope: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, and program history come out as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports historical data. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to Kaleidoscope? For institutions and foundations awarding their own funds to their own applicant population, yes. For sponsors that want a marketplace audience or a vendor to run the program end to end, Kaleidoscope's model fits that shape. How does AwardSpring pricing compare to Kaleidoscope? Both scope pricing to the program; neither publishes prices. AwardSpring includes unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins. Can we migrate from Kaleidoscope to AwardSpring? Yes. Most customers switch between award cycles, and historical data comes across during onboarding. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a demo. Bring your Kaleidoscope renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # NextGen Scholarship Manager Alternative | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Scholarship Manager, from Next Gen Web Solutions, a Nelnet company, is a financial-aid-office tool that matches applicants to scholarships using Student Information System data, with a large library of standard reports. AwardSpring serves the financial aid office and the foundation together, with donor management and donor impact reporting on the same record as awarding. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) Core buyer Financial aid and foundation offices at colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Financial aid and scholarship offices, especially in the Nelnet ecosystem Single application with auto-matching Yes, for every customer Yes, driven by SIS data Scholarship + donor management Donor Management and Donor Experience on the awarding record Donor impact reports, thank-you letter management, and donor review access Reporting Fund-level to program-wide reporting 100+ out-of-the-box reports Support 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews No published response targets; Capterra 4.9 across 7 reviews AI SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide No AI-assisted features advertised as of August 2026; automation is SIS-rules-driven ### Core buyer AwardSpring Financial aid and foundation offices at colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) Financial aid and scholarship offices, especially in the Nelnet ecosystem ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes, for every customer Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) Yes, driven by SIS data ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring Donor Management and Donor Experience on the awarding record Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) Donor impact reports, thank-you letter management, and donor review access ### Reporting AwardSpring Fund-level to program-wide reporting Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) 100+ out-of-the-box reports ### Support AwardSpring 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) No published response targets; Capterra 4.9 across 7 reviews ### AI AwardSpring SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) No AI-assisted features advertised as of August 2026; automation is SIS-rules-driven WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over Scholarship Manager Criterion 1 ### Donor work as a product line, not a report. AwardSpring pairs awarding with Donor Management and Donor Experience (available now) on one record, built for foundations that answer to donors. Scholarship Manager's documented donor features center on reporting and communication: real-time impact reports, thank-you letter management, and review access for donors and committee members (per Next Gen's Scholarship Manager product page, August 2026). Criterion 2 ### A platform that spans both offices. Scholarship Manager is built around the aid office and the SIS. AwardSpring's core base is financial aid AND foundation offices at two-year and four-year institutions, so committee review, departmental awards, and donor reporting live in one system for both teams. Criterion 3 ### A deeper public track record. Teams rate AwardSpring 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews with support answering in 16 minutes on average. Scholarship Manager's public review footprint is thin by comparison: 7 reviews on Capterra, rated 4.9 (per Capterra's Scholarship Manager listing, August 2026). THE HONEST FIT ## When Scholarship Manager may fit better - An institution already in the Nelnet family, running Nelnet Campus Commerce for payments, or Next Gen modules like Dynamic Forms, Dynamic Verification, JobX, or TimesheetX, that wants one vendor relationship. - A financial aid office that treats awarding as an extension of aid packaging and wants matching, duplicate-winner prevention, and criteria enforcement driven directly off live SIS records via API. - An office that leans on a large library of standardized reports: Next Gen cites 100+ out-of-the-box reports for multi-year trend and audit reporting. SWITCHING ## Switching from Scholarship Manager: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, and fund history come out as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports historical data. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to NextGen Scholarship Manager? For institutions where the foundation and financial aid share the scholarship program, and donor reporting matters as much as awarding, yes. For aid offices that want awarding run entirely off SIS data inside the Nelnet vendor family, Scholarship Manager fits that shape. How does AwardSpring pricing compare to Scholarship Manager? Both are quote-based annual subscriptions. AwardSpring includes unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins, scoped to institution size and award volume. Can we migrate from Scholarship Manager to AwardSpring? Yes. Most customers switch between award cycles, and historical data comes across during onboarding. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a demo. Bring your renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # OpenWater Alternative for Scholarship Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. OpenWater PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for an OpenWater alternative? OpenWater is a generalist application-and-review engine for awards, abstracts, grants, fellowships, and scholarships, with standout high-volume judging workflows and fast support, owned by ASI, the maker of iMIS. AwardSpring is purpose-built for scholarships, donors, and funds at colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations. The difference is judging breadth versus scholarship-and-donor depth. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and OpenWater at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring OpenWater Core buyer Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Associations, foundations, and institutions running many program types Single application with auto-matching Yes, for every customer Eligibility rules block ineligible submissions; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 Scholarship + donor management Donor Management and Donor Experience on the awarding record Stakeholder reports and disbursement tracking; no donor module documented as of August 2026 Integrations Built for financial aid and foundation office workflows 65+ AMS, CRM, directory, and payment platforms; SAML SSO Support 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Published 10-minute average response; 4.4 on G2; Capterra 4.6 across 73 reviews AI SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide OpenWater AI (announced January 2025): submission condensing and judge scoring assistance, opt-in beta with metered tokens ### Core buyer AwardSpring Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations OpenWater Associations, foundations, and institutions running many program types ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes, for every customer OpenWater Eligibility rules block ineligible submissions; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring Donor Management and Donor Experience on the awarding record OpenWater Stakeholder reports and disbursement tracking; no donor module documented as of August 2026 ### Integrations AwardSpring Built for financial aid and foundation office workflows OpenWater 65+ AMS, CRM, directory, and payment platforms; SAML SSO ### Support AwardSpring 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews OpenWater Published 10-minute average response; 4.4 on G2; Capterra 4.6 across 73 reviews ### AI AwardSpring SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide OpenWater OpenWater AI (announced January 2025): submission condensing and judge scoring assistance, opt-in beta with metered tokens WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over OpenWater Criterion 1 ### Matching across every fund. Students complete one AwardSpring application and are matched to every scholarship they qualify for, so committees start scoring on day one. OpenWater's documentation covers automatically blocking submissions that violate a program's eligibility rules; matching one general application across multiple funds is not documented, and fund awarding is recorded per submission by an administrator (per OpenWater's help center, August 2026). Criterion 2 ### Donor work on the awarding record. AwardSpring pairs awarding with Donor Management and Donor Experience (available now). OpenWater documents customizable reports for sponsors, boards, and donors, and fund-disbursement tracking; a donor-facing portal or donor management module is not documented on its product pages or help center as of August 2026. Criterion 3 ### Campus-shaped, not association-shaped. OpenWater's documented integrations cover 65+ AMS, CRM, directory, and payment platforms plus SAML single sign-on; student information systems and campus finance connectors are not among its documented integrations (per OpenWater's integrations documentation, August 2026). THE HONEST FIT ## When OpenWater may fit better - An association or foundation running several program types on one platform: awards, fellowships, conference abstracts, grants, and scholarships together. - An iMIS-based association: OpenWater is owned by ASI, integrates with all iMIS versions, and pushes application data back into iMIS for one view of member activity. - A high-volume, multi-round judging operation, such as a thousand-plus submissions divided across large categorized expert panels with automated judge assignment, which reviewers specifically cite as its strong suit. SWITCHING ## Switching from OpenWater: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, and fund history come out as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports historical data. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to OpenWater? For scholarship-first programs that want matching for every applicant and donor work on the awarding record, yes. For associations running awards, abstracts, and grants alongside scholarships, OpenWater's breadth may serve better. How does AwardSpring pricing compare to OpenWater? Both are quote-based annual subscriptions. AwardSpring includes unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins, scoped to institution size and award volume. Can we migrate from OpenWater to AwardSpring? Yes. Most customers switch between award cycles, and historical data comes across during onboarding. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a demo. Bring your renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # ScholarshipUniverse Alternative for Scholarship Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? ScholarshipUniverse, now sold as Scholarship Management within Ellucian Student Aid, pairs institutional award matching with a vetted database of 17,000+ external scholarships, and fits campuses committed to the Ellucian ecosystem. AwardSpring is an independent platform built around your own funds, your donors, and your awarding season, whatever your SIS. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) Core buyer Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations, any SIS Universities, especially Ellucian SIS campuses Single application with auto-matching Yes, for every customer Intelligent matching to institutional awards, in the Ellucian Student Aid suite External scholarship database Not offered as a built-in product 17,000+ vetted external opportunities Scholarship + donor management Donor Management and Donor Experience on the awarding record Donor portal and stewardship management included per Ellucian's materials Support 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews No published response-time targets; customer stories describe responsive onboarding AI SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide Suite-level AI form assistance and a virtual student assistant ### Core buyer AwardSpring Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations, any SIS ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) Universities, especially Ellucian SIS campuses ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes, for every customer ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) Intelligent matching to institutional awards, in the Ellucian Student Aid suite ### External scholarship database AwardSpring Not offered as a built-in product ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) 17,000+ vetted external opportunities ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring Donor Management and Donor Experience on the awarding record ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) Donor portal and stewardship management included per Ellucian's materials ### Support AwardSpring 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) No published response-time targets; customer stories describe responsive onboarding ### AI AwardSpring SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) Suite-level AI form assistance and a virtual student assistant WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over ScholarshipUniverse Criterion 1 ### A platform that leads with your funds and your donors. AwardSpring connects awarding to Donor Management and donor impact reporting on one record, built for the foundation and financial aid offices that answer to donors. Ellucian's product provides a transparent experience for students and donors within its student aid suite; AwardSpring makes the donor side a full product line, through Donor Experience (available now) and Fund Management (Fall 2026). Criterion 2 ### Independent of your SIS decision. Scholarship management inside Ellucian Student Aid is deepest for campuses standardizing on Ellucian; its workflows integrate directly with the SIS. AwardSpring serves two-year and four-year campuses and foundations regardless of the systems around it. Criterion 3 ### One application, matched for every customer. Students complete a single AwardSpring application and are matched to every scholarship they qualify for, so committees start scoring on day one. Ellucian markets intelligent, smart student matching that automatically connects students with eligible awards, sold as part of the broader suite. THE HONEST FIT ## When ScholarshipUniverse may fit better - A campus already running Ellucian Banner or Colleague that wants scholarship management from its SIS vendor, with one accountable vendor across the financial aid stack. - A university whose priority includes connecting students to outside money: the vetted external database of 17,000+ scholarship opportunities, screened by a published six-point process, is a core documented feature that AwardSpring does not offer as a built-in product. - A large financial-aid-led operation that wants scholarship matching embedded in an end-to-end student financial success suite, alongside FAFSA verification forms and virtual advising. SWITCHING ## Switching from ScholarshipUniverse: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, and fund history come out as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports historical data. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to ScholarshipUniverse? For institutions that want scholarship and donor management as the product, independent of the SIS decision, yes. For campuses standardizing on Ellucian that prioritize the external scholarship database, ScholarshipUniverse fits that strategy. How does AwardSpring pricing compare to ScholarshipUniverse? Both are quote-based. AwardSpring is an annual subscription scoped to institution size and award volume, with unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins. Can we migrate from ScholarshipUniverse to AwardSpring? Yes. Most customers switch between award cycles, and historical data comes across during onboarding. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a demo. Bring your renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # SmarterSelect Alternative for Scholarship Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. SmarterSelect PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? SmarterSelect is an affordable, self-serve application manager with fast setup and strong support, built for nonprofits and associations running many program types. AwardSpring is a scholarship and donor platform built for colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations. The difference shows up in matching, donor reporting, and campus workflows. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and SmarterSelect at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring SmarterSelect Core buyer Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Nonprofits, foundations, and associations running many program types Single application with auto-matching Yes, for every customer Pre-qualification in all plans; Scholarship Matching in the Enterprise tier Scholarship + donor management One platform, one record Award tracking (Enterprise tier); no donor CRM or stewardship module documented as of August 2026 Campus integrations Built for financial aid and foundation office workflows Zapier plus SSO for member-management systems; no SIS or finance integrations documented as of August 2026 Support 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Published sub-hour average response and 98% support satisfaction AI SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide No shipped AI features listed as of August 2026 ### Core buyer AwardSpring Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations SmarterSelect Nonprofits, foundations, and associations running many program types ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes, for every customer SmarterSelect Pre-qualification in all plans; Scholarship Matching in the Enterprise tier ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring One platform, one record SmarterSelect Award tracking (Enterprise tier); no donor CRM or stewardship module documented as of August 2026 ### Campus integrations AwardSpring Built for financial aid and foundation office workflows SmarterSelect Zapier plus SSO for member-management systems; no SIS or finance integrations documented as of August 2026 ### Support AwardSpring 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews SmarterSelect Published sub-hour average response and 98% support satisfaction ### AI AwardSpring SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide SmarterSelect No shipped AI features listed as of August 2026 WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over SmarterSelect Criterion 1 ### Automatic matching for every customer. Students complete one application and AwardSpring matches them to every scholarship they qualify for, so committees start scoring on day one. SmarterSelect offers pre-qualification questions in all plans, and its Scholarship Matching feature is included only in its top Enterprise tier per its published pricing chart. Criterion 2 ### Donor work on the same platform. AwardSpring's Donor Management runs on the same record as awarding, so fund and impact reporting comes from the system that made the awards. As of August 2026, SmarterSelect documents award tracking (fund balances and amounts, an Enterprise-tier feature) but no dedicated donor CRM or stewardship module; its own materials credit partner SendGrant with fund disbursement. Criterion 3 ### Built for the campus. As of August 2026, SmarterSelect's documented integrations run through Zapier and single sign-on with member-management systems (Abila/NetForum, GINSystem, iMIS, Personify, SAML, OAuth); no campus SIS or finance-system integrations are documented. THE HONEST FIT ## When SmarterSelect may fit better - An organization running many application programs beyond scholarships (grants, awards, camps, recognition programs) that wants unlimited programs under one subscription. - A small nonprofit or foundation with simple, self-serve needs: SmarterSelect advertises going live in less than 24 hours, no setup fees, and a 30-day money-back guarantee, with entry pricing around $2,000 per year per third-party listings. - A membership association gating applications behind existing member credentials via its documented SSO integrations. SWITCHING ## Switching from SmarterSelect: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, and program history come out as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** AwardSpring's SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports historical data so reporting keeps its history. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to SmarterSelect? For colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations that want automatic matching for every applicant and donor work on the same platform, yes. For small multi-program nonprofits that mainly need configurable application forms, SmarterSelect's self-serve model may be the better fit. How does AwardSpring pricing compare to SmarterSelect? Both are annual subscriptions scoped to your program. SmarterSelect gates some features, including scholarship matching and SSO, to its higher tiers; AwardSpring includes matching for every customer with unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins. Can we migrate from SmarterSelect to AwardSpring? Yes. Most customers switch between award cycles, and historical data comes across during onboarding. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a Submittable alternative? Read the Submittable comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a demo. Bring your SmarterSelect renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Submittable Alternative for Scholarship Management | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/compare/submittable-alternative 1. [Home](https://www.awardspring.com/) 2. [Compare](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) 3. Submittable PLATFORM COMPARISON # Looking for a Submittable alternative? Submittable is a broad submission-management platform spanning grants, corporate giving, and scholarships, with real scale: Scholarship America selected it as its technology provider in 2025. AwardSpring is built specifically for scholarships, donors, and funds at colleges, universities, and foundations. The difference is scholarship-specific depth versus program breadth. AT A GLANCE ## Comparison table AwardSpring and Submittable at-a-glance comparison Criterion AwardSpring Submittable Core buyer Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Foundations, corporations, and administrators running grants, CSR, and scholarships together Single application with auto-matching Yes, for every customer Per-program eligibility screening; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 Scholarship + donor management One platform, one record Donor reporting documented in its corporate-giving products, not the scholarship product Integrations Built for financial aid and foundation office workflows Two-way API; Salesforce, DocuSign, Candid, PeopleSoft; SAML/OIDC SSO Support 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Published 12-minute average tech-support response AI SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide AI Assistant generates application forms; document parsing and review summaries ### Core buyer AwardSpring Colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations Submittable Foundations, corporations, and administrators running grants, CSR, and scholarships together ### Single application with auto-matching AwardSpring Yes, for every customer Submittable Per-program eligibility screening; cross-fund matching not documented as of August 2026 ### Scholarship + donor management AwardSpring One platform, one record Submittable Donor reporting documented in its corporate-giving products, not the scholarship product ### Integrations AwardSpring Built for financial aid and foundation office workflows Submittable Two-way API; Salesforce, DocuSign, Candid, PeopleSoft; SAML/OIDC SSO ### Support AwardSpring 16-minute average response; 4.7 of 5 on G2 across 110 reviews Submittable Published 12-minute average tech-support response ### AI AwardSpring SpringIQ: AI drafts and prepares, people decide Submittable AI Assistant generates application forms; document parsing and review summaries WHY AWARDSPRING ## When institutions choose AwardSpring over Submittable Criterion 1 ### Matching across every fund, not screening per program. Students complete one AwardSpring application and are matched to every scholarship they qualify for, so committees start scoring on day one. Submittable's help center documents per-program Eligibility Forms, a screening step in front of a specific project's application; we found no Submittable documentation of automatically matching one general application across many funds. Criterion 2 ### Donor reporting where the scholarships live. AwardSpring's donor reporting runs on the same record as awarding. Submittable's documented donor reporting sits in its corporate-giving products (the Bright Network portal); its scholarship product page does not mention donor reporting or stewardship for scholarship donors as of August 2026. Criterion 3 ### A platform sized to scholarship teams. Capterra reviewers rate Submittable highly (4.8 of 5 across nearly 400 reviews) and also note that the cost can feel difficult to sustain within a modest operating budget. THE HONEST FIT ## When Submittable may fit better - An organization running grants, CSR and employee giving, and scholarships side by side on one platform (its 2024 WizeHive acquisition brought Bright Funds employee giving into the family). - A foundation or corporate program that pays recipients directly: Submittable advertises disbursing funds to scholars and fellows from the same place applications are accepted. - Programs with multilingual applicant pools: Submittable's AI Assistant generates application forms in English, Spanish, French, and German. - Publishers, media organizations, and arts programs running open-call submissions, which sit outside a scholarship-specific platform's scope. SWITCHING ## Switching from Submittable: what the move looks like 1. **Export your data.** Applicants, awards, and program history come out as spreadsheets. You own your data. 2. **Guided rebuild.** SpringBoard onboarding recreates your scholarships, cycles, and review workflows, and imports historical data. 3. **Cut over between cycles.** Implementation is timed so your next award cycle opens on AwardSpring. FAQ ## Questions about this comparison Is AwardSpring a good alternative to Submittable? For scholarship-first organizations, yes: matching, review, awarding, and donor reporting are the whole product. For organizations whose scholarship program is one of many submission programs, Submittable's breadth may serve better. How does AwardSpring pricing compare to Submittable? Both are quote-based annual subscriptions. AwardSpring includes unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins, scoped to institution size and award volume. Can we migrate from Submittable to AwardSpring? Yes. Most customers switch between award cycles, and historical data comes across during onboarding. KEEP COMPARING ## Related comparisons [AwardSpring vs Blackbaud Award Management Read the Blackbaud Award Management comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/awardspring-vs-blackbaud) [Looking for a Foundant SLM alternative? Read the Foundant SLM comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/foundant-alternative) [Looking for a Kaleidoscope alternative? Read the Kaleidoscope comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/kaleidoscope-alternative) [Looking for an OpenWater alternative? Read the OpenWater comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/openwater-alternative) [Looking for a NextGen Scholarship Manager alternative? Read the Scholarship Manager (Next Gen, a Nelnet company) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/nextgen-scholarship-manager-alternative) [Looking for a ScholarshipUniverse alternative? Read the ScholarshipUniverse (Ellucian) comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/scholarshipuniverse-alternative) [Looking for a SmarterSelect alternative? Read the SmarterSelect comparison.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare/smarterselect-alternative) [Compare scholarship management platforms Return to the comparison hub and choose another live evaluation path.](https://www.awardspring.com/compare) ## Request a demo. Bring your Submittable renewal quote and we will walk the same workflow side by side. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Contact | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/contact Contact us # Get in touch. How can we help? Choose one... ## Reach us directly. Students applying for a scholarship should contact the institution running the award, not AwardSpring: we host the application, but your school or foundation decides who receives its funds. ### Sales and demos Pricing, a walkthrough of the Fund Platform, or a question about whether AwardSpring fits your institution. Email [inquiries@awardspring.com](mailto:inquiries@awardspring.com) Phone [888-258-5628, option 1](tel:+18882585628) ### Technical support For institutions already using AwardSpring. The Client Support Team is available Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 7:00pm Central. Email [support@awardspring.com](mailto:support@awardspring.com) Phone [888-258-5628, option 2](tel:+18882585628) Help Center [intercom.help/awardspringsupport](https://intercom.help/awardspringsupport/en-us/) ### Mailing address Scholarship Solutions, LLC, the company behind AwardSpring, is based in Chicago's West Loop. Street 954 W. Washington Blvd., Suite 730 City Chicago, IL 60607 --- # Request a Demo | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/demo Request a demo # See the Fund Platform in action - A real conversation with a member of our team, not a scripted reading from a slide deck. - A walk through of the platform tailored to your role. - Clear next steps. No high-pressure sales pitch. Prefer email? Reach us at [inquiries@awardspring.com](mailto:inquiries@awardspring.com) First name Last name Email Institution Job title Phone number I am a:Select one... By submitting, you agree to receive communications from AwardSpring. Request a Demo --- # Donor Experience Software | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/donor-experience-stewardship Available now Donor Experience # Every donor gets a major-gift experience. Donor Experience gives every donor a major-gift experience: a personalized portal, a real story about the student their gift helped, and stewardship that makes them feel seen, at any gift size. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) Early preview 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) The problem ## Four out of five first-time donors never give again When gift officer capacity maxes out, stewardship drops off, and donors notice. Generic acknowledgment emails, delayed impact reports, and inconsistent communication erode the relationships your team spent years building. Keeping a donor costs a fraction of what it takes to win a new one, yet most advancement offices can't steward at scale. The reason is capacity, not effort: 36% of advancement offices have less than half a person on stewardship. [Learn More about the Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/platform) ![Empty seats at an event, representing donor stewardship that doesn't scale.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/donor-stewardship-doesnt-scale-empty-seats.BsMaTihZ_19iDvR.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Donor Experience ## Available today Personalized donor portals, impact reports, student thank-you letters, and donor preferences are available today. Donor Experience extends to every fund with Fund Management in Fall 2026. - ### Personalized donor portals Each donor sees their own impact in a portal tailored to their interests, giving history, and the students their funds support. - ### Personalized impact reports Each donor receives a personalized report built from your actual fund, award, and student data. Your team reviews every report before it goes out. - ### Student thank-you letters Students create personal thank-you letters that connect donors to the people their gifts help. Your team reviews each letter before it reaches the donor. - ### Donor preferences Donors control their communication and privacy preferences, while students decide what information is shared about them. Interface ## Portals built for donors, not administrators Portals designed for the people using them. Donors don't navigate enterprise interfaces. They see the impact, fast. Your team configures it, but the donor never sees the back-end. ## The AwardSpring advantage Every other tool sees one slice: endowment systems know the balance, donor systems know the gift. AwardSpring sits where funds are actually awarded, so it already knows which funds matched students, which sat idle, and why. That's the difference between knowing a fund's balance and knowing what to do about it. Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## Give every donor the major-gift experience. Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Donor Management Software for Advancement | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management Donor Management # Beyond a system of record. Meet your system of action. Most donor CRMs are a system of record and not much else. The actual work of advancement happens somewhere else: calls logged after the fact (or not at all), prep means ten minutes of scrolling the donor record, emails go out from Outlook, campaigns run in Mailchimp. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ## Your system of record shouldn't be a step behind the work. The heavyweight alternatives don't help. Platforms built for 200-person offices are so dense that most teams use only a fraction of what they pay for. Short-staffed foundation and advancement offices don't have time to learn a system that complex. Teams end up stuck between a record too thin to trust and a platform too heavy to use. [See it in action](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ![A donor record interface that lags behind the day-to-day work of advancement.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/system-of-record-always-a-step-behind.AjM-4w6y_W91vL.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Capabilities ## System of record + system of action One donor record your team can trust and keep current, where the actual work of advancement gets done. - ### Donor profiles Full giving history, contact data, and engagement on every record. Capacity rating, assigned officer, and lifecycle flags as first-class fields, with a responsive giving-history timeline. - ### Email campaigns Segment-driven, branded campaigns sent from inside AwardSpring, grounded in the donor data you already have. No separate email platform to keep in sync. - ### Journey automations Automated thank-yous, follow-ups, and stewardship touches that trigger on what a donor actually did. Nothing slips through the cracks. - ### Reporting without IT Pre-built Smart Reports plus a board-ready Retention Dashboard: retention rate, LYBUNT/SYBUNT, giving trends, and a Giving Pyramid. No consultant or SQL required. ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/who-we-serve-awardspring.CbkSViOo_23rqOf.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Who we serve ## One platform for every office. Scholarship, donor, and fund management on one platform, so every team works from the same source of truth. 1. ### Advancement and foundation Engage donors, manage giving history, and close gifts without leaving the platform. Stewardship that actually closes the loop. 2. ### Financial aid Automate awards, verify eligibility, and disburse funds while staying compliant. Less manual work, faster decisions. 3. ### Enrollment management Align scholarships with recruitment and retention strategies and award on your schedule, when it matters most. 4. ### Finance Real-time fund accounting, audit trails, and UPMIFA compliance, in one system that closes the books, not opens new questions. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## Private, secure, and compliant. Your donors trust you with more than gifts: giving histories, capacity ratings, family stories. We treat that trust as something to protect every day, not a box to check at renewal. Donor and student records are encrypted at rest and in transit, access is role-based and logged, and the work behind these credentials runs continuously, ready the day your IT office asks to see it. SOC 2 Type II Independent audit of security, availability, and confidentiality controls, renewed annually. FERPA Student education records stay under your institution's control, used only for authorized purposes. VPAT Voluntary Product Accessibility Template documenting WCAG conformance, available for ADA Title II and Section 508 procurement review. Wall of love ## Real results, real fast. - > From the moment the contract was signed, every team member at AwardSpring made sure our platform was ready and performed to our highest expectations. This product has improved our entire scholarship season. Amanda J. Higher Education Administrator - > An all-in-one platform for student applications, reviewing, awarding, and receiving thank you letters. Implementation has been smooth and the AwardSpring team is very personable. After 2 years of use, we are very happy with the program. Chapel A. Operations Venue Manager - > AwardSpring is so user-friendly for students, admins, and reviewers. We’ve received tremendous positive feedback across campus. The automation features are a game-changer. The system can pre-screen applicants, send automated reminders, and assign reviewers to applications. Meghann N. Director of Financial Aid - > An all-in-one platform that seamlessly allows for quick and straightforward application submissions, grading, and awarding. The 30+ scholarships we have were easily integrated. Raymond A. Alumni Relations Officer - > Onboarding with Sam was spectacular. She was thorough and ensured that we were all on the same page. The software is user friendly and robust enough to meet our needs. We stayed on target and met our launch date well in advance! Ashley G. President, Small Organization - > Great onboarding, great training resources, ability to create and export multiple reports, a great way to match multiple scholarship programs with various criteria by one application account. Our applicants, administrators, and reviewers have expressed a user-friendly experience. Hugo C. Student Services Manager - > Responsive and superior customer service. Incredible at implementing feedback from the user community. Very robust product with many features. Michael P. Sr. Manager, Grants & Scholarships Administration - > Our scholarship applications increased 80% from implementing this software. I estimated that this saved us almost 160 hours of work. Before AwardSpring, we spent countless hours on paper applications, Excel documents, and manual processes. We struggled with getting good scholarship application numbers. Samantha H. AVP of Financial Aid & Scholarships - > The best things about AwardSpring: EXCELLENT Customer Support, platform was easy to implement and easy to use. Even though we are a very small customer, we’ve always felt like we mattered and our questions were addressed with our ONE scholarship the same as those who might have ONE HUNDRED. Beth M. Scholarship Administrator - > AwardSpring centralizes the entire scholarship process. Rather than juggling paper applications, spreadsheets, and endless email threads, everything is organized within a single, intuitive platform. For students, applying is less intimidating: they can view opportunities, check eligibility, and submit materials all in one place. Kerstin A. Director of Financial Aid & Veteran Services - > AwardSpring is intuitive and user-friendly for students. The build-out of our scholarship cycle was done efficiently and with excellent communication. We were able to easily understand how to make changes from the dashboard, a fantastic upgrade to our application process. Natalie H. Executive Director - > I love the user friendly platform experience this software provides to everyone who utilizes it, whether that be the person on the back end setting up the system or a student applying on the platform for the first time. The reporting tools are great and allow everyone responsible for scholarship reporting to stay connected year round. The customer service we receive every time we need to troubleshoot an issue is phenomenal. Stacey W. Scholarship Specialist ## The AwardSpring advantage Every other tool sees one slice: endowment systems know the balance, donor systems know the gift. AwardSpring sits where funds are actually awarded, so it already knows which funds matched students, which sat idle, and why. That's the difference between knowing a fund's balance and knowing what to do about it. Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## Give your advancement team a system of action. Request a demo and we'll show you how Donor Management turns one trusted donor record into campaigns, automated stewardship, and board-ready reporting, without a separate email tool or a consultant. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Fund Management Software for Higher Ed | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/fund-management Launching Fall 2026 Fund Management # One real-time view of your entire fund portfolio. Every donor fund on campus touches three offices: the one that raised it, the one that puts it to work, and the one that accounts for it. None of them share a system, so the basics stay invisible: unspent funds, criteria that fit nobody, dollars just sitting there. Fund Management changes that. [Join the waitlist](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) Early preview 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) The problem ## One donor question. Three half-answers. The simplest question a donor can ask routes to three offices running three systems. Advancement holds the donor, Finance holds the money, Financial Aid holds the student. No system holds it all. On the roadmap ## What's coming One place to see every fund across all the offices that touch them. - ### One fund-health view Every fund scored at a glance (on-track, at-risk, or sitting unawarded) with the reason why: criteria too tight, no applicants, spending too conservative. - ### Restrictions & spend flow, managed Every fund's donor restrictions and spending rules in one place, with spending monitored against policy so money flows the way it's meant to and nothing drifts out of bounds. - ### Plan the future, not just report the past Model the what-if before you act: broaden a fund's criteria, adjust a spending rate, or move money, and see the projected impact on students funded and fund longevity. - ### SpringIQ AI that sees around corners Agents that flag stale criteria, surface eligible students who slipped through, and draft donor-ready proposals to put stuck dollars back to work. You approve every change. ## The AwardSpring advantage Every other tool sees one slice: endowment systems know the balance, donor systems know the gift. AwardSpring sits where funds are actually awarded, so it already knows which funds matched students, which sat idle, and why. That's the difference between knowing a fund's balance and knowing what to do about it. Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## Be first to see every fund clearly. Fund Management launches Fall 2026. Join the waitlist and we'll reach out as soon as you can put every fund, whether on-track, at-risk, or sitting unawarded, in one real-time view. [Join the waitlist](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) --- # The Fund Platform for Higher Education | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/platform # Four products. One platform. The Fund Platform connects the three offices managing donor funds in isolation: Advancement, Financial Aid, and Finance. One platform instead of an integrations maze, turning donor funds into impact. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) The problem ## One donor question. Three half-answers. The simplest question a donor can ask routes to three offices running three systems. Advancement holds the donor, Finance holds the money, Financial Aid holds the student. No system holds it all. The Fund Platform ## Four products. One vision. ![Scholarship Management interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/02-scholarship-management.DC-pdFJZ_Z1RzKuz.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) LIVE ### Scholarship Management Select and disburse with confidence. Automate the full selection process, from application to award letter. Compliance checks run in the background so your team can focus on impact. - One universal application, matched automatically to every fund a student qualifies for. - Cut review time in half and handle twice the applications, no extra headcount. - Unlimited applicants, reviewers, and admins. No per-seat fees. - SpringIQ handles matching and screening, so your team focuses on students. [Learn More about Scholarship Management](https://www.awardspring.com/scholarship-management) ![Donor Management interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/01-donor-management.Ry-hgiFt_1WiTQ3.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) LIVE ### Donor Management Build relationships that last. Track every interaction, segment by intent, and run stewardship that doesn't drop off after the gift. - A system of action your team will actually use, built for gift officers. - Native newsletters, events, online fundraising, and built-in SMS. - Automated actions and communications that nail engagement, every time. - SpringIQ enriches donor records, preps meeting briefs, and suggests the next gift. [Learn More about Donor Management](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management) ![Fund Management interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/04-fund-management.Dqu3RyxY_Zuct6J.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Fall '26 ### Fund Management Track every dollar. Monitor balances in real time. Stay UPMIFA-compliant. Close the books without the scramble. - Track every dollar from gift to award, so no fund quietly goes unused. - Flags surface underutilized funds before reporting season. - Forecast balances and utilization across multiple years. - SpringIQ monitors for challenges and drafts gift agreement changes. [Learn More about Fund Management](https://www.awardspring.com/fund-management) ![Donor Experience interface illustration](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/03-donor-experience-stewardship.B-9w4oPK_mi7Re.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) LIVE ### Donor Experience Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. - Beautiful stewardship creative that doesn't depend on who's on staff. - Rich digital experiences, premium direct mail, and the right channel for each donor. - Engagement data makes stewardship a measurable loop. - Give every donor the major gift experience, and a reason to give again. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## SpringIQ: AI with purpose. SpringIQ works inside the Fund Platform, reading the context your teams already share across scholarships, donors, and funds. It turns connected data into practical guidance, faster review cycles, cleaner records, and stewardship moments that feel specific. [Learn more](https://www.awardspring.com/springiq) 1. 01 AI-assisted scholarship review 2. 02 Donor record intelligence 3. 03 Fund health recommendations 4. 04 Donor impact stories ## Private, secure, and compliant. Security is not just a box we check. It defines how we build and run the platform: student records stay under your institution's control, encrypted at rest and in transit, with every access point logged. The work behind these credentials reflects the way we operate every day. SOC 2 Type II Independent audit of security, availability, and confidentiality controls, renewed annually. FERPA Student education records stay under your institution's control, used only for authorized purposes. VPAT Voluntary Product Accessibility Template documenting WCAG conformance, available for ADA Title II and Section 508 procurement review. ## Connect your work with the Fund Platform. Request a demo and we'll show you how AwardSpring connects scholarship management, donor stewardship, and fund visibility in one platform, built specifically for higher education. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Privacy Policy | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/privacy-policy Legal # AwardSpring Privacy Policy Last Updated March 31st, 2026 This Privacy Policy applies to web sites operated by Scholarship Solutions, LLC d/b/a AwardSpring (“Scholarship Solutions”, “AwardSpring”, “Us”, or “We”), including, without limitation, [https://www.awardspring.com/](https://www.awardspring.com/) [https://www.awardspring.ca/](https://www.awardspring.ca/) and any/all of each’s subdomains (each such web site being an “AwardSpring Site”) unless a given subdomain has a separately published Privacy Policy or listed Privacy owner/contact. Please read this policy carefully before sharing any of your personally identifiable information with us. We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. This Privacy Policy will outline our practices and procedures we follow when handling information provided and collected through our AwardSpring Sites. We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, without notice, by updating this page. You should check this Privacy Policy page from time to time to ensure that any changes are acceptable to you. Your use or continued use of an AwardSpring Site indicates your acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy. This Policy was originally published on 11/24/2014 and has been modified, reviewed, and updated effective the date listed below. ## What Information We Collect Information is collected from our users at several different points during visits to an AwardSpring Site. - **Contact Information** – you may choose to provide us your contact information, which may include your name, company, position, physical address, telephone number, email address and other information. This information may be updated and amended at any time after your initial visit to our site. - **Survey Information** – When using an AwardSpring Site, you may be requested to participate in a survey. If you choose to take the requested survey, we collect and retain the information you provide as part of the survey. - **Cookies and Web Site Information** - We use “cookie” technology and web server logs to collect information about how our AwardSpring Site(s) is used by you, to make our site(s) more easily navigable, and to monitor web page activity. Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored by your web browser on your hard drive. The cookies allow our web servers to recognize the computer used by you when accessing our website. Information gathered through cookies and by our web server logs may include the date and time of visits, your IP address, the pages viewed, time spent at our AwardSpring Site, and could include the web sites visited just before and just after a Scholarship Solutions Site. - **User Communications** - When you send email or other communications to AwardSpring, we may retain those communications in order to process and respond to your inquiry or to improve our services. ## Use of Information The information supplied by you, or that is collected by us, enables us to provide you information and demonstrations on AwardSpring products and services. We also use this information to enhance customer service and our product offerings. As described above, AwardSpring utilizes passive information to learn more about how you interact with AwardSpring Site(s). This passive information may be combined with other information about you for purposes such as site testing, the compilation of broad aggregate demographic data and related usage information for internal purposes, and for disclosure to third parties, such as advertising content servers and web analytics partners. This aggregate passive information does not contain any personal information which can identify any individual user. - **Contacting You by E-Mail** - AwardSpring may use your contact information periodically in order to send you e-mail regarding our new products and services, product demonstrations, special offers or other information from us or our partners which we think you will find interesting. We may also provide you with a periodic newsletter. - **Contacting you by telephone, facsimile and/or mail** – If you have provided us your telephone number, facsimile number or physical address, we may use this contact information to respond to your inquiries, provide you information or to schedule a demonstration regarding our products or services. We may also send you marketing information in the mail about the products and services of Scholarship Solutions, our affiliates and other marketing partners. - **Contacting you by SMS/texting** - if you have provided us your mobile number, we may use this contact information to respond to your inquiries, provide you information or to schedule a demonstration regarding our products or services. We may also get consent verbally or via webforms by asking “do you agree to receive conversational text messages from AwardSpring”. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. To opt out at any time text STOP. Out of respect for your privacy, you may also opt-out of receiving these types of communications at any time by sending an email to [privacy@awardspring.com](mailto:privacy@awardspring.com). - **Special Offers and Newsletters** - You may also occasionally receive information on products, services, special deals, or a newsletter from Scholarship Solutions. ## Sharing of Information AwardSpring will not knowingly sell, share, rent or otherwise transfer your information other than in accordance with the terms set forth in this Privacy Policy. - **Third Party Service Providers** - From time to time, AwardSpring may decide that it is more efficient to use third parties to perform specific services, such as data backup, online webinars and product demonstrations, or the use of external software programmers and software vendors. If we use a third party to provide specific services, then personally identifiable information (such as contact information) may be shared with that party to the extent necessary for such third party service provider to provide these services. These third party service providers are allowed to use personally identifiable information only for the purpose of providing the specific services requested by us. These third party service providers have agreed to hold and use your confidential information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. - **Links to Other Sites** – You may find on AwardSpring Site(s) links to third party websites in a format that enables us to keep track of where those links may be followed. This Privacy Policy applies only to the AwardSpring Site(s) that are owned and operated by Scholarship Solutions, LLC. As we do not control other sites to which our site may be linked, when you connect to another party’s Website, such Website is not subject to this Privacy Policy. Please realize that we do not control the information provided by you to any other third party site to which you may link from an AwardSpring Site. - **Disclosure to Law Enforcement and Similar Disclosures** - we reserve the right to release your personal information if required by law, in connection with a subpoena, or in the good-faith belief that such action is legally required. We do not sell or share mobile or personal data with third parties, affiliates, or partners for marketing or promotional purposes. We only share data with third parties when it is strictly necessary to deliver our service and only under binding agreements that ensure confidentiality. Under no circumstances will mobile data be shared or sold for advertising or promotional use. **Sale or Merger** - In the event that Scholarship Solutions, LLC sells, assigns or transfers some or all of its business to a successor or acquirer, we may sell, assign or transfer all of your information, regardless of your opt status, to such successor or acquirer. ## Our Data Security Procedures We have security measures in place to help protect against the loss, misuse and/or unauthorized alteration of information you provide to us or that we collect. We help protect personally identifiable information by utilizing both online and offline security methods, including (but not limited to) firewalls, hashed passwords, and restricted physical access to the servers where your information is stored. Our staff is trained to comply with our security procedures, are bound by confidentiality, and our security procedures are reviewed and revised annual both internally and via 3rd-party audit. If you have any questions about security issues at our site, please send an e-mail to [privacy@awardspring.com](mailto:privacy@awardspring.com), and we will try to answer your questions. ## Other Provisions **Modifying Privacy Choices and Opt-outs** - AwardSpring users are given the opportunity to “opt-out” of having their personally identifiable information used by a given AwardSpring Site. You may opt-out from receiving specified types of communications from AwardSpring (such as a newsletter) by sending an email to [privacy@awardspring.com](mailto:privacy@awardspring.com) or by choosing to “unsubscribe” to a given message type. If you have any questions relating to opting-out, please contact us at [privacy@awardspring.com](mailto:privacy@awardspring.com), and we will do our best to answer your questions. **Changes to the Privacy Policy** - Scholarship Solutions, LLC reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy from time to time without notice to users, other than by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page. After posting such amended Privacy Policy, all information thereafter provided to us will be subject to the terms of the amended Privacy Policy. Please visit this page periodically so that you will be apprised of any changes. Your use or continued use of an AwardSpring Site indicates an acceptance of the terms of the Privacy Policy, as amended. ## Contact Us Your privacy is important to us. If you have questions about any of the provisions described above, please contact us at [privacy@awardspring.com](mailto:privacy@awardspring.com) Alternatively, you may contact us at: Scholarship Solutions, LLC Attn: AwardSpring Privacy 954 W. Washington Blvd. Suite 730 Chicago, IL 60607 --- # Scholarship Management Software for Higher Ed | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/scholarship-management Scholarship Management # Make your scholarship process work for you The leading scholarship management platform, trusted by 600+ organizations. Simple enough for anyone, customizable for everyone. From application, to review, to award, Scholarship Management is tuned to help you get the most out of your scholarship program. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) 600+ organizations trust AwardSpring with their scholarship funds. - ![Community Foundation of Northeast Mississippi](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/cfnem.Cb2tub9h_1AgOaA.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Chaffey College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/chaffey.Brx-__Dx_Z2mlwM8.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Diné College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/dine.CS_J5siv_Z2k3zL4.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Hispanic Heritage Scholarship Fund](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/hhsf.CKgFJb6L_1oR8O6.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Louisiana State University](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/lsu.-92_ecf-_Z2lXUrS.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Texas A&M University-San Antonio](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tamusa.D-A9cA7-_ZLku7i.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Georgia](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uga.CdAEHudf_1DUoou.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![University of Wisconsin Oshkosh](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/uwo.D1t1176T_1H3dwW.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Washington Apple Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/waef.DmDFXIQK_Z2ayWug.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) - ![Zonta International](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/zonta.u40rroce_1A0Ibd.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ## Manual awarding leaves money on the table Scholarship Management consolidates the process into one workflow. Applications come in through one portal. Criteria run automatically. Reviewers see what they need to see. Funds get to students faster, with a record of every decision. [See it in action](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ![A backlog of paper scholarship applications stacked on a desk.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/manual-scholarship-awarding-paper-backlog.Du1lKK3u_2chbuF.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Capabilities ## What Scholarship Management does Build custom criteria, match students automatically, and track every decision in real time. - ### Scholarship fund setup Create, configure, and manage every named, endowed, and annual fund in your scholarship portfolio. Restrictions, criteria, and award history in one place. - ### Application management Configure application workflows, review queues, and committee scoring. One system from application open to award decision. - ### Award cycle management Deadline tracking, award notifications, disbursement scheduling, and documentation, managed through the cycle, not reconstructed after. - ### Fund utilization monitoring See in real time what's been awarded, what's at risk, and what's trending toward going unawarded before year-end, not after. - ### Compliance and audit trail Award history, decision rationale, reviewer log, and documentation, organized for audit readiness. - ### SIS integration Connects to Banner, Colleague, and Workday for enrollment verification, disbursement coordination, and financial reconciliation. ## Private, secure, and compliant. Security is not just a box we check. It defines how we build and run the platform: student records stay under your institution's control, encrypted at rest and in transit, with every access point logged. The work behind these credentials reflects the way we operate every day. SOC 2 Type II Independent audit of security, availability, and confidentiality controls, renewed annually. FERPA Student education records stay under your institution's control, used only for authorized purposes. VPAT Voluntary Product Accessibility Template documenting WCAG conformance, available for ADA Title II and Section 508 procurement review. ## The AwardSpring advantage Every other tool sees one slice: endowment systems know the balance, donor systems know the gift. AwardSpring sits where funds are actually awarded, so it already knows which funds matched students, which sat idle, and why. That's the difference between knowing a fund's balance and knowing what to do about it. Donor Experience is available now. Give every donor a personalized portal and a real story about the student their gift helped. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) ## Run your whole scholarship program from one place. Request a demo and we'll show you how Scholarship Management takes you from application to award, with a record of every decision and funds reaching students faster. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Service Description | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/service-description Legal # AwardSpring Standard Service Description Effective January 1st, 2025 ## AwardSpring Subscription Standard Services The following describes the services included in the AwardSpring annual subscription fee. Scholarship Solutions, LLC, doing business as AwardSpring (“AwardSpring”) reserves the right to modify this Standard Service Description at any time. The AwardSpring software (“Software”) is an application and opportunity management software that is accessed by applicants, administrators, and reviewers via the Internet. The Software is a hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution, where all data, content, software and applications reside on AwardSpring hosted infrastructure. The Software is a website where applicants apply for scholarships, grants, and/or other awards (“Opportunities”) made available by Customer, and where administrators and reviewers view, screen, and score applicants and award funds. Use of the Software and AwardSpring services is subject to the AwardSpring Standard Terms and Conditions and requires an active Service Order. At the Customer’s request, AwardSpring will personalize a Customer’s AwardSpring site(s) (each a “Customer Site”) with the Customer’s logo and/or a custom graphic file on the Home Page. AwardSpring can create, at Customer’s request, custom reports to meet Customer’s specifications, generally within 5-7 business days (with expedited requests possible based on availability). Standard reports (and any custom reports created previously) are accessible through the reporting section of the Software. At the Customer’s request, AwardSpring will schedule training sessions. Training options include regular group webinars conducted on common topics, 1:1 training for new administrators, and Customer-specific 1:1 training. Training during the onboarding process is discussed in detail below in the “Onboarding” section. ## AwardSpring Service Level Agreement ### Scheduled Maintenance & Outage Notifications AwardSpring reserves the right to schedule maintenance where it is anticipated that the Software or the Customer Site will not be accessible for a brief period of time, usually less than 30 minutes. AwardSpring’s policy is to notify our customers at least 12 hours in advance of these maintenance windows. For unscheduled outages, AwardSpring will notify Customer that the Customer Site may be inaccessible by all users if such outage is expected to last more than 5 minutes and will work to provide as much notice as feasible. ### Service Network Monitoring & Uptime AwardSpring staff monitors the Software and network 24x7x365. AwardSpring anticipates that the Customer Site will be available 99.5% of the time, measured per calendar month, excluding scheduled maintenance periods. ### Issue Severity & Response Times In the event of an outage or technical issue relating to the Software or the Customer Site, AwardSpring will use its best efforts to address such outage or issue as provided below: Severity Definition Response Time Target Resolution Severity 1 A condition whereby the AwardSpring Software is substantially inoperable, inaccessible, or performing very poorly as to be inoperable and a mutually agreed upon workaround has not been implemented in such a way that the issue has been mitigated. Less than 60 minutes, Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm (CT). Less than 120 minutes, Monday-Friday, 7pm-8am (CT) and weekends and holidays. 4 hours Severity 2 A condition whereby the Customer Site is not functioning normally, but User’s and Customer use of the Customer Site is not materially impacted. 5 business days Defined case-by-case Severity 3 Non-material defects having only limited impact on User or Customer administrator use of the Customer Site, such as cosmetic issues. Also appropriate for product enhancement requests or questions related to use of the Software. These issues may be remedied in future Software upgrades or through additional training. 10 business days Defined case-by-case Issue Updates: Updates during active issues provided as-needed based on issue severity and customer impact. ### Client Support Customer will be provided access to a Client Support Team to help them configure its AwardSpring Site and answer any inquiries or technical questions Customer may have. The AwardSpring Client Support Team is available to assist Customers Monday - Friday, from 8:00am - 7:00pm Central Time either by phone (888-258-5628), directly via the Administrative site using the “Support” button, or via email to [support@awardspring.com](mailto:support@awardspring.com). Support hours may be adjusted with notice to customers based on support volume. AwardSpring client support is closed for the following US Holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Thanksgiving Day, Day After Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve. Support is closed on any Friday or Monday before or after a holiday that occurs on a weekend. AwardSpring reserves the right to close support for other weekdays not listed above as long as commercially reasonable notification is provided to Customer. ## AwardSpring Pricing & Usage ### AwardSpring Subscription Fees AwardSpring subscription pricing is determined by the number of unique Opportunities offered by the Customer annually. AwardSpring may review the number of Opportunities available through the Customer Site at any time. If the number of Opportunities is more than 25% above the number defined in the signed, active Service Order, AwardSpring may adjust the annual subscription cost for the subsequent annual period based on the current Rate Card. Customer’s subscription pricing is always evaluated at the end of the full term for the current Service Order and may move up or down based on usage. AwardSpring reserves the right to change its Rate Card at any time. ### Communication Tools When using AwardSpring for any external communications (either email communications included with the base subscription or SMS communications with the addition of Texting), Customer acknowledges that they will adhere to all local, state and federal guidelines for telephone communications which includes, but is not limited to, the CAN SPAM Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act. ### AwardSpring Optional Add-On Services The following items are fee-based services that are to be performed by AwardSpring if requested or ordered by the Customer. #### Student Information System Integration Subscription (“SIS Integration”) AwardSpring’s SIS Integration is designed to consume regular data feeds from Customer’s systems, and automatically create and update existing applicant data inside the Software. SIS Integration requires export from Customer’s system in a CSV file transferred via SFTP to AwardSpring servers, using either named-user or token-based authentication. Service includes all work required to integrate Customer’s data feed into their AwardSpring application. AwardSpring requires a unique, unchanging student ID to ensure proper functionality of this feature. Exporting data from AwardSpring is also supported on request. SIS Integration requires an additional annual subscription per the Rate Card below. #### SMS Subscription (“Texting”) AwardSpring will provision the ability to send short message service (“SMS”) messages directly to end users. This requires any recipient to have a US or Canadian-based (Country prefix of +1), validated mobile number and that Customer has received their Implied Consent to communicate via text. Implied Consent is generally given when a recipient has a relationship with an organization, and the messages distributed are for informational purposes only (e.g., sending an application deadline reminder). Customer acknowledges there are annual limits to number of text messages sent per AwardSpring’s Terms and Conditions. You may not use AwardSpring Texting for: - Sending of unsolicited marketing messages, or messages that can be construed as harassment, or containing misleading or false information - Using mobile numbers obtained through website harvesting or offline directories (i.e., number must be obtained directly from recipient) #### Single Sign-On (“SSO”) The Software can communicate with Customer organization’s directory services, using Active Directory via direct LDAP, SAML, Shibboleth or CAS authentication technologies. Enabling authentication will allow Customer’s active applicants to log in into the Software using the same credentials used to access other organization resources. Customer’s directory service must have the ability to provide required attributes to AwardSpring for user account registration. SSO can be enabled stand-alone and is strongly recommended when the Student Information System Integration service is purchased. Enabling SSO is done at no charge and can be done upon request, typically within 7-10 business days (pending technology resource availability at Customer’s organization). #### Special Funds Applications AwardSpring can provision individual scholarship opportunities that allow for direct application without completing the general application. Enabling Special Funds Applications is done at no charge and can be done upon request, typically within 5-7 business days. #### Onboarding AwardSpring will both fully customize Customer’s initial AwardSpring site by recreating their Opportunities, Qualifications, and Application. Additionally, AwardSpring provides the necessary user training for an unlimited number of administrative users. AwardSpring will develop a customized training schedule with training sessions for Customer’s first award cycle covering topics such as setting up Opportunities, building the Application, setting up review score cards, assigning reviewers, and awarding and notifying applicants. #### On-Site Services and/or Professional Services AwardSpring can also provide professional services for Customer’s administrative users. When a special request is made outside the bounds of AwardSpring’s standard service description, a Statement of Work will be generated and mutually agreed-upon in writing between AwardSpring and Customer. Standard per hour fees for AwardSpring professional services will be reflected as such on the Statement of Work. ## AwardSpring Rate Card Please inquire with [sales@awardspring.com](mailto:sales@awardspring.com) for a copy of AwardSpring’s current rate card(s). ## Change Log January 1st, 2025 version: changed published AwardSpring holidays in “Client Support” section and removed rate card (as rate cards are managed separately as part of AwardSpring Sales & Marketing). October 1, 2022 version: initial publication on-line. All prior Service Descriptions were captured as part of AwardSpring Terms & Conditions. --- # SIS Integration | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/sis-integration SIS INTEGRATION # Accurate student data, straight from your SIS More than 40% of AwardSpring customers use SIS Integration, and it's easy to see why. It pulls student data directly from your Student Information System into AwardSpring, so awarding is faster, easier, and more accurate. Here's what it does and how it helps scholarship administrators. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) WHAT IT DOES ## Accurate data, less busywork - ### Keep student data accurate SIS Integration pulls student data straight from your system of record, so you're not depending on applicants to enter it correctly. - ### Keep data in sync across platforms Pull details like a student's major, class schedule, or GPA and use them to maintain scholarship eligibility, and cross a few administrative tasks off your list. - ### Make scholarship applications easier Pre-filling applications with data from your SIS can dramatically cut the time it takes a student to finish applying. HOW IT WORKS ## From your SIS to AwardSpring, daily 1. 1 Export from your SIS Your SIS generates a CSV export of the student fields you choose. 2. 2 Secure transfer A scheduled job sends the file to AwardSpring's secure SFTP server. 3. 3 Daily import AwardSpring imports the file into your site once a day. 4. 4 Accounts stay in sync New student accounts are created and existing ones are kept up to date. FAQ ## Frequently asked questions What is SIS Integration? SIS Integration automatically pulls student data from your Student Information System into AwardSpring on a set schedule. That data does two jobs: it matches and qualifies applicants for the right scholarships, and it keeps the student records in AwardSpring accurate and up to date. How does it work? You and your IT team set up a scheduled transfer of a CSV file from your SIS to our secure SFTP server. We import that file into your AwardSpring site once a day, creating new student accounts and updating existing ones. What can be imported? Almost anything. Any response to a qualification or application question can be imported. Every file needs four fields at minimum: the student's unique ID, email address, first name, and last name. Keep each student's email, username, and ID unique. Don't reuse them over time. A typical import file looks like this: Number First Name Last Name Email Address GPA Major Grade Status Credit Hours EFC Phone Number A1111-11 Jane Doe jdoe@school.edu 3.73 Physics Junior 61 3500 (555) 555-1234 B2222-22 John Doe jdoe1@school.edu 3.74 Theater Senior 93 4000 (555) 555-1235 How should fields be formatted? Our system does minimal validation on imported data, but a few fields have required formats: Data type Format Notes Date 2015-01-01 Standard UTC date format, YYYY-MM-DD Phone (555) 555-5555 This phone format is recommended Numeric 3.45 Must be a valid decimal or whole number Some AwardSpring fields only accept specific valid responses. For example, if the Major question allows only "Math" or "Biology", then only "Math" or "Biology" should be imported. If a value doesn't match a valid response (say, "Physics" shows up as a major), the entire row fails to import and the AwardSpring team is notified. Fields that accept more than one value can be separated with a pipe ( | ), for example "Biology | Chemistry" for a double major. How should we format our files? Import files must follow [RFC 4180](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180), the standard for comma-separated value (CSV) files, including proper field encapsulation and escaping. File names can't contain spaces. Can AwardSpring integrate with my SIS? Yes. AwardSpring works with any system that can generate a CSV file. Do I have to use Single Sign-On (SSO)? We recommend it. Pairing SIS Integration with SSO makes signing in smoother for you and your applicants. It isn't required, though. Can I change the file format after initial setup? Yes, as long as you're not in the middle of an award cycle. We'll work with your IT team to update the import configuration when the timing is right. Is anything special required of me? Yes. You'll work with your IT team to build the CSV export and the scheduled job that transfers the file to our servers. Generating and transferring the export files must be fully automated. What happens if something goes wrong with an import? Our team monitors every automated import and works with you and your IT team to resolve any errors that come up. How long does implementation take? Plan on about 1–2 months. That covers the time you, your IT team, and AwardSpring support need to work through these steps: Task Owner Determine data fields to import Scholarship Administrator / IT Staff Create export file IT Staff Test and rework the export file AwardSpring / IT Staff Configure AwardSpring AwardSpring / IT Staff Review imported data Scholarship Administrator Schedule automatic transfer of the export IT Staff ## Better data, better results. Bring accurate student data into AwardSpring and let SIS Integration keep it current, automatically. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # SpringIQ: AI Scholarship Review Assistant | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/springiq # SpringIQ: Scholarship intelligence with purpose. SpringIQ reads every application so your team reviews faster, every student gets a fair look, and every award honors what your donors intended. 01 · Applicant Summary ### Every application, distilled to a paragraph. SpringIQ writes a concise summary of each application, so reviewers understand an applicant in seconds, not after the fourth PDF. - Appears alongside each application in your Award & Deny view as guidance. You make the award decision. - Pulls out academics, activities, financial need, and essay themes - Ready the moment an application is complete. No setup per applicant. 02 · Applicant Score ### A 0–100 signal, tuned to your criteria. Configurable scoring applies your standards to every application the same way, every time, so decisions are consistent and comparable across the whole pool. - You choose the criteria and how much each one counts - Every application is scored on the same 0–100 scale - Sort and compare applicants side by side in Award & Deny 03 · Rubric: AI Scorecards ### Your rubric, applied by AI. Score essays against the rubric criteria you already use. SpringIQ evaluates every essay the way your best reviewer would on their best day. - Build a scorecard from the rubric criteria you already use - AI scores each essay against every criterion, with reasoning you can read - Reviewers see the full breakdown, and always have the final say 04 · Fit Score ### Surface the students your scholarship was made for. Fit Score measures how well each applicant matches the scholarship's goals, so donor intent shapes every award, not just the ones you have time to read closely. - Enabled per scholarship, using that scholarship's own goals - Every applicant gets a fit rating against those goals - Spend your deep reads where they'll actually change the outcome 05 · AI Detection ### See which essays may not be the student's own words. Flags essay responses likely written by AI, protecting the integrity of your process and the students who did the work themselves. - Toggle it on per essay or short-answer question - Flagged responses are marked right in the review view - A signal for reviewers, not a verdict. Your team makes the call. ## Better reviews aren't the goal. Better outcomes are. Your workflow Review cycles that took weeks take days. Your team spends its time on decisions, not document triage. Your students Every application gets a full, consistent read, including the ones that used to arrive on the busiest day of the cycle. Your donors Awards that demonstrably match donor intent, backed by criteria you can show, not just describe. ## Try SpringIQ today. Every SpringIQ feature is free to try in AwardSpring right now. See what it does with your next cycle. [Questions? Contact us](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) --- # The Stewardship Benchmark: 2026 Donor Stewardship Study | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark 2026 # Stewardship Benchmark Survey We surveyed 125 institutions about how scholarship donor stewardship actually gets done. This is what the data shows, and why AI changes everything. [Get the report](#report) [Score my stewardship](https://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey) At a glance 79% still mail donor reports 71% had a fund go unawarded last year 46% run on one FTE or less 50% are experimenting with AI About the study ## The first benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship In early 2026 we ran the first comprehensive benchmark of scholarship donor stewardship, surveying 125 institutions across U.S. higher education on how the work actually gets done: staffing, reporting cadence, quality, and where AI fits in. Sample 125 institutions Fieldwork February–April 2026 Who responded 52% community college 29% four-year 15% private + community foundations 4% other In this report 1. [01 The capacity-quality trap](#capacity-quality) 2. [02 The measurement blind spot](#measurement) 3. [03 The AI inflection point](#ai) [Get the report](#report) Pillar 01 ### The capacity-quality trap Lean teams, and no reliable read on whether the work is any good. 46 % operate on one FTE or less [Finding 01](#finding-01) #### The capacity gap Most stewardship programs run on a sliver of a full-time role, so the work competes with everything else on one person's plate. 2.7 /5 average self-rated quality [Finding 02](#finding-02) #### Flying blind on quality Asked to grade their own stewardship, institutions land below the midpoint, and few have a reliable way to check whether that read is right. 29 % send low-quality thank-you letters anyway [Finding 03](#finding-03) #### Thank-you letters: high compliance, low quality Nearly every program sends the letter. Far fewer are confident it says anything a donor will remember. Pillar 02 ### The measurement blind spot Reports go out. Almost no one can tell what actually lands. 79 % still deliver donor reports by U.S. mail [Finding 04](#finding-04) #### Reporting stuck in the past Annual reports still go out on paper, and once they are mailed most teams have no signal about what donors actually saw. 45% cannot track whether reports are opened 71 % had a fund go unawarded last year [Finding 05](#finding-05) #### Unawarded funds Most institutions left at least one fund unspent, and over a third have no plan for the conversation that follows. 37% have no protocol for telling the donor Pillar 03 ### The AI inflection point Interest is nearly universal. Disciplined use is rare. 50 % are experimenting with AI [Finding 06](#finding-06) #### AI adoption: intent outpaces execution Half the field is trying AI for stewardship work. Only a fraction has folded it into how the work actually gets done. 15% use it consistently 19 % have zero coordination between financial aid and advancement [Finding 07](#finding-07) #### The aid and advancement alignment gap In nearly one in five shops, the offices that share the same donors and students barely talk to each other. ## Key findings Seven findings from 125 higher education foundations surveyed February to April 2026, in three pillars. Numbers are as the report states them. ### 1\. The capacity gap Pillar 01, Capacity-Quality Trap. 46% operate on one FTE or less dedicated to donor stewardship. Staff time is the barrier programs name first, well ahead of technology and budget. - 22% operate with less than half an FTE - 53% cite staff time as their #1 barrier, 21% cite technology, 2% cite budget - More than 40% administer 150 or more active scholarship funds ### 2\. Quality self-rating Pillar 01, Capacity-Quality Trap. 2.66 out of 5 average self-rated report quality. Programs suspect their work falls short, and almost none can check. - 11% rate their work well above average, 26% rate it below average - Dissatisfied with student storytelling quality 31%, timeliness of delivery 29%, personalization depth 26% - 5% regularly collect donor feedback, 38% have never explored it ### 3\. Thank-you letters Pillar 01, Capacity-Quality Trap. 29% send low-quality thank-you letters to donors anyway. Collection is handled. The break is at review and rewrite. - 52% require thank-you letters as a firm award condition - 56% report submission rates above 90% - 34% coach students and request a resubmission, 14% substitute a staff-written narrative - 21% run the workflow entirely manually ### 4\. Reporting channels and tracking Pillar 02, Measurement Blind Spot. 79% still deliver donor reports by U.S. mail. Most send reports and never learn whether they were read. - 45% have no way to track if a report was read, 8% track engagement systematically - 46% produce reports for all scholarship donors, 24% produce none - 61% take one to six months from disbursement to delivery, 18% have no consistent timeline ### 5\. Unawarded funds Pillar 02, Measurement Blind Spot. 71% had at least one fund go unawarded last year. Unawarded funds are common, and often no one tells the donor. - 37% have no protocol for telling the donor - 12% wait until the fund is awarded again to reach out ### 6\. AI adoption Pillar 03, AI Inflection Point. 50% are experimenting with AI for stewardship. Half are experimenting, few have made it routine. - 15% use AI regularly, 35% have tried it inconsistently, 31% are interested but haven't started, 19% have no interest - Among the 50% experimenting: personalized donor cover letters 67%, fund impact summaries 48%, editing student thank-you letters 41%, drafting student bio narratives 37% ### 7\. Financial Aid and Advancement alignment Pillar 03, AI Inflection Point. 19% operate with zero coordination between Financial Aid and Advancement. Most describe the handoff as workable, with one real exception. - 53% report no meaningful friction between offices - 48% say Advancement handles donor stewardship - Average alignment score: 3.73 out of 5 - Directional finding: FA-pathway sub-sample n=30 to 33 ## Methodology AwardSpring surveyed 125 foundations across higher education between February and April 2026. Responses were collected via SurveyMonkey from AwardSpring customers, and 125 usable responses form the basis of the benchmark, published June 2026. By institution type, respondents were 52% community college foundations, 29% four-year colleges or universities, 15% private or community foundations and 4% other. By role, 36% work in Financial Aid or Scholarships, 19% in Donor Relations or Stewardship, 18% in Administration or Leadership, 17% in Advancement or Development and 10% in other roles. Because respondents are AwardSpring customers rather than a random sample of the broader field, the findings describe foundations that use dedicated scholarship management software. Where the report says "the field," it means that population. Statistics drawn from sub-samples under 50 respondents are directional, including the Financial Aid and Advancement alignment finding (n=30 to 33). The report cites one external figure: CUPA-HR (2024) reports that 56% of financial aid staff are likely to leave within a year. Every other number is from this survey. ## Cite this research Suggested citation: AwardSpring, The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark (June 2026), n=125, [awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark](http://awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) Canonical URL: [https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) Reuse: you are welcome to quote and reuse the findings on this page with attribution to AwardSpring and a link to this page. Score your stewardship ## See how your stewardship stacks up. 1. 01 Take our 2 minute survey Share a bit about how your stewardship programs operate. 2. 02 Upload an artifact (optional) Share a thank-you letter or donor report and a team member + AI reviewer will score its quality. 3. 03 See where you stand Your benchmark against the 125-institution field, plus the fixes that move it most. [Score my stewardship](https://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey) ## Watch the webinar AwardSpring CEO Alex Stepien walks through the survey's highlights and what it means for your program. [Download the slides](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/AwardSpring_Stewardship_Webinar.pdf) ## Get the full report The complete 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark is here. Leave your email and we'll send you the PDF. Work email address Email me the report By submitting, you agree to receive communications from AwardSpring. More from the study - [Read the 4-page executive brief instant PDF](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/2026%20Stewardship%20Executive%20Brief.pdf) - [Watch the webinar](#recording) --- # Aiken Technical College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/aiken-technical-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring is easy to implement, easy to use, and more efficient for everybody … it feels like everything magically happens! # Aiken Technical College Community & Technical College · South Carolina 75 Scholarships 700 Applicants 2015 Customer since When I came to Aiken Technical College in 1999, we only offered about 15 scholarships, so it was pretty easy to manage. In my more than 19 years here, we’ve really grown the scholarship program. Now we award more than 140 scholarships! Due to personnel changes, I ended up managing a paper process for all of our scholarships, and I just couldn’t handle the volume. Our review committee was also bogged down with hundreds of paper applications to review. Managing these scholarships limited the time I had available to cast a wide net for student applications, so most of our applicants were Aiken students. That’s when I decided to consider a scholarship management solution. I looked at several, and AwardSpring seemed to me like it had everything I needed to do the job and it was a fairly easy and intuitive application to learn. Plus, the pricing was fair. AwardSpring implementation was a great experience. The implementation manager explained everything to me, got the system up and running, and worked hand in hand with me to develop the application. I was so pleased and have been pleased ever since. After our first year, when I needed a refresher on how to set up a scholarship review process, AwardSpring’s support team was happy to schedule another training session right away. Someone is always right there to help or give an answer; it’s been wonderful. I like to tell our donors how our scholarship process works. They’re very impressed that we have such an efficient online system that handles everything from applications to reviewing to awarding. With AwardSpring, our donors have confidence that their scholarship investment is really going to the most qualified student. Students find it very easy to apply now. Reviewers love AwardSpring, too. It’s so much easier than our old process. Everything is online, so applications can be reviewed at work or at home. Reviewers can even work on their tablets if they want. Some faculty members have actually asked to stay on the review committee, which has never happened before! Thanks to AwardSpring, I have much more time than I used to. Now I can actually get out to the seven high schools in our service area and work with students to help them apply for our scholarships. As soon as these students submit their applications, I can instantly tell them the scholarships for which they’ve qualified, which always gets them excited. With a paper process, we would receive about 100 applications per award cycle. Now, we get 500! AwardSpring also makes it so easy for us to follow up with students about their post-award tasks. For example, it’s easy for me to remind students to write their thank you letters to donors now, it all happens within the system. There’s no chance of an error, either. I’ll never send a follow-up to the wrong student. AwardSpring is easy to implement, easy to use, and more efficient for everybody. My job is less stressful now than it was five years ago. With AwardSpring, it feels like everything magically happens! Mary Commons Director, Aiken Technical College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Big Bend Community College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/big-bend-community-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We were able to increase our application rate by 94.3% … We are better, faster, and stronger because of AwardSpring! # Big Bend Community College Community & Technical College · Washington 95 Scholarships 900 Applicants 2015 Customer since Prior to using AwardSpring, we used a ton of paper! We had application bundles that were checked out to our review committees. Document management and storage was extremely inconvenient and time-consuming. AwardSpring’s SpringBoard implementation team took the time to understand our process and were thoughtful in how they configured our system to meet our unique process needs. This allowed us to eliminate the storage space issues and the excess time expenditure needed to handle all of the paperwork! As a result of using AwardSpring, we have enough time to work on preparing for and presenting at workshops and school visits. We were able to travel and present to the high schools in our service district and two high schools invited us to spend a full day walking students through the scholarship application process. Due to this greater outreach, we were able to increase our application rate by 94.3%. We also saw a 53.7% increase in our application completion rate. Our team and our board members are incredibly impressed! While it is not really part of what we as a Foundation do, we do keep an eye on enrollment numbers for the college. We have found that students who receive our Foundation scholarships will generally go through the scholarship application process again in the future. We also have data to demonstrate that Foundation scholarship recipients re-enroll and complete degree programs at a significantly higher rate than those who do not receive scholarships. Needless to say, we are hoping to get out to more schools this year to continue increasing our numbers. Coping with dramatic increases in application numbers was a breeze with AwardSpring. While we have had to field more questions from applicants due to this increase, student engagement is no longer overwhelming due to having freed up administrative time by using AwardSpring. With some minor adjustments to our review process to handle the increased volume of qualified applicants, our team is performing efficiently on all fronts. We are able to make these minor process adjustments to accommodate these increases in application numbers with ease thanks to AwardSpring! Additionally, our freed up time enables us to focus more on donor engagement via thank you letters. With AwardSpring we are able to require award recipients to upload a thank you letter and photo of themselves. We then create thank you cards to send along to our donors, which are a hit. Our donors just love them! We also created a special thank you email for our board members with a collage of photos and quotes from the thank you letters. I received a positive response from every single board member! AwardSpring has helped us to streamline our application process and addressed our pain points. We feel as though it is important to adapt to the digital age and we have done so by adopting an online scholarship management solution. We are better, faster, and stronger because of AwardSpring! Jennifer Starr Foundation Program Specialist, Big Bend Community College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Bow Valley College Runs Three Award Competitions a Year | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/bow-valley-college ![Bow Valley College's Celebrating Student Futures awards, May 2026](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/bowvalley-celebrating-student-futures-2026-hero-2400.DVdRt7ge_1FMsPt.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > "Because we want the process to be fair, we have a panel of three." Jonathas Franz Student Awards Officer Bow Valley College 3 Award competitions a year, one per intake About 5,400 Assessments per cycle: about 1,800 applicants, each read by a panel of three 40 to 60 Volunteer staff reviewers a term, most of them back every cycle Just over $6M Awards disbursed since July 2021 Bow Valley College case study # How a two-person team at Bow Valley College runs three award competitions a year Jonathas Franz and one colleague run a full award competition every intake for a college of over 10,000 students a year, put a volunteer panel of three on every application and get funds out by month end, so learners in short certificate programs get the same chance as everyone else. Since moving to AwardSpring in July 2021, the college has disbursed just over $6 million in awards. Jonathas Franz Student Awards Officer, Bow Valley College ![Bow Valley College logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/BowValleyCollege_Logo_Poppins.Cs4FxgyR_ZgcFzp.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ## A two-person awards team inside a team of ten Bow Valley College is a community college in Calgary, Alberta, serving over 10,000 students a year. Its programs run from short career certificates and two-year diplomas to post-diploma programs, with foundational learning and academic upgrading for adults and English for Academic Purposes for newcomers. Practical Nursing is the program it is best known for; Software Development, Early Childhood Education, Business Administration, Cybersecurity Solutions, Game Development and Advanced Film Production through the new Centre for Entertainment Arts are among the most popular, and new programs in Machine Learning, Psychiatric Nursing and Esports Business Management show where the college is growing: technology and the creative industries. Jonathas Franz has been at the college for 14 years in different roles and has been its Student Awards Officer since 2023. He works on the Financial Empowerment team, ten people inside Student Services (until recently called Student Success Services) who also run student loan help, funding advising and financial coaching. Two of the ten are dedicated to awards: Jonathas and a student awards advisor. Between them, they manage about 300 types of awards and about $1.7 million a year, a figure that has been increasing slowly. ## Why three competitions a year Jonathas's sense is that many Canadian institutions, universities in particular, run a single award competition a year. Bow Valley College runs three, one for each intake: winter (January to the end of April), spring (May to the end of August, with regular classes rather than summer school) and fall (September to the end of December). The reason is fairness to students in short programs. "Some students are only with us for a short time," Jonathas says. "They might start a certificate program in May, complete their second term in September, and graduate by December. That's why running three awards competitions throughout the year is so important. It gives students in shorter programs a fair opportunity to apply for awards while they are still with us." Each competition gives learners about two months to apply. ## Two months to apply, two weeks to review, funds out by month end Of more than 10,000 students a year, about 1,800 apply for awards each cycle. Most awards are aimed at students in credit programs; the total also includes continuing education learners in non-credit classes that would not qualify for awards. Every term follows the same shape. Applications close on the first of the month: March 1 for the winter intake, July 1 for spring, November 1 for fall. From the 1st to the 15th, every volunteer reviewer at the college is reading and scoring. Recipients are selected shortly after the 15th, and funds are distributed by the end of March, July and November. "It's a pretty fast turnaround," Jonathas says. "They get their money when they need it." ## A panel of three, and 40 to 60 volunteers Fairness at Bow Valley College has a specific definition: every application is read by a panel of three. With about 1,800 applications in a cycle, that is roughly 5,400 assessments in a two-week window. An assessment might be an essay, a reference letter, or sometimes two essays and a reference letter; the complex ones are the minority. Two people cannot do that alone, so each term the team puts out a call for volunteers. They are staff from across the college: the library, faculty, the registrar's office and many other Student Services areas. Anyone who signs up gets a reviewer account in AwardSpring and a training session on how to assess and score against each award's criteria. Between 40 and 60 reviewers take part in a term, depending on who signs up. Most come back every term; a few do it once for the experience. > "We put a call out every term to get volunteers for our awards. They are all staff members." > > Jonathas Franz, Student Awards Officer, Bow Valley College Jonathas credits easy reviewer account setup with making that scale workable. ## What came before In 2021, the college's previous awards platform was no longer meeting its needs because of limited capacity and functionality. The platform did not provide the level of accessibility or ease of navigation needed to support an effective experience for either students or staff. As the team explored options for a new platform, the primary goals were to improve the student experience, accessibility and overall functionality. The new system needed to integrate with the college's Student Information System (SIS), support single sign-on, be mobile friendly and meet appropriate security requirements. It also needed to accommodate awards for both prospective and current students, provide robust reporting capabilities and offer reliable vendor support. The college was not looking at donor management at the time, although AwardSpring offers donor management capabilities. After reviewing and evaluating multiple systems, the college selected AwardSpring as its awards platform in July 2021. Today every award is centralized in Student Services and runs through one portal; faculty involvement is limited to reference letters and nominations. ## Support, a budget calculator and three jobs on one platform Ask Jonathas what stands out about AwardSpring and he starts with support and steady improvement. He has lost count of the tickets he has submitted that turned into changes in the product, and he notices the difference every time he logs in. > "It's exciting to see the constant effort for improvement. Every time I log in, I see something got better." > > Jonathas Franz, Student Awards Officer, Bow Valley College Some of that work is specific to Bow Valley College. AwardSpring built a custom budget calculator for the college, where students enter their expenses and income so the team can understand financial need. Among the few institutions he has compared notes with, none has anything similar. The college uses AwardSpring for three distinct needs. Entrance awards run through a special link where prospective students create a profile, since they are not yet in the student database. Regular awards serve students already in classes. And the emergency bursary, which helps students stay enrolled, is open all year with no deadline and is managed in AwardSpring too. ## Where they are now Since the switch in July 2021, Bow Valley College has taken in over 23,000 applications, read about 71,000 essays and disbursed just over $6 million in awards. Jonathas is careful about how he frames those numbers. "There's a lot of work that goes into raising these funds," he says, "and there's also a lot of logistics involved in making sure the money actually reaches the students who are most deserving." Three competitions a year, a panel of three on every application and funds out by month end are how a team of two, with up to 60 colleagues behind them, handles the logistics. > "There's a lot of work that goes into raising these funds, and there's also a lot of logistics involved in making sure the money actually reaches the students who are most deserving." > > Jonathas Franz, Student Awards Officer, Bow Valley College Bow Valley College is a community college in Calgary, Alberta, serving over 10,000 students a year. Its Financial Empowerment team, within Student Services, runs awards, the emergency bursary, student loan help and financial coaching. ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Brunswick Community College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/brunswick-community-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > I refuse to call customer support for my cable company but always enjoy talking to the support team at AwardSpring! # Brunswick Community College Community & Technical College · North Carolina 96 Scholarships 350 Applicants 2015 Customer since AwardSpring customer support is great! Whether I email or call, I receive a response almost immediately and the team is incredibly friendly and helpful. If I’m stuck on an issue, I reach out, get resolution quickly, and am able to move on to the next task. I refuse to call customer support for my cable company but always enjoy talking to the support team at AwardSpring! Our first award cycle was a bit rocky because I was new and didn’t really know what I was doing. I relied heavily on the support team to make it through. AwardSpring support staff guided me on making improvements to streamline the application process for our applicants this year. And applicants loved the results! I received so much positive feedback about how much more efficient it was this time around. The reporting feature is great! In the past, I had to pull all of our awardee information manually. Now, just click a button in AwardSpring and I have a report. I use one of these reports to help me manage our donor events much more effectively. I also really love the email feature, which I use to send out reminders to students about deadlines. Thanks to those reminders, we’ve seen an increase in applicants. AwardSpring’s automated emailing and reporting features have saved me so much time and stress. They’ve taken the risk of human error out of the equation and created a record of contacts and actions that I can always refer back to. I like AwardSpring a lot. Whenever I use other software programs during the work day, I’m reminded how much better AwardSpring is than other software we use. AwardSpring is simple to use, has features that make the whole process more efficient, and continues to provide great customer support. Kathy Lukacz Program Coordinator for Accounting & Donor Relations, Brunswick Community College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Central Carolina Technical College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/central-carolina-technical-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > The experience has been exactly as advertised and is a total game-changer for anyone still managing scholarships manually! # Central Carolina Technical College Community & Technical College · South Carolina 75 Scholarships 600 Applicants 2018 Customer since Our technical college’s scholarship team used to manage everything about our scholarships through Excel spreadsheets and printouts. The review team would actually gather up all of our paper applications and go through them manually. It was a headache to track everything and virtually impossible to transform our scholarship information into a report. We had trouble retaining reviewers each year because they just didn’t want to participate in that manual process again. Everything is much easier with AwardSpring. The support has been wonderful. Here’s just one example: we evaluated our entire process last year and realized that while we were increasing the number or individuals applying for scholarships, we still had a surprising number of unfinished applications. The AwardSpring support team helped me investigate and solve the issue quickly and simply. I can always get someone on the phone when I need to, and I always get the help I need to truly answer my question. And when I prefer to be self-sufficient, the Help Center has lots of great information and videos. I’ve really loved the custom reports that AwardSpring has set up for me. The more you use them, the more you realize how much you can track and customize to get exactly what you need. These reports have become really valuable to our board and financial aid office as they make decisions. Now that report generation is streamlined and electronic, they’re easy for me to provide. Reviewing is now a lot smoother, takes less time, and is more objective thanks to AwardSpring’s reviewer blinding capabilities, which make it possible to anonymize student applications. Our review team says the experience is like night and day compared to our manual process. In fact, reviewing is now so easy, the team is happy to do it every single year. There’s so much more to AwardSpring than just the platform; I can rely on them to help me maximize the system to serve my institution better. The experience has been exactly as advertised and is a total game-changer for anyone still managing scholarships manually! Misty Hatfield Director of Development & Alumni, Central Carolina Technical College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Central Ohio Technical College Went From Paper Piles to One Link | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/central-ohio-technical-college Customer Story > "All we had to hand out to students was a website link. Here's the link. It'll take you all the way through what you need to do, and it's going to start matching you." Faith Phillips Director of Student Financial Services Central Ohio Technical College About $1.2M Awarded each year at COTC, up from about $300,000 when Faith started About 300 Scholarships awarded in a year, with awarding running through spring semester About 700 Students with applications in the system, out of about 3,000 enrolled Under a day The longest the team says it has waited on AwardSpring support Central Ohio Technical College case study # How a two-person scholarship team at Central Ohio Technical College replaced paper piles with one link Faith Phillips and Luci Hardesty run scholarships for a two-year technical college of about 3,000 students while also running its combined billing and financial aid office. Annual awards have grown from about $300,000 to about $1.2 million across three separate pools of money, and for years the whole process lived in one person's spreadsheets. Today students get one link, committees score online, and the team can see every award a student holds before adding another. Faith Phillips Director of Student Financial Services, Central Ohio Technical College ## Two people, three pools of money Central Ohio Technical College is a two-year technical college of about 3,000 students. Its Student Financial Services office combines billing and financial aid in one place, and Faith Phillips has directed it for almost 30 years. Luci Hardesty, a Student Financial Specialist with 20 years at the college, moved into scholarships about four years ago and runs the system day to day. The college shares its campus and its staff with a regional campus of a large state university, and its scholarship money reflects that. Donors can designate a gift to the technical college, to the university campus, or to a cost-shared endowment that supports both. Three pools, one team, and a growing pile of funds: when Faith started, the college awarded about $300,000 a year. It now awards about $1.2 million a year on the technical college side alone. ## Paper, then extracts, then PDFs When Faith arrived, the college had 10 to 20 scholarships and a paper application that students filled out by pen. As the number of funds grew, the team started pulling what it could from the student information system instead, first an older system and later Ellucian Colleague, so students would not have to tell the college their major or their county when the college already knew. That removed a lot of forms, but not all of them. Donors write criteria the student system does not hold: residency in a particular township, an essay about community service. Those scholarships kept their applications. Later the college moved applications to an electronic forms tool, which helped students submit but left the office holding PDFs. "It really was spitting out a PDF," Faith says. "So we were still managing paper." Awarding lived in spreadsheets: a list of students who met each set of criteria, highlighted, offered, and tracked by hand. Offer letters were mail merges into Word, then emailed one at a time. ## The real problem was a single point of failure Ask what made the old process untenable and Luci answers first: "Faith was managing it on her own." Faith was awarding every scholarship across all three pools while running the entire office. The combination of two institutions, a foundation that supports both, and endowments that belong to one, the other, or both made the work too complex to hand off. "There was no way I could train somebody to do it as manually as I had done it," Faith says. She had first brought AwardSpring to the shared campus through the university side. When the university later consolidated its campuses onto a single system-wide scholarship tool, she made the case that the technical college should keep AwardSpring and relaunched it as a COTC-only instance, with Luci taking on the day-to-day. > "There was no way I could train somebody to do it as manually as I had done it." > > Faith Phillips, Director of Student Financial Services, Central Ohio Technical College ## One link The first change students noticed was the simplest. "All we had to hand out to students was a website link," Faith says. Admissions representatives stopped pointing students to a web page of individual scholarships and started saying one thing: go to AwardSpring, that is where you apply for all of them. Colleague pushes student data into AwardSpring, so the application arrives pre-filled and students answer only the questions the student system cannot: the township, the essay. One application flows into every scholarship a student might match, and the platform tells them what else they appear to qualify for. Faith admits the hard part for her was requiring a real application at all after years of avoiding one. "But because it's so electronic and it's so intuitive, it works pretty well." On the office side, the paper and the spreadsheets are gone. Selection is select, award the amount, send the offer. The Word mail merges are two clicks. And when a recipient uploads a thank-you letter to a donor, AwardSpring holds it and notifies Luci. > "We didn't have to organize any paper applications. We didn't have to touch any spreadsheets. The selection process was so easy: select, award the amount, send out the offer." > > Faith Phillips, Director of Student Financial Services, Central Ohio Technical College ## Seeing the whole student before adding another award The change Faith describes most carefully has nothing to do with speed. Under the spreadsheet process, the team could not easily see every award a student already held. A student might receive a nearly full-tuition award from one of the college's large funds, then match to a hard-to-award one-off scholarship and receive that too. Now Luci sees the total. When a student already holds a $7,000 award, the team can take that existing support into consideration before adding a $500 one. And it runs the other way: a student who qualifies for only a small scholarship prompts the question of what other resources or support the college could provide alongside it. "It also works both ways," Faith says. The result, in her words, is more awards to a larger unduplicated number of students, and a clear view of unspent funds when a student has not responded to an offer. > "Now Luci can see that the student has already received a $7,000 scholarship, so we can take that existing support into consideration when reviewing the additional $500 request. It also works both ways: we should consider what other resources or support we may be able to provide to the student in addition to a smaller scholarship." > > Faith Phillips, Director of Student Financial Services, Central Ohio Technical College ## Committees without the copier Luci's least favorite task is gone. Under the old process she downloaded every application from the forms tool, sorted them into piles by scholarship, made copies for each committee member, and uploaded them to each reviewer in turn. Reviewers now have their own AwardSpring accounts. Luci assembles the pool of applicants for a scholarship, and each committee member logs in, reads only that pool, and scores it. "The way that the reviewers can go in and review, the awarding, the distribution," Luci says, listing the features she would point a peer to. "If somebody asked me if AwardSpring was the way to go, I would say yes." > "If somebody asked me if AwardSpring was the way to go, I would say yes. The way that the reviewers can go in and review, the awarding, the distribution." > > Luci Hardesty, Student Financial Specialist, Central Ohio Technical College ## Where they are now About 700 of the college's roughly 3,000 students have applications in the system, and Faith would like that number higher; the college advertises well, she says, but students do not read their email. The team has awarded about 252 scholarships so far this year and expects about 300 by year end, since a two-year college starts new students every semester and keeps awarding through spring. What Faith tells colleagues who ask about AwardSpring at conferences comes down to two things. It is intuitive enough that she, an infrequent user, finds her way in minutes. And the support team answers within a day. "Even though we're a small school, we're managing so many scholarships with so much money," she says. "I can say that this helps us manage that." > "Even though we're a small school, we're managing so many scholarships with so much money, and this helps us manage that. Even if you don't really know what you're doing, you can pretty much start to figure out what to do." > > Faith Phillips, Director of Student Financial Services, Central Ohio Technical College Central Ohio Technical College is a two-year technical college in Newark, Ohio, serving about 3,000 students. Its Student Financial Services office combines billing and financial aid. ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Chattahoochee Technical College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/chattahoochee-technical-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Purchasing AwardSpring is the best investment we've made in the 4 years I've been here! … It's like having another person in our shop. # Chattahoochee Technical College Community & Technical College · Georgia 50 Scholarships 400 Applicants 2015 Customer since When I started with Chattahoochee four years ago, we were using a paper process to collect scholarship applications. Applicants would send in a fillable PDF and ask to be applied to scholarships for which they were not qualified because they hadn’t read the scholarship descriptions. Also, they would provide contact information for recommenders and it was my responsibility to acquire the letters of recommendation for every applicant. Weeding through applications to determine which applicants were qualified for which scholarships as well as tracking down letters of recommendation consumed so much of my time, I would say four hours per application, that I didn’t have any time left to handle the other responsibilities of my job. We knew this was not the most efficient way to run our scholarship program. After a demo of AwardSpring, we were sold by the ease of use and the opportunity to move our process online. We didn’t even look at any other vendors and have never once regretted our decision! We have seen a drastic increase in the number of applications received since we implemented AwardSpring. In 2014, with our paper process, we received 82 applications and awarded 34 students. In 2018, with AwardSpring, we received 900 applications and awarded 99 students. And we are not just seeing an increase in volume; we are seeing an increase in the quality of applicants as well. We have also seen growth in both the number of scholarships we offer as well as the amount of scholarship funds available to award. This is in part due to the fact that we use AwardSpring as tool to sell ourselves to donors. The donor profile feature makes us look more professional and the matching feature means that donors are confident that we are awarding the most qualified applicants. We also use AwardSpring to easily collect donor thank-you letters from scholarship recipients. The AwardSpring platform has made the scholarship process easier for everyone. My time has been freed up by not having to do manual data entry, track down application paperwork, round up letters of recommendation, or determine qualified applicants for each of our scholarships. The software does this all for me and now I have time for handling those other parts of my job! Also, I no longer have to worry about human error that is often a result of manual processes and paper shuffling. I am confident we are making the right decisions because we have accurate data. Our reviewers are busy folks. We allow them a couple of weeks to review and AwardSpring gives them the flexibility to fit it into their schedules as they wish, and they can do it in their pajamas from the comfort of their own couch! They are no longer required to take time out of their busy schedules to shuffle a bunch of paper applications around over a long dinner. If you’re considering AwardSpring, do the math to determine how many hours you are spending on your current process. You will see that using AwardSpring will provide you huge savings with the time it will save your team. You will also see an increase in applicants and an overall better experience for everyone involved in the scholarship process. AwardSpring’s customer service is amazing. I typically hear back from them the same day! But, we don’t have to reach out often because it’s a great and intuitive product. Purchasing AwardSpring is the best investment we’ve made in the 4 years I’ve been here! It’s like having another person in our shop. Amanda Henderson Advancement Coordinator, External Affairs, Chattahoochee Technical College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Clover Park Technical College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/clover-park-technical-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > I can get a new award cycle set up in only one day! I love everything about it! # Clover Park Technical College Community & Technical College · Washington 68 Scholarships 245 Applicants 2015 Customer since I received some basic training from the person who ran the scholarship program prior to my arrival. After his departure, I needed training and support immediately to make sure we could get our application open on time. After contacting the support team, someone reached out right away to answer all my questions. The information provided during training was presented in an easily digestible manner and in a logical sequence - the most crucial processes addressed first. This was extremely helpful to me due to the urgent nature of keeping my first award cycle on track. The whole experience was fantastic! I don’t think I truly understood the implications of using paper applications until recently, when I had to take on the enormous task of organizing five file cabinet drawers of old applications. For smaller foundations like us, reducing the amount of money spent on paper and ink, as well as time spent keeping the paperwork properly organized and manually entering applicant data, is incredibly important. AwardSpring has allowed us to do just that. All I have to do is log in to see all of this information and I don’t have to worry about spending time managing file cabinets of paper. Purging old applications also made me realize just how much waste we have reduced by using AwardSpring. Applicants love that they can log in to AwardSpring, fill out some of their information, log out, and log back in to finish their applications at a later time. And they can do this from anywhere! A lot of our applicants have other life priorities - jobs, kids, etc. - to juggle so this flexibility is incredibly important to them. We are able to get more completed applications than we would with paper applications, that’s for sure! Our reviewers love that they only have to review relevant applicant information. AwardSpring allows me to mask any questions in the system that do not pertain to the scores provided by reviewers. This allows for a more streamlined review process which saves the reviewers a ton of time. Because of this, reviewers are more likely to return for future award cycles. Reviewing the minimum amount of information, along with the ability to log into AwardSpring from the comfort of their own homes, makes recruiting new reviewers so easy! With the college, we make sure that we are working toward recruitment and retention of students as we know that traditional financial aid only goes so far. We use AwardSpring to manage scholarships that help students with program supplies and use dual quarter awarding to help out with the continuity of enrollment. With AwardSpring, all processes are smooth and easy. The AwardSpring support team is great! I typically get a response within minutes of sending a request and everyone is always helpful and friendly. There is a built-in “support” button in the platform that allows me to submit questions and feedback with one click. It’s fantastic to be able to send all kinds of requests via one avenue and know that they are being handled. AwardSpring is the most economical of all solutions for the features you’re getting. The interface is clean, simple, and easy to navigate and I can quickly get done what I need. At this point, I can get a new award cycle set up in only one day! I love everything about it! Rae Baghirov Foundation Development Associate, Clover Park Technical College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # How Coastal Carolina Tripled Scholarship Applications | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/coastal-carolina-university ![Aerial view of Coastal Carolina University's campus in Conway, South Carolina](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/coastal-carolina-campus.WzywKH11_59Vpg.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Trust AwardSpring to do what it says it can do. Dr. Samantha Hicks Assistant Vice President of Financial Aid and Scholarships Coastal Carolina University 232% Increase in applications ~159 hours Of manual processing eliminated 2 full weeks Recovered per cycle ~$1M Awarded this cycle Coastal Carolina University case study # How Coastal Carolina more than tripled scholarship applications (and got two weeks of every cycle back) Every March, the scholarship team at Coastal Carolina University used to brace for the flood. The application deadline would hit, and roughly 400 emails would pour in over the final two days, every attachment needing to be downloaded, formatted, and filed by hand before a committee could see it. Essays arrived through a separate website entirely. Across the full 2022-23 cycle, the team manually processed 636 document submissions. At about fifteen minutes each, that was roughly 159 hours spent playing document courier instead of getting scholarship dollars to students. ## A change they didn’t choose, and the one they did Coastal’s process wasn’t manual by preference. Applications ran through a homegrown system stitched into campus software, and when that software reached end of life, the scholarship system it carried went with it. The team needed a new home for the entire cycle, from application through awarding. There was a second constraint the emails hid: the volume of manual processing had forced Coastal to run two separate application cycles a year, each held to 50 or 60 scholarships, because the team couldn’t handle the Foundation’s full 120-plus opportunities at once. They chose AwardSpring in September 2022 and went live that February 2nd, with AwardSpring carrying most of the implementation. The change showed up first with students: two application cycles became one window. Instead of checking boxes in one system and emailing documents to another, a Coastal student now completes one application and is automatically matched to every fund they qualify for. Additional requirements are requested and collected inside the same portal. Automated reminders chase the missing pieces, which the team credits with keeping incomplete applications low even as volume grew. And volume grew. **811 applications in the last year of the old process became 1,911 in the first full year on AwardSpring, and 2,693 this year.** This spring, 354 students received 456 awards, nearly $1 million in scholarship support. ## The two-week dividend For Kelli Fookes, Senior Assistant Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid, the difference is measured in calendar pages: the two weeks she used to spend processing documents after every deadline came back. Committee members who once received paper packets now review digitally. The giant color-coded matching spreadsheets are gone. The platform also took over a job nobody misses: student technical support. AwardSpring handles student questions directly, and Coastal has watched that support work even when the problem wasn’t AwardSpring’s. When a broken link in a campus email was quietly blocking student logins, AwardSpring’s support team caught it and flagged it first. ## “Trust AwardSpring to do what it says it can do” Dr. Samantha Hicks, Assistant Vice President of Financial Aid and Scholarships, is direct about the lesson from four years on the platform. Early on, her team re-checked the platform’s matching by hand out of caution. In four years, those checks have never found an incorrect match that traced to the platform. Her advice to peers evaluating a change is to skip the years of hedging: lean in fully and let the platform do the job it was built for. > “Don’t be afraid.” > > Kelli Fookes, Senior Assistant Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid ## What’s next at Coastal The scholarship program’s results have drawn interest across campus, and expanding the platform’s reach to academic scholarships has come up. The team that once spent March buried in email attachments now spends it telling the university’s scholarship story with data. ## Your March doesn't have to look like Coastal's old one. See a demo and bring your hardest cycle. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Connecticut Association of Realtors | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/connecticut-association-of-realtors ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > I definitely endorse AwardSpring! Their team knocks it out of the park! # Connecticut Association of Realtors Professional Association · Connecticut 2 Scholarships 250 Applicants 2016 Customer since As our scholarship program continued to grow and the number of applications we were receiving continued to increase, we started looking for an online platform to help us manage the process. We wanted to eliminate the possibility of human error that comes along with paper shuffling as well as reduce administrative overhead and paper waste. We compared three or four scholarship management options and decided AwardSpring was the best option for a number of reasons: the price was competitive, our sales contact was friendly and responsive, the platform seemed easy to use, and all of the references we spoke to were very pleased with their experience with AwardSpring. The SpringBoard implementation process was smooth and there was someone there every step of the way. They did most of the work in configuring our site but made sure to walk me through each step in the process to make sure I was confident using the software. The comprehensive support and training I received during the SpringBoard process was a huge comfort, especially for someone like me who isn’t much of a tech person. The initial training was thorough and the software is so easy to use that now I feel comfortable making changes on my own. The day-to-day support I receive is outstanding! It’s very rare that I don’t get same-day support, and sometimes I receive a response in mere hours! The support is exceptional which is a rarity when it comes to customer service today. Everyone I work with is pleasant and helpful, no matter the situation. Each year, I work with the support team to review my site and get a refresher in preparation for my next award cycle. They walk me through making larger changes and review new feature functionality. While the software is logical and makes sense, the support team is always available to help me with the more technical aspects and to address any concerns or issues I may have. Managing our scholarship program is a small part of my job but it can be very time-consuming. AwardSpring has lightened my workload and taken the human error element out of the process. This has given me a sense of relief in knowing that our award decisions are being made with reliable information. Also, AwardSpring makes it easier to promote our scholarship program as I simply have to post a link on our website. Everything is online and I am not spending time collecting stacks of paper from each applicant and making copies for the review process. And our reviewers are really really happy too! They love that we’re not killing a bunch of trees! I recognize that it must be a challenge to keep the software simple, but useful, for the various types and sizes of their customers but they somehow manage to do it. I definitely endorse AwardSpring! Their team knocks it out of the park! Beth Mecteau Director of Executive and Foundation Programs, Connecticut Association of Realtors ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/eastern-west-virginia-community-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We felt appreciated and respected by AwardSpring from the beginning. That top-notch service is what was most important to us. # Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation Foundation · West Virginia 56 Scholarships 268 Applicants 2020 Customer since Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation has served the Jefferson, Berkeley, and Morgan counties in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia for 25 years. Each year, the Foundation awards more than $1M in grants and scholarships to local students, and until 2020, this was an entirely manual process. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we realized that we needed to incorporate more technology into our scholarship administration process. We had been accepting paper applications (many hand-delivered by high school administrators!), but that process had already resulted in human errors that prevented worthy applicants from being considered. With the world moving to a remote working model, it was the right time to find a scholarship administration solution that could help the Foundation do the same. We evaluated several scholarship management solutions, but we established the best rapport with AwardSpring right away. Everyone was so accommodating and worked well with us! We had board members who wanted to participate in early calls, and they were always made to feel welcome. We felt appreciated and respected by AwardSpring from the beginning. That top-notch service is what was most important to us. This was our first major software implementation, and it went so smoothly. We were thrilled that we could text, call, or email and get a response right away. The goals and milestones that were laid out before us were achievable and we got everything set up right on schedule. Anytime we saw opportunity for improvement or customizations, our partners at AwardSpring were quick to offer thoughtful solutions. To this day we always feel heard by their team. Before AwardSpring, we used to spend a lot of time reading through applications, noting everything that was incomplete, and contacting students to get their applications completed. And we’d have to contact high school counselors to get transcripts. What a hassle! Now, it’s so easy to log in to AwardSpring and see what still needs to be done, and we can reach out to students through the platform. AwardSpring has saved me a lot of time! AwardSpring has also made things easier on our student applicants and reviewers. It’s much easier for students to track their progress, pause and come back to their application, and see exactly what they need to do before submitting when it’s all online. Even our least Internet-savvy reviewers love AwardSpring. Like our applicants, our reviewers love that their progress is automatically saved as they go, so they can pause and step away without fear of losing their work. We’ve had nothing but rave reviews from them! Really, all of us at Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation are so excited to be under the AwardSpring umbrella now. Karin Dunn Program Manager, Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Germanna Community College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/germanna-community-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > The functionality of AwardSpring was well-worth the change … Switching over to AwardSpring has absolutely been for the better. # Germanna Community College Community & Technical College · Virginia 87 Scholarships 1,000 Applicants 2021 Customer since Before we found AwardSpring, we were using a different platform that was too expensive and not nearly as user-friendly. The functionality of AwardSpring was well-worth the change. We started working with the platform in 2021, and the whole implementation process was super smooth. Setting up, the support team was incredibly helpful and did the majority of the work for us. Everything felt accessible, and the tutorial videos made it easy to learn. Post-implementation, things have continued to run smoothly. We did a few training sessions, but we’ve never had issues with anything not working. When we didn’t understand things immediately, they were typically very intuitive to figure out, especially with the help center already on the website. AwardSpring has made a positive impact on our students, too. We’ve definitely seen the number of scholarship applications increase. The site really aids in the student application process, because they can start and stop their applications whenever they want, and they get reminders about things like essay deadlines. Overall, our favorite thing about AwardSpring is definitely how user-friendly and accessible it is, both for staff and for students. It’s easy for us to search the platform for individual scholarships or students, and everything is intuitive, we never feel like we have to hunt around on the website for anything that we need. Switching over to AwardSpring has absolutely been for the better. Aaron Whitacre Financial Aid Director, Germanna Community College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Grayson College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/grayson-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Manual scholarship administration added up to about 100 hours of overtime … Now, I might put in just 20 hours. It's saved us a lot of money. And my sanity! # Grayson College Community & Technical College · Texas 325 Scholarships 1,200 Applicants 2019 Customer since We’ve tried a few different ways to manage scholarship applications in our school’s history. First, we had paper applications. Then we switched to a free online application about two years ago. A year later, we started using Google Forms. But even with online applications, our process was very manual, because there is so much more to scholarship management than just the applications. We spent a lot of time documenting all of our processes and needs before shopping around for a better software solution. There was a lot to consider; we needed the software to streamline all aspects of scholarship management, be affordable, and come from a company that would stick around to help us if we needed it. We knew all of that would help us get buy-in from other folks at Grayson. In the course of our evaluations, AwardSpring rose to the top as a really fantastic program that does everything their competitors do and more! Our AwardSpring implementation was really smooth, and our implementation manager was very supportive. I loved it when she said, “If you have something on paper, give it to us and we’ll enter it for you.” I mean, wow. How many companies would say that? It really calmed my main fear: messing up when creating a scholarship. Our implementation manager did a lot of the setup for us that we were nervous about, and explained every step she took. All my fears were gone at the end and we are really happy with the setup. Now that I’m on the other side, I can’t believe what we went through before. I used to sort through 500-800 applications by hand to determine the scholarships for which each applicant was qualified. Now, AwardSpring does that for me automatically. During review, we’d sit down for a whole day with the reviewers, just going through the applications that I had already weeded out for them. Everyone would fight and talk over each other. Since we didn’t have a great rating scale, decisions were basically made based on who could talk the loudest. That’s been totally eliminated now; with AwardSpring, an individual reviewer doesn’t even know what the other reviewers have said in their evaluations. AwardSpring has totally changed how we gather information for making decisions, too. In the past, if anyone ever asked me for data about our applicants or recipients, it would take me at least half a day to review every single one of our applications to answer the question. Now I just pop into AwardSpring and print a report. And now I have the data I need to demonstrate need to our donors, which is helping us raise more funds. In the past, manual scholarship administration added up to about 100 hours of overtime from February through September. Now, I might put in just 20 hours of overtime. It’s saved us a lot of money. And my sanity! I used to have a lot of stress when it came to the awarding process, because I had to map out all of my funds in a spreadsheet and be very cautious not to award more funds than I had available. That’s all gone now; once I enter my funds in AwardSpring, the platform ensures that I never award more than that total. I’m not the only one who is appreciative of the experience AwardSpring makes possible; one of our reviewers recently told me that AwardSpring is the best use of her time. Now she can review applications at her leisure at any time during her two-week review period, which means she can give more careful thought to her responses. It’s also made life so much easier for our students. They can go into the platform to accept scholarships, upload necessary documents, and they’re done. I think we’ve had about a 10% increase in applications, and that’s just the start. I know there are steps we can take to increase the number of students who complete applications they’ve started, too. Overall, AwardSpring is a great program and we have had a great experience using it. AwardSpring has made all aspects of our scholarship process better, and we highly recommend it! Cindy Perez Scholarship Coordinator, Grayson College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Highline College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/highline-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We can now award applicants so quickly that I've actually asked, “It can't be this easy, can it?” # Highline College Community & Technical College · Washington 31 Scholarships 353 Applicants 2015 Customer since Before AwardSpring, we used paper for everything related to scholarships. Now, I no longer spend my time sifting through paperwork, which is great. All of our student information is at my fingertips, and I appreciate that all information is easily accessible and organized. AwardSpring has helped us understand the data we’ve collected about our entire scholarship program. I really appreciate the level of support I receive from AwardSpring. Whenever I’m stuck, I reach out to the team and get thoughtful and timely support, every time. Reviewing online and from anywhere is fantastic and seamless with AwardSpring. We can now award applicants so quickly that I’ve actually asked, “It can’t be this easy, can it?” It sure beats the old way of sitting in a room for hours to manually select applicants! AwardSpring is so user-friendly for administrators. I hope students feel the same way we do. I imagine them asking, “Is it really this easy?” Josh Gerstman VP for Institutional Advancement, Highline College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Iowa 4-H Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/iowa-4-h-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Using the AwardSpring platform has increased the number of our applications, saved us money on copies, and saved hours of administrative time. # Iowa 4-H Foundation Foundation · Iowa 57 Scholarships 1,000 Applicants 2015 Customer since Using the AwardSpring platform has increased the number of our applications, saved us money on copies, and saved hours of administrative time. AwardSpring’s “SpringBoard” onboarding process truly works. They walk you through every aspect of using their platform while doing a majority of the heavy lifting in the background. They recreate each scholarship, optimize it, and make sure the resulting application is straightforward and easy for our students to use. AwardSpring is a one-stop shop for applicants, which makes the whole process easier for them. As for me, I’m able to reach out to more applicants with the platform. I can also have more of my colleagues conduct the review, increasing the diversity in reviewers. And all along the way, I can track the things that I need to track, like complete and incomplete applications, open reviews, pending documents, and post-award follow-ups like “thank you” letters. I have been approached by AwardSpring competitors, but I found them to be too expensive and their products included features we don’t need. I’m satisfied with AwardSpring and don’t need to consider a new scholarship management system. Mary Clancy Scholarship Coordinator, Iowa 4-H Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Lake Washington Institute of Technology | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/lake-washington-institute-of-technology ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring has saved us at least 60 hours of administrative time per award cycle … AwardSpring is definitely an extension of our staff. # Lake Washington Institute of Technology Community & Technical College · Washington 95 Scholarships 400 Applicants 2015 Customer since The AwardSpring implementation process was incredibly efficient and impressive. The support team stayed focused and always kept us in the loop so we knew what needed to get done and when. No matter what time of day, our dedicated implementation specialist was always there to help. The AwardSpring team put in the time that many other vendors don’t. You actually start to get to know everyone on a first-name basis and I feel like I’m talking to a real person rather than a big business. All in all, it was a really wonderful set-up and training process! And today, AwardSpring is definitely an extension of our staff. Anyone who is new to foundation development would be able to learn the platform in less than a day. Even users without much technology experience can learn to be administrators. AwardSpring is extremely easy to use; it’s clean, modern, and up-to-date. The platform is also customizable, which allows us to focus on the areas that are most important to our development team. And now we have the time to focus on those priorities. AwardSpring has saved us at least 60 hours of administrative time per award cycle. We saved 30 hours just on building and auditing scholarships! Students say that applying to scholarships is a lot easier in AwardSpring. I think AwardSpring would help any foundation ensure that its students have the best resources available to apply to scholarships. Chelsie Akins-Stewart Foundation Development Specialist, Lake Washington Institute of Technology ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Lenawee County Education Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/lenawee-county-education-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > The system proved to be very user-friendly and has simplified the process tremendously … What a time saver! # Lenawee County Education Foundation Foundation · Michigan 160 Scholarships 5,000 Applicants 2015 Customer since Going paperless was a challenge, especially with reviewers that were not big users of technology. The system proved to be very user-friendly and has simplified the process tremendously while reducing our need for storage space! The migration of our information into the system went rather smoothly. I felt comfortable with the I.T. representative that was assigned to us throughout the implementation. My AwardSpring representative was very knowledgeable about the software and its capabilities. More importantly, she was timely in her responses to my inquiries. If there was ever any uncertainty, the team moved quickly to escalate up the chain to expedite a resolution quickly. Overall, I’m satisfied with the software. The support and process has helped us move our applicants, donors, and reviewers into the new age of technology with ease! Being the system administrator, I have a huge appreciation for the reporting functions. We typically receive over 5,000 individual scholarship applications in a year. Some of our scholarships receive hundreds of applications apiece - and now we can export all of that information into a spreadsheet that can be manipulated by category. What a time saver! Dawn Richards Executive Assistant, Lenawee County Education Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Life University | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/life-university ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring support is awesome, tremendous, and consistent … The value that AwardSpring places on its customers is something that isn't seen very often these days. # Life University University · Georgia 32 Scholarships 552 Applicants 2015 Customer since We had a huge increase in application volume when switching from our homegrown system to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform simply because of the ease of use. On top of that we saw an increase of 70-80 more applications since implementing the AwardSpring platform. Despite the increase in applications, there were very few students reaching out to us with questions or issues. I would absolutely recommend AwardSpring to any university currently using a homegrown system. AwardSpring support is awesome, tremendous, and consistent. I have complete confidence working with AwardSpring and the support team. Every interaction is a positive experience even when I need a simple question answered. The support team resolves issues and solves my problems very quickly and I appreciate the constant flow, open communication, and updates. I always feel in the loop. I appreciate that our feedback as a school is valuable to the AwardSpring team. This is important because I felt like my opinion was being heard. I’m also a sounding board for other people utilizing the platform and their opinions are vital as well. The value that AwardSpring places on its customers is something that isn’t seen very often these days. Using a homegrown system as an administrator was a nightmare, but it was also a nightmare for the students. AwardSpring is a positive experience on both the admin and student side. Melissa Waters Director of Financial Aid, Life University ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # One Person, 200 Scholars: Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/long-beach-rotary-scholarship-foundation ![Long Beach waterfront and marina](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/long-beach-background.DkH5pYMb_Z2eoOe0.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > 99% of them can log on with my instructions. Letty Totah Executive Director Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation ~$500K awarded annually, renewable 200+ scholars supported each year 13 years with one staff member 99% of reviewers log on with just Letty's instructions Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation case study # One person, 200 scholars: inside the Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation Letty Totah has run the foundation's scholarship program for 13 years, most of them as its only staff member. Every year, roughly $500,000 in renewable scholarships reaches more than 200 students. Here is how one desk carries all of it. ![Letty Totah, Executive Director, Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/letty-totah-headshot-crop.JANJv_fu_ZxpkTQ.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Letty Totah Executive Director Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation The Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation is a 501(c)(3) affiliated with the Rotary Club of Long Beach, and its mission is focused: fund scholarships for students at Long Beach City College and Cal State Long Beach. With about $23 million in assets, the foundation supports more than 200 scholars a year and adds 20 to 30 new scholars at each institution annually. Nearly every piece of that work crosses a single desk. Letty Totah has been the foundation’s only staff member for 13 years. ## From paper rubrics to one platform For years, the process ran entirely on paper. Students applied through their high school counselors, counselors ranked the applications, and the board made selections around a table. Scores were tallied by hand on paper rubrics, then keyed into spreadsheets and mailed out. A web form eventually trimmed some of the manual entry. But the foundation kept growing. Today it manages nine individually named scholarships, each with its own questions, its own interview process, and in some cases its own review committee. A single form had no way to carry that. Long Beach City College, which uses AwardSpring itself, recommended the platform. Two things sold Letty: it was built specifically for scholarship work, and the reviewer tools could carry her committees. She made the move in 2022. ## The reviewers are the headline Ask Letty about the biggest change and she points to her review committees first. Her volunteers range in age from 50 to 80, and they now score every application online. > “99% of them can log on with my instructions.” > > Letty Totah, Executive Director, Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation When a committee finishes scoring a batch, Letty gets a notification and moves straight to the next step, with no follow-up calls to make. The hand-tallied rubrics, the illegible entries, and the transcription errors are gone. And students apply through a modern online application that works the way they expect an application to work. ## The next chapter: donors The foundation’s donors are its community. Around 300 Rotary Club members give, most of them moved by the student presentations at monthly club meetings. For years, Letty tracked donors in an Excel spreadsheet, and every donor system she evaluated was built for fundraising operations far larger than hers. This year she added AwardSpring Donor Management, which runs on the same platform as her scholarship work and fits the way her foundation actually operates: donor records, gift history, and board reporting in one place, connected to the scholarships those gifts fund. She is looking forward to bringing donors closer to the students their generosity supports, from thank-you letters to the stories behind each award. ## Thirteen years in, and a growing team The foundation runs on relationships, and Letty’s time goes further when the platform carries the process. After thirteen years as the foundation’s only staff member, she has recently been joined by three former students who assist with social media. Her verdict after five years on the platform: > “We’re happy, let’s keep going.” > > Letty Totah, Executive Director, Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation And when she needs help, she gets it fast, whether she reaches for chat or opens a ticket. ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Nearly $1M a Year From One Desk: The Marti Foundation | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/marti-foundation Customer Story > "This is the product I went looking for four years ago." Dr. Robert K. Riza Executive Director The Marti Foundation $930,000 to students since January 2, on pace to approach $1 million 1 person runs the whole foundation $2,500 per semester, up from $1,500, the first increase in twelve years 59 of 60 recipients confirmed enrolled The Marti Foundation case study # Nearly a million dollars a year, from a staff of one: the Marti Foundation on AwardSpring The Marti Foundation ran on a twelve-page paper application from 1989 until Dr. Robert Riza arrived to modernize it. Four cycles later, one person runs the whole operation, the award just took its first increase in twelve years, and the foundation has moved $930,000 to students since January 2nd. ![Dr. Robert K. Riza, Executive Director, The Marti Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/robert-riza-headshot.D0npstnD_Z1vdjYy.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Dr. Robert K. Riza Executive Director The Marti Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) in Cleburne, Texas (Johnson County), just south of Fort Worth, founded in 1989 by a husband and wife who endowed it so completely that the foundation has never needed to fundraise. It awards a single scholarship, the Marti Foundation Scholarship, and follows its recipients to two-year and four-year schools, public and private, in roughly 35 states. Running all of it is Dr. Robert K. Riza, whose 28 years in higher education run from admissions and athletics through a deanship, a vice chancellorship, and the presidency of Clarendon College. He also has a personal connection to the scholarship: his daughter earned one in 2014, back when applying meant twelve pages of paper. ## A twelve-page application, unchanged since 1989 That paper application was the reason the board hired him. The process behind it moved slowly enough that scholarship checks sometimes did not go out until late September. Dr. Riza did what a former college president would do: he called peers and asked what their foundations used. The trail led to AwardSpring, and the board conversation was short. The cost came in at a fraction of what board members had braced for, and the founders' grandson, an attorney on the board, ended the discussion with a line Dr. Riza still quotes: you have to be comfortable with it, not us. If you like it, buy it. ## The whole foundation, from one desk Today the foundation has no staff. Dr. Riza runs recruitment, review, awards, disbursement, and board reporting himself, and the operation travels with him; he can run the whole thing from home when he needs to. Applications are scored by a volunteer review committee of retired college presidents, each application graded by three reviewers against rubrics he distributes through the platform, and he still reads every application personally. When the board chair, who runs computer services, learned that the entire infrastructure investment behind this was an extra $80 monitor, he compared it to the three-person office that once couldn't get checks out on time, and told him to buy a third one if he wanted. > "If I didn't come to work today, I could run the whole foundation from my house." > > Dr. Robert K. Riza, Executive Director, The Marti Foundation > "My board chair put it best: we used to have three people in this office who couldn't get checks out on time. Now it's me and an eighty-dollar monitor, and the checks go out January 2nd." > > Dr. Robert K. Riza, Executive Director, The Marti Foundation ## The numbers he can finally see Every cycle since the switch is on the record, start to finish: Cycle Applications started Completed Awarded 2023 393 235 90 2024 521 285 140 2025 393 213 92 2026 445 235 60 The falling award count is deliberate. This cycle the board raised the scholarship from $1,500 to $2,500 per semester, its first increase in twelve years, and Dr. Riza tightened the cohort to 60 students chosen to persist. So far 59 of the 60 are confirmed enrolled with checks written. He also moved all disbursements to January 2nd so the foundation's giving finally tracks to a single calendar year: since January 2nd, the foundation has disbursed $930,000 in scholarships, on pace to approach $1 million. ## AI under human review, proven in the field This cycle the foundation brought back an essay requirement, to differentiate a strong applicant pool and to put AwardSpring's AI essay scoring to work. He wrote the rubric, the AI scored every essay against it, and he personally read the outliers at both ends. The test came quickly: a student with an excellent transcript scored low on the essay. The AI flagged it, Dr. Riza read the essay himself, agreed with the score, and the award went elsewhere. When questions came, the decision was easy to explain, because a person had made it with better information. As he puts it, the AI decides where his eyeball time goes. It does not decide who gets a scholarship. > "I wrote the rubric and the AI scored every essay against it. I read the outliers. It puts my eyeball time where it matters. It doesn't decide who gets a scholarship; I do." > > Dr. Robert K. Riza, Executive Director, The Marti Foundation ## What he tells the foundations that call Three foundations have already called him for a reference, and his answer is consistent: this is the product he went looking for. The twelve-page application moved online in a form students can actually finish, the fields that never belonged on it are gone, and the platform is right-sized for a foundation, not student services software built for a campus. He uses maybe 15 percent of what the platform can do, and it is exactly the 15 percent he needs, with support that answers when he calls. The rest of the story is in the checks: nearly a million dollars, out the door on time, from one desk. > “AwardSpring made it possible for me to do what I set out to do: make it easier on our students to apply, and manage all of it without hiring staff.” > > Dr. Robert K. Riza, Executive Director, The Marti Foundation ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # 33,000 essays, 500 volunteer judges, one day a week: inside the Mensa Foundation's scholarship program | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/mensa-foundation ![Scattered points of light gathering into brighter constellations against a deep blue field.](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/mensa-foundation-hero.CtkVzAYH_179lJT.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > During judging season this used to be my whole week. Now it's about a day. Jill Beckham Director Mensa Foundation 33,000 essays submitted last cycle 134 scholarships awarded 500 volunteer judges 5 days a week down to 1 in judging season Mensa Foundation case study # 33,000 essays, 500 volunteer judges, one day a week: inside the Mensa Foundation's scholarship program The Mensa Foundation has awarded scholarships on the strength of a single essay since the late 1970s. What changed in the last three years is what it costs to run: the judging season that once consumed the director's entire week now takes about a day of it. ![Jill Beckham, Director, Mensa Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/jill-beckham-headshot.Cu8GkqOr_1lsPBH.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Jill Beckham Director Mensa Foundation ![Mensa Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/mensa-foundation-logo.D9OLw8n3_Z1lMWtM.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) The Mensa Foundation is dedicated to unleashing intelligence for the benefit of humanity, with its scholarship program representing its longest-running initiative. The premise has not changed in nearly fifty years: awards are earned by a written essay about goals and the plan to reach them, never by test scores or proof of intelligence. Anyone can apply. Roughly 100,000 people start the application each year, and about 33,000 finish and submit, all competing for 134 scholarships that range from open-to-everyone to tightly restricted by major or background. Reading essays at that volume takes a volunteer army: about 500 judges from the Mensa community worked the most recent cycle. Coordinating that army, and routing every essay to the right scholarships, used to swallow the calendar every judging season. ## Two home-built systems, then a different question The foundation moved from handwritten, mailed submissions to its first in-house platform in 2012. It struggled. A second in-house build followed in 2019, and it struggled too. So the question changed: rather than attempt a third build, trustee Michelle Rakshys took on evaluating the scholarship platforms already on the market. She came back with exactly one she was willing to put in front of the foundation. What set AwardSpring apart was not a feature list. It was the willingness to work inside the foundation’s unusual requirements: essay-only awards, complex eligibility routing, and application volume most programs never see. The evaluation ran about four or five months, unhurried, with the foundation’s director, development director, and national volunteer chair all in the room before a decision was made. Three years later, the program runs on AwardSpring end to end. > “We built our own system twice. The third time, we asked a different question: who already does this well? Only one platform came back off that search.” > > Jill Beckham, Director, Mensa Foundation ## The first-year test Every scholarship program knows the rhythm: everyone waits until the last day. The foundation’s old systems buckled under that final-day surge year after year, and applicants who waited often couldn’t get their submissions through. In AwardSpring’s first year, the last-day wave broke the system there too. What the foundation remembers is what happened next. The AwardSpring team reached out first, worried the foundation was upset, and sat down to walk through what went wrong and what would change. The crash has never recurred, and the final day now passes like any other. “What can we do? What can we fix? How can we make this better for you?” is how the director remembers that conversation. A rough day in year one became the moment the foundation knew it had chosen the right partner. > “Our old system crashed every year on the last day. AwardSpring hit that wall once, in our first year. They reached out to us first, asked what they could fix, and it’s never happened again.” > > Jill Beckham, Director, Mensa Foundation ## The routing nobody has to do by hand Before, volunteer chairs read essays one at a time just to determine which scholarships an applicant was even eligible for. Now eligibility is set once, when each scholarship is created, and AwardSpring routes every submission automatically. Judges see the essay and the scoring criteria side by side. When a judge goes quiet mid-season, a report surfaces it and the essays get reassigned. > “The essay and the scoring criteria sit side by side now. I’ve had minimal complaints since.” > > Jill Beckham, Director, Mensa Foundation The volunteers noticed. Within 24 hours of re-inviting last year’s judges back for the new cycle, more than 200 had already signed up again. > “Within 24 hours of inviting last year’s judges back, more than 200 had already signed up again. Volunteers don’t come back to software that wastes their time.” > > Jill Beckham, Director, Mensa Foundation ## Five days a week, down to one The clearest measure is the director’s own calendar. During judging season, running the program used to be a five-day-a-week job. On AwardSpring it takes about one. Award notifications, document collection, and proof of enrollment all happen in the platform, work that once meant printing and mailing letters to winners across the country. The newest addition is a first-round AI screen. Before any human judge reads an essay, the foundation runs submissions through an automated pass that flags entries breaking its own contest rules. About half came through to the judges last cycle, which means 500 volunteers spent their hours on essays that actually deserved them. The judging itself stays where the foundation believes it belongs, with people. ## Third year, and counting Ask the foundation whether it would recommend AwardSpring and there is no hedging: the move retired an in-house system and its IT burden, gave the director most of her week back in judging season, and kept its volunteer judges coming back. For a program built on the idea that a single essay can change a student’s plans, the platform finally matches the ambition. ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # How MCC Awards $7.3M on the Quarter System | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/metropolitan-community-college ![Metropolitan Community College campus building in Omaha, Nebraska](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/metropolitan-community-college-building.DICRSGhI_1e1SUp.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Don't just move your old application onto new software. Rethink the whole process around your students. That's where our growth came from. Sheila Schoessler, MPA Director of Scholarships Metropolitan Community College $7.3M transmitted to 4,228 students last year (from $4.4M to 2,816) 3,500 → ~7,000 applicants since 2022-23 $3.7M in 2.5 weeks offered to nearly 1,400 students this fall quarter 95% of offers go out inside a 2.5-week window Metropolitan Community College case study # $3.7 million in two and a half weeks: how MCC rebuilt scholarships for the quarter system ![Sheila Schoessler, MPA, Director of Scholarships, Metropolitan Community College](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/sheila-schoessler-headshot.DnklvbRN_Z1xNPu2.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Sheila Schoessler, MPA Director of Scholarships Metropolitan Community College ![Metropolitan Community College logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/metropolitan-community-college-logo.Dowb3Rqs_i6Hsb.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) _Metropolitan Community College awards scholarships four times a year with a five-person team. Since rebuilding the process on AwardSpring, applicants have nearly doubled and the dollars reaching students grew from $4.4 million to $7.3 million._ Metropolitan Community College in Omaha runs one of the most demanding scholarship calendars in higher education: a quarter system with awarding cycles in fall, winter, and spring, plus a high school scholarship cycle on top. The scholarship office that manages it, a team of five, administers institutional, foundation, state, and community partner awards, roughly 200 scholarships in all. The office itself is young. MCC created it in 2018 after the college recognized a hard truth: money meant for students was sitting unspent because there was no process built to move it. ## Before the rebuild Applications used to arrive scattered, some through admissions systems, some on paper, with no central process. Award notifications went out as individual Outlook emails, with an administrative assistant borrowed from another office to help send them. Reviewers worked from Excel and Word packets assembled by hand. AwardSpring was technically in the building as early as 2015, but barely used: some years saw as few as 10 to 12 applications come through it. ## One application, built around how students actually enroll The turning point came in the 2020-21 year, when the Scholarship team rebuilt the process instead of carrying the old one forward. Because MCC students can enroll at any point in the year, the team created a single annual application that serves every quarter, open from May through February 1. Eventually, they cut it to one page that takes under five minutes, and replaced open-ended essays with a 150-to-300-word paragraph. Many of MCC’s scholarships use the same essay questions, so students only need to answer them once: AwardSpring automatically carries responses over to other scholarships with the same questions, making the process much easier for students. And since most of MCC’s 200 scholarships require no essay at all, that one short application makes a student eligible for nearly everything the college offers. The team even used the data to retire summer awarding, after reports showed scholarship dollars concentrated almost entirely in the first three quarters. > “Students tell us all the time how easy the application is. It’s one page, it takes five minutes, and it makes them eligible for almost everything we offer.” > > Sheila Schoessler, Director of Scholarships ![Metropolitan Community College graduates at commencement](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/metropolitan-community-college-graduation.KyhXV5Ae_1FK6Sp.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ## The numbers a five-person team carries now Applicants grew from 3,500 in 2022-23 to just under 7,000 last year. Funds transmitted to students grew from $4.4 million reaching 2,816 students to **$7.3 million reaching 4,228 students**. The dollars are MCC’s donors and programs at work; the rebuilt process is what lets a team this size move them. Speed tells the same story. Awarding used to take four to five weeks per quarter. It now takes about two and a half, even with roughly 3,200 applicants in the fall quarter alone and about 6,500 by spring awarding, and 95% of offers go out inside that window. This fall quarter, MCC offered **$3.7 million to nearly 1,400 students in two and a half weeks**, almost half of what the office moved in the entire 2022-23 year. ## The text message worth a hundred scholarships Acceptances used to mean cycles of calls and emails chasing students who had won money and not claimed it. Last cycle the team sent a single text reminder through the platform: **100 additional students accepted their awards within two days.** Moving acceptances into AwardSpring, where students already apply, also cut the confused calls that came from juggling a separate system. The recovered hours went somewhere that used to be neglected: staff now actively monitor whether scholarship recipients are meeting their requirements. ## Three reviewers, one of them AI, and every deadline met This past year the team put SpringIQ, AwardSpring’s AI assistant, to work as one of the three reviewers on each foundation application, with people holding the other two seats and the final word. Every foundation scholarship review finished on time, without staff scrambling to fill reviewer slots. It is exactly how we believe AI belongs in this work: carrying a seat, never the gavel. > “Thanks to the working partnership with AwardSpring, the Scholarships Office at MCC is optimizing the student scholarship application process and is also able to optimize every dollar available for our students. I’m proud of the work they have done.” > > Christopher Swanson, Associate Vice President of Mission Advancement and Strategic Resources ## Advice from eight years in Sheila’s counsel to peers weighing a platform change is simple: > “Don’t just move your old application onto new software. Rethink the whole process around your students. That’s where our growth came from.” And after a decade with AwardSpring, she points to the partnership itself: feature requests from her team keep showing up in the product, and support is a person she knows by name. ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Mid Michigan College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/mid-michigan-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Why wouldn't you use AwardSpring? It'll make your life a whole lot easier! # Mid Michigan College Community & Technical College · Michigan 30 Scholarships 400 Applicants 2015 Customer since We used to have mounds of paper applications to sort through and we tracked everything in monstrous spreadsheets. AwardSpring has allowed us to streamline our process to cut down on the time and effort needed to manage our scholarship program. Every step of the process is much quicker and far less tedious than it was before. I tried to implement software in a previous role and, while the sales process was great, the implementation process was a nightmare. The AwardSpring SpringBoard implementation process was easy, simple, straightforward, and I always received training and guidance when needed. It was like night and day! The AwardSpring software is intuitive, easy to use, and the interface is simple and clean. This makes it easy for administrators, students, and reviewers to use. I have never received any complaints from students or reviewers and receive only a handful of questions each award cycle. Students nowadays expect to go online to fill out forms so we are glad that we moved away from our paper process when we did. AwardSpring support is speedy, with same-day responses, and always provides thorough guidance and assistance. I receive helpful step-by-step instructions and well-explained answers to my questions. My communication with the support team feels more like open dialogue rather than the robotic and sometimes unhelpful responses you get from other customer support experiences. AwardSpring truly does provide great support! Why wouldn’t you use AwardSpring? It’ll make your life a whole lot easier! Anita West Associate Director of Financial Aid, Mid Michigan College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Minnesota North College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/minnesota-north-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring is so straightforward to use that even our less tech savvy reviewers say, “Wow! This is fun.” # Minnesota North College Community & Technical College · Minnesota 150 Scholarships 200 Applicants 2017 Customer since Before AwardSpring, we were using paper applications for our 150 scholarships. With a variety of criteria across the scholarships, this process was incredibly labor-intensive. Also, because of the greater possibility of human error, we were worried that we, as a small foundation with a small staff, could be making mistakes and, therefore, wrong award decisions. AwardSpring provides a clearinghouse for scholarship criteria which makes it simpler for us to determine to whom the scholarships should be awarded and in far less time. Our experience was fantastic from the beginning because our sales rep was phenomenal! He was incredibly patient, talked us through all of the features of the platform, and answered all of our questions. We also experienced the same expertise, patience, and thoroughness during the SpringBoard implementation process. Our implementation manager did all of the heavy lifting, configuring all of our scholarships and scholarship criteria for us. Training during the SpringBoard process made AwardSpring easy to pick up and use, unlike some of the more cumbersome software we use. We continue to receive exceptional service from the support team - they always provide prompt and thorough responses to all of our requests. They’re not just good, they’re great! The uncomplicated use of the platform has made our lives dramatically simpler. Applicants are excited that they can apply for scholarships prior to attending and that they can simply upload their transcripts and essays to the site. For the first time, we’ve had international scholarship applicants, which is a further reach than we thought possible. The review process is fabulous. It was nearly effortless to get the volunteers organized as we didn’t have to coordinate all reviewers spending 12 hours around a table in a conference room. Reviewers like being able to read and score the students’ essays from the comfort of their own homes and on mobile devices. Reviewers were more comfortable volunteering another year and we even had folks requesting to take on additional work. AwardSpring is so straightforward to use that even our less tech savvy reviewers say, “Wow! This is fun.” There isn’t just one thing that has made us happy working with AwardSpring - there’s a list of things. AwardSpring is well worth the cost in terms of time-savings, ease of use, efficiency, and customer service. With a small foundation budget, it was a big deal for us to take the plunge to using an online management solution, but we don’t plan on ever going back to the old way. AwardSpring has streamlined our entire scholarship process from application, to review, to communicating with students, to awarding the scholarships. It has made our scholarship process more satisfying for everyone involved. AwardSpring is the best! Susan Lynch Foundation Director, Minnesota North College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # New Haven Schools Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/new-haven-schools-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring has revolutionized our 30-year old scholarship program by allowing us to focus our efforts on reaching donors and increasing funding for students. # New Haven Schools Foundation Foundation · California 73 Scholarships 450 Applicants 2015 Customer since AwardSpring has revolutionized our 30-year old scholarship program by allowing us to focus our efforts on reaching donors and increasing funding for students. Many of our special requests were accommodated and even became new features. Software is updated on a regular basis, and I really like the way AwardSpring incorporates customer requests into the new releases. Three benefits for us: ability to focus more time on fundraising, reducing our carbon footprint by eliminating our old paper-based process, and ability to export data as needed. I hear from \[competitors\], but I don’t respond. I’m happy. Implementation support was excellent. We saved so much time, and significantly increased the number of student applicants who successfully completed submissions. Helen Kennedy Executive Director, New Haven Schools Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/north-kansas-city-schools-education-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Before we began with AwardSpring in 2023, we had 189 applicants … this jumped to 575, that's a 204% increase in applicants. # North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation Foundation · Missouri 55 Scholarships 520 Applicants 2022 Customer since When I first started as the Director of North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation in 2022, the foundation was giving out about $100,000 a year in scholarships from 50 unique funds that we managed in partnership with community organizations. This was an incredibly manual process. Each of those scholarship opportunities was displayed on our website on a separate word document, and each application was on a separate word document. Because all of these scholarship opportunities had different amounts, criteria, and requirements, students had to click on each one individually to see if they qualified. They then had to complete each of those individual word documents and submit them to apply, repeating a lot of that same information over and over. Walking into that, the prospect of managing the scholarships this way terrified me. I was a team of one and scholarships are not all we do, so it was super intimidating. It was also clear that this system was ineffective for the students. We are the second-largest school district in Missouri, but we had very few applicants for our scholarships. We have thousands of graduating seniors every year, but we were receiving fewer than 200 applicants, so the math was not adding up. I also did not feel that what I was seeing with our scholarship recipients reflected the diverse demographics of our school district. It was clear that we needed to make a change. In order to ensure that we found the right scholarship management software, I did as many demos and took as many sales calls as I could. The biggest thing that set AwardSpring apart was the ability to create a universal application. This way, students could easily seek out the opportunities that they were qualified for, and they could log in and save their progress on their applications. The ability to blind the scholarship applications was also huge. DEI initiatives are really important to our school district, and so I really wanted to eliminate as much bias as possible in our review process. Blinding applications through the universal application made this possible. AwardSpring has helped us in so many other ways, too. We can easily track scholarships and capture post-award reporting info, like senior photos, acceptance letters, and ID numbers, and we can use this to create personalized thank you letters for our donors. The support system we received from AwardSpring was excellent from the beginning. What we started with was a monster of a problem. I had to send AwardSpring all of those 50+ scholarship forms that we began with, and our implementation manager did an incredible job of sifting through and developing a universal application that could fit all of them. The check-ins were very timely, and our implementation manager was super thoughtful and great at explaining everything. We developed a genuine, strong relationship. All of that being said, the system itself is pretty intuitive. Our implementation manager guided us through it all, but it also intrinsically makes sense. I felt comfortable taking over once she walked us through it. The results have been astonishing. Before we began with AwardSpring in 2023, we had 189 applicants. In just one year with AwardSpring, this jumped to 575, that’s a 204% increase in applicants. I would absolutely recommend AwardSpring to those looking for scholarship management. The demos that were provided exceeded our expectations, there are continuous improvements and added features that provide more benefits, and the pricing is very competitive, even with groups that didn’t offer the same features. Overall, AwardSpring has made a world of a difference for us, our students, and donors! Midori Carpenter NKC Education Foundation Director, North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Pierce College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/pierce-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring has been transformative to our scholarship program … the software has been worth its weight in gold. # Pierce College Community & Technical College · Washington 27 Scholarships 159 Applicants 2017 Customer since When I started in this role three years ago, I was responsible for building an efficient and effective scholarship program from the ground up. We needed our program to work with a small staff, be accessible to applicants, and replace the archaic and manual process we had in place. Our existing process was too time-consuming administratively, especially when it came to matching applicants with scholarships, and was distracting us from marketing our scholarship program. We weren’t as donor- and student-focused as we needed (and wanted) to be. I spent two years researching and doing my homework on implementing a scholarship management software option. During this time, I surveyed applicants for feedback and analyzed ROI on such an investment. I quickly realized that the cost for an accessible and efficient software is minimal when you consider how it will transform your process. AwardSpring stood out immediately from other vendors and we received many positive rave reviews from other Washington colleges who told us that their numbers skyrocketed after implementing the software. During the sales process, I felt like our sales representative provided me with expert information and presentations tailored to our process. He was always friendly and never pushy. The functionality of the platform significantly aligned with our program goals so we signed up. It’s been about a year since then and we are thrilled with the results! Because of the overall improvement to our process, from application through reviewing and awarding, I no longer feel like I need to hide and barricade myself in my office to get through our award cycle. From the start of our implementation, through to today, it is evident that AwardSpring focuses heavily on customer service. When working with the support team, I am never made to feel dumb or like a burden and I am always patiently walked through the process so I can work through it on my own next time. Between the support and training experiences and referring to the Help Center, I feel like I’ve become a subject matter expert in a short period of time. Because everything is more streamlined and efficient, I’m able to spend more time being innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial in working toward our overall program goals. We are working to bring on two more programs which never would have been possible before AwardSpring! The data and quality of information I can get and share with board members and donors is invaluable. I am comfortable and confident with the concrete metrics I can get from AwardSpring and can easily access the more subjective information like applicant essays as well. Having this information available allows me to go back to the donors to say, “We have more quality applicants, can you provide us more money?” I am ecstatic that I now have a perfect system to be able to push money back out to students. Having this data has also opened the door to communication with our institutional research team who is building out our recruitment and retention program. The data we can pull from AwardSpring will help us to track the success of scholarship recipients and our scholarship program as a whole. I also use AwardSpring data and the resulting analysis for presenting at board meetings so I can show the members how far our program has come. AwardSpring has been transformative to our scholarship program. With a small staff, limited resources, and a small budget, the software has been worth its weight in gold. The results and benefits of the software have transcended every aspect of my job. AwardSpring has helped me to be proud of where I work and the work that I do! I believe AwardSpring is the best deal out there and will be the answer to your scholarship program woes. Nicole Ferris Manager for Donor and Alumni Relations, Pierce College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # How Rhode Island College Leveled the Scholarship Playing Field | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/rhode-island-college ![Aerial view of the Rhode Island College campus in Providence, Rhode Island](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ric-campus-drone-1900x924.B3h4KWz9_1sO8Hw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring levels the playing field for all students. Everyone applies in the same way, under the same parameters. Nico Gareca Scholarship Coordinator Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation $1M+ awarded in year one on the platform 400+ students funded in that first year 1 application behind every foundation scholarship Blind-ID reviews scored on faculty time Rhode Island College case study # When scholarships traveled by word of mouth: Rhode Island College's level playing field ![Nico Gareca, Scholarship Coordinator, Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/nico-gareca-headshot.Dqwj-ZWd_Z2uWlFP.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Nico Gareca Scholarship Coordinator Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation ![Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ric-alumni-foundation-logo.BkVTCNWN_Z2sWx7p.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) _Foundation scholarships at Rhode Island College once moved department by department, each on its own timeline, and the students who heard about them were the ones in the room. Two years into AwardSpring, every scholarship lives in one place, reviews run behind blind IDs, and the foundation put more than $1 million in front of more than 400 students in a single year._ The Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation works with donors, alumni, and faculty to build the scholarship funds that keep RIC affordable. Nico Gareca is its scholarship coordinator, and he came to the work from a classroom: Spanish bilingual education, first in bilingual elementary classrooms and then in international higher education, before joining RIC this past spring. Ask him why the job matters and he starts with equity. The point of the foundation’s scholarships is that college stays affordable and accessible to every student, and the point of his role is making sure the money lands the way each fund agreement intends. ## When scholarships traveled by word of mouth The stories that greeted Nico when he arrived were already institutional memory. Before AwardSpring, scholarships moved through individual departments, each on its own calendar, and there was no single way to make sure a student a fund was meant for ever heard the scholarship existed. Students who caught the announcement in class applied; students who went straight to work or straight home often never knew. Timelines varied department by department, and donors sometimes learned only after the fact how their fund had been used. Nothing about it was malicious. It was simply what happens when there is no system: the process ran on proximity. ## One application, one timeline, every student Now every foundation scholarship lives on one platform, on one timeline, behind one application. A student builds a profile once and sees the scholarships that profile matches, so a scholarship reserved for biology majors reaches biology majors instead of collecting applications it can never award. The link travels anywhere, even as a QR code, so hearing about scholarships no longer depends on being in the right room at the right time. In the foundation’s first year on the platform, the 2025-26 school year, that added up to **more than $1 million awarded to more than 400 students**, and this cycle is tracking toward similar numbers, with final figures expected in October. ## Reviews on faculty time, behind blind IDs Each department’s review board scores its applicants inside AwardSpring, against the rubric the foundation sets, with applications presented under blind ID numbers. Faculty review on their own time, in office hours or at home, and the finalist ranking comes out of the scores. No all-hands session, and far less room for anyone’s favorite student to skip the line. Nico onboards each committee himself, walking review boards through the platform on Zoom with annotated screenshots, and the questions that used to fill an in-person review day have mostly disappeared. > “Faculty review on their own time, anonymously, at their own pace. They don’t have to break away from everything to go through every scholarship together in one room.” > > Nico Gareca, Scholarship Coordinator, Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation > “We had a disjointed, decentralized scholarship system that was impossible to wrangle. AwardSpring helped us centralize our process to be more student centered while giving us the power and ability to be more equitable.” > > Eric Shoen, Executive Director, Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation ## The loop back to donors Some RIC donors want to be close to their scholarship: helping shape the student profile, meeting winners, celebrating at an event. Others, including funds honoring donors who have passed, are stewarded quietly in their name. The platform holds both. Students send thank-you notes to donors through AwardSpring as a follow-up to their award, and the foundation can see, in the data, exactly how each fund moved. As Nico puts it, the faculty, the review committees, the donors, and the students all meet in the same platform. ## The data he never had Because every application now lives in one record, Nico can ask questions the old process could never answer. Which class years apply, and which do not? Did this year’s first-year students miss the announcement? Why do sophomores outnumber juniors? The reports guide where the foundation promotes scholarships next, and each cycle adds a year to the picture. ## Year two, and the button he likes best His first full cycle closes this fall, and he is already tuning the next one before applications open in December: rubrics personalized to individual scholarships, and application logic that adapts to RIC’s mix of traditional, transfer, and returning adult students. But the part of the job he savors is simpler. When he publishes an award announcement, the thank-you replies from students arrive almost immediately, and he forwards the gratitude to where it belongs: the donors who funded them. > “It feels really good when I publish the announcement to a winner. So many students write back immediately to say thank you to us. (before they write their thank you to the donor of course). It’s always a nice surprise, and it feels good to do my part to make college more accessible.” > > Nico Gareca, Scholarship Coordinator, Rhode Island College Alumni & Foundation ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Richmond Community College's First Year on AwardSpring | Customer Story Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/richmond-community-college ![Aerial view of Richmond Community College's campus in Hamlet, North Carolina](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/richmond-community-college-campus.CzYJ-8G-_ZkhMIj.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) CUSTOMER STORY · COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION > There has not been one time I tried to get on and couldn't. It's just made us more efficient. Dr. Wendy Kelly Jordan Associate Vice President for Development Richmond Community College Foundation 120 scholarships in the first cycle 500+ applications submitted 2,300+ curriculum students served 337 donors in one record CUSTOMER STORY · COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION # The scholarship meeting that took two days: Richmond Community College's first year on AwardSpring ![Dr. Wendy Kelly Jordan, Associate Vice President for Development, Richmond Community College Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/wendy-jordan-headshot.BoD4Tx0V_1rRbHM.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Dr. Wendy Kelly Jordan Associate Vice President for Development Richmond Community College Foundation ![Richmond Community College Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/richmond-community-college-foundation-logo.C5o1-f5o_ZRAyXc.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) When Dr. Wendy Kelly Jordan arrived at Richmond Community College’s Foundation after 30 years in the county’s schools, scholarship matching meant a room full of people for nearly two full days, and donor records lived in multiple spreadsheets. One cycle later, the room and the spreadsheets are both retired. Richmond Community College serves more than 2,300 curriculum students in Hamlet, North Carolina. Its Foundation office is two people: Dr. Wendy Kelly Jordan, Associate Vice President for Development, and Lisa Harrelson, its Accounting and Donor Relations Specialist. Wendy is new to higher ed fundraising and not remotely new to Richmond County: she spent 30 years with the county’s public schools, graduated from RCC herself, and stepped into the Foundation role in May 2025. Her first scholarship cycle came with a system everyone already wanted gone. ## A room full of people, twice a year Matching students to scholarships used to require representatives from across the college in one room: engineering, nursing, finance, general education, financial aid, and others, a true cross-section of the college, working alongside the Foundation staff. For nearly two full days they worked through applicants one at a time, matching by memory and personal story. The old platform kept the numbers somewhere, but finding them was its own project: even a simple application count was difficult to locate and navigate to. And its application asked students to read through every eligibility question individually. “Everybody complained about it,” Wendy says, “but nobody did anything to move past it.” So the college pulled the trigger. Emily Jarrell, the college’s Director of Financial Aid, had used AwardSpring at a previous institution and liked it, and one thing set it apart in the evaluation: scholarship management and donor management on one platform, which meant the Foundation’s donor records, spread across multiple spreadsheets with addresses that disagreed with each other, finally had one home too. > “Everybody complained about it, but nobody did anything to move past it. So we pulled the trigger.” ## The first cycle, by the numbers In its first year on AwardSpring, the Foundation ran **120 scholarships** through the platform and students submitted **more than 500 applications**, a count the old system would have made a chore to find. The application itself got shorter for students: categorized checkboxes replaced the one-by-one eligibility questions. The feedback Wendy trusts most came from students she has known since middle school, who told her the application was easy and took hardly any time. The financial aid office saw the same thing from its side: a noticeably faster process, with more students finishing what they started. > “I called students I have known since middle school and asked what they thought. They said it was so easy, it hardly took any time.” ## The chase, moved into award acceptance The win Wendy is proudest of is one she used to feel personally. Last year, confirming who was coming to the scholarship banquet took her about three solid days on the phone: calls, voicemails, callbacks, and a spreadsheet log of every attempt. This year, attendance is asked and answered as a post-award task: when students formally accept their scholarship, they attest that they will attend, yes or no, with no maybe. Awards go out in July and August with the November 5 banquet date in view, which gives students two to three months to make arrangements, and, as Wendy puts it, there is a responsibility tied to acceptance. The follow-up conversation now belongs to the student, not to three days of Wendy’s calendar. > “It probably took me three solid days on the phone just to find out who was coming to the banquet. Now students answer that question when they accept the award.” ## One record for donors, next With the scholarship cycle behind her, Wendy’s attention is on the donor side: 337 donors are already in the system, four campaigns are loaded, and the fundraising ribbon shows exactly where each campaign stands against its goal. After a year of duplicate spreadsheets and returned mail, she is direct about what she wants from it: one record, kept right, everywhere at once. “It’s just made us more efficient,” she says, “and our Donor Relations Specialist has said the same thing.” ## Year two Ask her what she would tell a peer college on a reference call and the answer is about friction: the platform is intuitive, the information is never more than a couple of clicks away, and in a full year it has never once failed to load. Now that the whole team has been through a cycle, she expects year two to be faster still. > “You can just get in there and it’s very intuitive. There’s not a whole lot of clicking to get to the information you want.” ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Scholarship Foundation of Northshore | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/scholarship-foundation-of-northshore ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We started with 40 scholarships and … we are looking to ramp up to approximately 300 scholarships in the upcoming year or two. # Scholarship Foundation of Northshore Foundation · Washington 50 Scholarships 425 Applicants 2017 Customer since When I began volunteering with the Scholarship Foundation of Northshore, we were managing our scholarships via paper applications. We advertised on our website and applicants had to download a PDF application, complete it, and then submit it to the Foundation or to their high school counselors. The applicants were required to do this for every scholarship, which required a lot of research and effort on their part. After receiving the applications, we photocopied all of them for each of the reviewers and then provided each of our volunteer reviewers with a large packet of applications to review. The cumbersome nature of the communication and tracking required for managing this review process, as well as the financial and environmental toll of using so much paper, encouraged me to look for an online solution. I took a cursory look at a couple of other scholarship management software vendors but was really sold on AwardSpring by talking to an existing customer of theirs. I met with her and she walked me through how they use the software. She was thrilled with how it had helped her manage their scholarship program. The spend for the software was a hard sell to the board because we had never before had an expense for “scholarship management” since we are all volunteers. I spent the time calculating approximately how many trees would be saved by moving our process online in an effort to show them that using an online system was the environmentally conscious way to go. I also informed them that an online application would benefit the applicants because they would be able to apply for all scholarships at the same time, reducing the amount of time and effort required for the review and award processes. After using AwardSpring for two years, we have seen solid evidence of the benefits outlined during the sales process. Because students can apply for all scholarships with just one application, they have a higher chance of walking away with an award. And at the Foundation, we have seen a dramatic increase in the overall number of applications we receive. We immediately felt as if using AwardSpring allowed us to step into the worlds of our applicants since they are able to apply online via computer, tablet, or phone. And we have received nothing but positive feedback from the students! Scholarship recipients are even using scholarships to flesh out their resumes to help them in their job search. Overall, the students win! Internally, AwardSpring has indeed improved our review and award processes. Reviewers are excited that they no longer have to tote around stacks of applications and are able to log in whenever and from wherever to complete their reviews and scoring. And we can track all of this activity and communicate directly with reviewers! AwardSpring has drastically cut down on the time and effort required from all parties involved with the process. AwardSpring has also helped us generate more donors and illustrate our involvement in the community. We are able to show the community a new level of professionalism and sustainability with our move to an easier, more automated giving process. I love to show people AwardSpring. At board meetings and with parents and others from the community, I am able to log in, show them current metrics, and talk through the history of our scholarships. We are also able to bring in other scholarships from smaller, local organizations in order to help ensure their dollars are awarded to qualified students. AwardSpring has helped us reinforce that what we’re doing is really all about community! We started with 40 scholarships and, because we are confident in our new online process and have more time available, we are looking to ramp up to approximately 300 scholarships in the upcoming year or two. We have confidence that AwardSpring will be there to help us grow our program! There are probably a hundred other beneficial things about AwardSpring that I could mention, but I’ll just say that we couldn’t be where we are now and on our way to where we are headed without AwardSpring. And I feel so much better knowing the vast number of trees we are saving along the way! Karen McDonald Board Member & Treasurer, Scholarship Foundation of Northshore ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Shoreline & Edmonds Community Colleges | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/shoreline-edmonds ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring's customer support is the best out of any software company I have to deal with. # Shoreline & Edmonds Community Colleges Community & Technical College · Washington 64 Scholarships 1,075 Applicants 2017 Customer since At a previous job at Edmonds College, I led the charge for a transition to a new scholarship management solution. There were three main reasons we wanted to switch: to gain more control over our application, a better reviewer experience, and deeper reporting. With our previous solution, we had to rely on support staff for any minor change we wanted to make to our application or new scholarships we wanted to add, with no control over the timeline for those changes. Our reviewers constantly complained about how the review experience was set up; they had to switch between several different screens and applications, which made their process inefficient and stressful. And the old reports just didn’t offer much value. When we evaluated alternatives, AwardSpring was the clear winner; it had all of the features that our previous solution lacked and it was more affordable. AwardSpring gave me complete control over our application and all of our scholarships, so I could make changes whenever I wanted. My reviewers loved how easy it was to review using AwardSpring’s dedicated reviewer portal. And custom reports allowed me to extract any data I needed for goal-setting or tracking progress. Implementing AwardSpring was an amazing experience. I was really taken care of! My implementation manager was always available when I needed her, and she gave me clear milestones with training every step of the way. And that support didn’t stop once implementation was over. Even today, AwardSpring’s customer support is the best out of any software company I have to deal with. I can make a phone call and someone answers right away, or I can send an email, it’s my choice. Most companies just send documentation in response to a question or issue. Not AwardSpring; their customer support team can log in to our app with me and walk me through exactly how to solve my problem. I really appreciate this because I retain the information better when I can actually see and experience the solution! I have since moved on from Edmonds College to Shoreline Community College, but I got lucky: Shoreline uses AwardSpring too. And everything I loved about AwardSpring at Edmonds, the usability, reporting, and customer service, is just as awesome here. I highly recommend AwardSpring! Michelle Cimaroli Foundation Manager, Shoreline & Edmonds Community Colleges ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/sigma-tau-delta ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Students are applied to every scholarship they qualify for, and we are getting more applications for our historically less popular scholarships. # Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society Foundation · Illinois 20 Scholarships 942 Applicants 2015 Customer since One of Sigma Tau Delta Societies’ major goals is to offer academic scholarships to student members each year. We need to be able to easily manage administration and backend tracking of what money goes out. AwardSpring allows us to do this. The folks in charge of the scholarships program prior to AwardSpring were scared of technology, but AwardSpring has proven to be easy enough even for those who are not tech-savvy. Data and information can be shared easier, without the spreadsheets. AwardSpring provides a good and easy interface as well as automatic matching for scholarships. This means students are applied to every scholarship they qualify for, and we are getting more applications for our historically less popular scholarships. We use AwardSpring for not only our scholarships but also for our grants and internship stipend awards. It’s wonderful to have one consolidated system to manage them all. All of our judges and committee chairs are volunteers and are spread far and wide, including overseas. Taking our scholarship application online has allowed us to have applications available and accessible to all our reviewers at any time. And the reviewers are happy with how easy the platform is to use for reviewing and scoring applications. The SpringSquad team is both competent and willing to dig into problems to try to find a solution. They are helpful in determining workarounds for unique and special cases. Our subscription includes unlimited custom-built reports which have been very helpful for tracking recommendation letters. AwardSpring has proven to be a fantastic SaaS solution to help us manage our program. It’s not scary to implement and manage and I have a helpful support team available when I do need assistance. Elfi Gabriel Director of Marketing and Technology, Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # South Haven Area Community Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/south-haven-area-community-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We did look at several companies … AwardSpring was just right. # South Haven Area Community Foundation Foundation · Michigan 25 Scholarships 100 Applicants 2022 Customer since Before we found AwardSpring, we were managing all of our scholarships on paper. It took up a lot of time and wasn’t the most efficient, so we knew that we had to explore new scholarship management. We did look at several companies, but the others were all either too big and required us to use too many features that we don’t need at our size, or they were too costly. AwardSpring was just right. The AwardSpring team was very helpful during the implementation process. They were communicative and quick when we asked questions, and they guided us on several Zoom meetings so that we felt trained and ready to take on the first scholarship cycle when it was time. The increase in the number of applications we’ve received has been huge. Before AwardSpring, we were getting anywhere from 1-10 applications for our 3 largest scholarship endowments, that was a problem for us. After year one at AwardSpring, we had 38 completed applications. This last year, we jumped to 52 for our main scholarships. It’s been great PR for the foundation, the school system, and the scholarships. I actually believe that the PR we received about all the new scholarships we got during our first year with AwardSpring is why we have even more scholarships this year. Everyone is also super happy with the online application and application review process. It’s nice and efficient, and it’s much, much easier for the kids to use. They can even apply on their phones if they want to. We’ve also been developing new rubrics for reviewing applications, and the AwardSpring system can easily adapt to them. We’ve been very pleased. I’ve already suggested AwardSpring to people that I know in other school districts, and we anticipate that our scholarships will only continue to increase. It’s been fun! Dene Hadden Scholarship Chair, South Haven Area Community Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # South Louisiana Community College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/south-louisiana-community-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We now have more than five times as many scholarships, and we receive more than ten times as many completed applications! # South Louisiana Community College Community & Technical College · Louisiana 100 Scholarships 1,000 Applicants 2015 Customer since When I first came on board at the college, I was surprised to discover that the institution was still using paper applications for each individual scholarship opportunity. It created a crazy amount of work for both students and administrators! I knew that we could improve our process with an online solution. In 2014, I moved into a Director of Development role and was focused on awarding the scholarships we already had as well as attaining new ones from donors. AwardSpring helped me achieve my goals. In 2012, when we were still using a paper-based process, we had fewer than 10 scholarship opportunities and each one had a separate application. Once we moved our process online with AwardSpring, we saw a dramatic increase in both scholarships and applications. We now have more than five times as many scholarships, and we receive more than ten times as many completed applications! In addition to contributing to our explosive growth in scholarships and applicants, AwardSpring has made the entire scholarship experience easier for everyone by drastically streamlining our process. Prior to AwardSpring, the scholarship committee would meet for a whole afternoon, read through all applications, and come to a consensus on awarding each scholarship. It was very time- and labor-intensive. Now everyone’s experience is better. Committee members can review from the comfort of their home or office instead of driving to the main campus and spending a whole day working through applications. Students can complete an application on their phone while they are waiting for classes or at home in their pajamas. With campuses in nine different counties, we want to make sure our scholarship committee is diverse, with staff and faculty from different departments as well as different campuses. We can easily achieve that now with AwardSpring. AwardSpring is crucial to helping us achieve other institutional goals. For example, we are all focused on increasing the recruitment, retention, and completion of all students at SoLAcc. We work closely with AwardSpring to track how many students start an application as well as how many finish and actually apply to the scholarships. As we grow and add scholarships, AwardSpring’s support team is always willing to revisit the application and help us make sure it is as sleek and condensed as possible, so students are more likely to finish their applications. AwardSpring reports have played a crucial role in helping us continually increase our rate of application completion. Scholarship growth has been a very powerful recruiting tool for us. Data gathered between AwardSpring and our institutional effectiveness office shows that scholarship recipients have higher GPAs, are retained at a higher rate, and are more likely to graduate or transfer to a four-year university. We see that scholarship recipients are more successful as a whole than non-scholarship recipients. Our Development & Alumni coordinator now administers our growing scholarship program, and she is impressed with AwardSpring’s customer service. As we grow, AwardSpring seems to anticipate our needs. If we ask for functionality that AwardSpring doesn’t yet have, the response is usually that it will be coming in an upcoming product release. And I’m really impressed by the customer service. If there is something we need, we can always get on the phone with our support team and find the perfect solution, whether it’s creating a new custom report, adding a question to the application to better filter students, or running a query. The support team is so responsive; I typically get a reply to my questions or issues within a few hours, which is so refreshing! And I appreciate that they always make sure their solution fits our needs and that our process is as successful as possible. Scholarship management and awarding is very timely, so the responsiveness of AwardSpring’s support team really sets them apart and makes my job easier. AwardSpring has truly transformed our scholarship management process and made us so more efficient as an organization. We have received only positive feedback about AwardSpring; the platform is very straightforward and has become part of the SoLAcc culture. Lana Fontenot, MBA, CFRE Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement & External Relations and Executive Director, Foundation for SoLAcc, South Louisiana Community College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Southern Regional Technical College Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/southern-regional-technical-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We saw our application rate double during our first award cycle … My days are no longer consumed with administrative nightmares and I am much happier! # Southern Regional Technical College Foundation Community & Technical College · Georgia 75 Scholarships 700 Applicants 2015 Customer since Prior to using AwardSpring, we were using paper applications. Each applicant was required to submit an application, two letters of recommendation, an essay, and a transcript for each scholarship. This was an administrative nightmare for both the applicants and our team. We were heading into a merger with another college and knew we needed a better process in place for a larger pool of applicants. Our SpringBoard implementation manager configured all of our scholarships on our site and provided helpful training every step of the way. She set appropriate deadlines to keep me on track for meeting our launch date and made sure that I was familiar with how to use the platform. The implementation didn’t require a bunch of my time filling out informational worksheets or configuring things myself. The whole process went really well and we saw our application rate double during our first award cycle using the platform! Prior to using AwardSpring, our review process was two weeks long and required reviewers to meet together in a conference room. This was extremely time-consuming and everyone dreaded it! Now, reviewers can review applications anywhere, anytime. This has freed up a lot of my time and reviewers are happier due to the more flexible and easy process. Our award process used to be extremely time-consuming and tedious. The process now takes mere minutes! Previously, I spent hours and hours of my time typing up and mailing out hard copies of award letters that I was unsure were being delivered because of address changes or issues with the post office. The notification process takes about an hour in AwardSpring and I’m confident that awardees are being notified properly and promptly. I even use the denial letter to reach out to those students who did not receive scholarships to see if I can assist them with improving their applications for the next scholarship cycle. When they contact me, their information is at my fingertips so I am able to provide immediate feedback. One of my favorite aspects of using AwardSpring is the reporting feature. I no longer need to build my own reports which saves so much time. I also love that the support team is always accessible and I never have to wait long for a response. They even take the time to help me review my site to make sure it is ready for the next application period by walking me through making changes and guiding me with suggestions. We are a small department and don’t get in front of our donors as much as we’d like. The “thank you” letter upload requirement for awardees allows me to forward along the “thank you” letters to donors each semester so they know how their dollars are helping students. AwardSpring has been nothing but beneficial for us in managing our scholarship program and I have nothing negative to say about my experience. My days are no longer consumed with administrative nightmares and I am much happier! I have talked to several of my peers about AwardSpring because it has been a great change for us. It is a no-brainer decision for folks who are looking to improve their scholarship management process. Brittany McInvale Director of Resource Development, Southern Regional Technical College Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Southwestern Oregon Community College | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/southwestern-oregon-community-college ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > We've been able to significantly cut down the time we spend awarding, from two full days to just one half-day. # Southwestern Oregon Community College Community & Technical College · Oregon 62 Scholarships 359 Applicants 2015 Customer since My first day on the job was scholarship deadline day. I spent the day pulling applications off the fax machine, unstapling application packets, and scanning application documents. I then spent an enormous amount of time reviewing each application (we received around 200 that year) against the requirements of our 50 scholarships. The process was incredibly time-consuming and, looking back, prone to human error. I don’t know how we did it! We knew we needed to improve our process so we shopped around for online solutions. We narrowed our options down to AwardSpring and one other vendor. We decided to go with AwardSpring because it provided all the functionality we needed, without all the extra bells and whistles. For the number of scholarships we manage and the number of applications we receive, AwardSpring was definitely the best solution. Personally, I was sold, and still am, on the usability, simple interface, and reliability of the software. We did receive some pushback on the purchase as it was (and still is) a significant financial investment for a small foundation. However, we quickly realized the time and cost savings and everyone recognizes it now as well worth the money! We’ve been able to significantly cut down the time we spend awarding, from two full days to just one half-day. Even though the process takes less time, AwardSpring, with its auto-matching and filtering capabilities, has allowed us to do a better job of selecting the best award recipients in an effort to stick to the donors’ desires. Cutting down on these administrative efforts has allowed us to focus more on building and maintaining relationships with our donors. We now have time to seek out and hear the stories behind the scholarships we’re offering. We use other software at our college and I always find myself wishing their teams would handle their support like AwardSpring does! The AwardSpring support team is always responsive, provides me with “best practice” advice, and volunteers tips and tricks to make my experience even better. They provide more than basic support to help me get through my one issue; they work to understand my process and address issues from a holistic perspective. They also take a real interest in my feedback and I feel like the team is working on features and enhancements that are applicable to my process and what I’m doing. I don’t feel lost in the shuffle or that I’m just a number. I always feel heard! We’ve come a long way since implementing AwardSpring. We’ve nearly doubled the number of applications we receive each year, significantly improved our reviewing and awarding processes, and saved countless hours. AwardSpring is a really great solution for administering our scholarship management process! Kelsey Guenther Foundation & Resource Developer, Southwestern Oregon Community College ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Two Boxes of Paper and a Broken Scanner: How St. Vrain Rebuilt Scholarships | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/st-vrain-education-foundation Customer Story > Don't second guess working with the AwardSpring team! Tammy Palombo Program Manager St. Vrain Education Foundation ![St. Vrain Education Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/st-vrain-education-foundation-white.C9jbGx6z_ZlGjsV.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) $418,000 awarded in the 2025-2026 scholarship cycle 233 awards to 161 students 55 funds administered by one staff member 50,000+ pages scanned by hand in 2020, the reason it all moved online St. Vrain Education Foundation case study # Two boxes of paper and a broken scanner: how the St. Vrain Education Foundation rebuilt scholarships When COVID hit, Tammy Palombo scanned more than 50,000 pages of scholarship applications by hand, until the scanner gave out. Six years later she administers 55 funds and $418,000 a year, and she is the only staff member managing the scholarship program. ![Tammy Palombo, Program Manager, St. Vrain Education Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/tammy-palombo-headshot.AgECXhhS_20M0Nt.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Tammy Palombo Program Manager St. Vrain Education Foundation ![St. Vrain Education Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/st-vrain-education-foundation-horizontal.DIv_OBVk_Z2rJiRG.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) The St. Vrain Education Foundation is the 501(c)(3) supporting the St. Vrain Valley School District, based in Longmont, Colorado, and supporting the communities of Dacono, Erie, Firestone, Frederick, Longmont, Lyons, Mead, and Niwot. Tammy Palombo has been part of the foundation team for nearly nine years, with scholarships always among her responsibilities; two years ago she was promoted to Program Manager and now oversees all foundation programs. Alongside student scholarships she manages the 529 Jump program, which encourages saving for college starting in elementary school, the Educator Grants program, which funds ideas that inspire innovation and enhance student learning, and the Supplies for Success program, which makes sure every student starts the school year with the supplies they need. ## The breaking point When she started, scholarships ran on paper. Applications came in incomplete, and students regularly applied for awards they could never receive. Then came the spring of 2020. With offices closing, Tammy was handed two copy-paper boxes of applications and a review board that suddenly could meet only online. She scanned more than 50,000 pages herself. Somewhere before the end, the scanner broke. The board’s response was the right one: this moves online, permanently. ## Halfway online The foundation’s first online tool digitized the application itself, and stopped there. Scholarship reviews and awarding were still a manual process, run on spreadsheets and payment information students submitted by email. The paper was gone, but the work remained. For the 2023-2024 award cycle, the foundation moved to AwardSpring, and the difference was scope: application, review, and awarding in one system. When awards are finalized, the list goes straight to the accountant for QuickBooks and check processing. The cycle finally ran end to end. ## What one person can carry now The 2025-2026 scholarship cycle awarded **$418,000 across 233 awards to 161 students**, up from $253,000 across 196 awards to 145 students the year before. When Tammy started nearly nine years ago, the number was $24,500. She is clear about what drove that: the community. High schools across the district moved their paper scholarships onto the online application, which opened opportunities for students; booster clubs, education foundations, staff-funded awards, and other school connections at five of the district’s nine high schools now run through the platform. Families, community, and business partners added new funds, including trade-focused scholarships for future electricians, plumbers, and energy workers. The portfolio now spans 55 individual funds, and the foundation’s goal of awarding $500,000 a year is within reach. What the platform changed is that a single person can administer all of it, and that a student who once saw two or three opportunities now sees ten or twelve they are eligible to apply for, from one application. ## Finding the students who stall 637 students started applications this cycle and 459 finished. Tammy works that gap deliberately: progress reports show her exactly where students drop off, and the data drove real changes, like removing the letter-of-recommendation barrier from the general application and asking for a financial need statement while making the FAFSA optional. Scheduled emails and text messages nudge students at deadlines, including long-weekend reminders that encourage students to complete their applications. ## The review board came around Her reviewers are community volunteers, former scholarship recipients, and school representatives. Some preferred passing paper around a table, and every one of them has since converted: applications arrive consistent and complete, the platform is easy for volunteers to navigate, and large-scholarship reviews now run through built-in multi-panel review. New scholarship funders arrive with the same worry and become converts after one cycle. ## "Don't second guess working with the AwardSpring team!" That is Tammy’s advice to any foundation weighing the move. After four years with AwardSpring, her experience is that the team works toward finding a solution to every unique request, which was not true of the previous platform. And the support has been personal, from the CEO sitting down with her feedback at a national conference to a customer success team that built her workarounds before the features existed. > "AwardSpring has always worked toward finding a solution to unique requests and has never told me 'no, that is not possible.' The customer support team has been a great source of help in working through finding a solution to any situation." > > Tammy Palombo, Program Manager, St. Vrain Education Foundation ## See AwardSpring on your own funds. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [More customer stories](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials) --- # Thomas Edison State University | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/thomas-edison-state-university ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Just having an easy-to-use online scholarship application shows our students and applicants that we are serious about our scholarships … It really says something about our institution! # Thomas Edison State University University · New Jersey 30 Scholarships 1,000 Applicants 2015 Customer since Thomas Edison State University is a unique public New Jersey institution, built to serve adult students with families and jobs. To better accommodate our students’ busy lives, we have a 12-term year with classes starting every month. As a result, scholarship administration is more complex than at a typical school. Our old scholarship administration methods only made this complexity worse for our large program. Everything was done in an Excel spreadsheet, which was not robust or sophisticated in any way. We printed lots of paper, held in-person meetings, and sent many emails back and forth to try to manage all the details. It took up a lot of time and effort! Eventually, our scholarship offerings grew faster than we could keep up, and we knew we needed a solution that would help us consolidate our efforts, track progress, and report accurately, none of which we could do with our paper process. We knew that an online solution was the answer, so we explored several options. Some solutions were too expensive and included features we’d never use. We weren’t looking for a single solution that tracked everything; we just needed to manage our scholarship program. In the end, AwardSpring offered the features and service we needed at the right price. We refined our AwardSpring platform to make it work for our school’s unique circumstances. I can always rely on AwardSpring’s excellent support team to answer questions, resolve problems, or help us improve our site. When I call or email, I get help right away. And there’s consistency among the staff, which means that the support team knows us, our school, and our needs. I love that I can pick up the phone, speak to someone I know, and get my question or issue resolved quickly. There are three main benefits we’ve realized by using AwardSpring. First, just having an easy-to-use online scholarship application shows our students and applicants that we are serious about our scholarships and helping them complete their degrees. It really says something about our institution! Second, AwardSpring helps us steward our donors. We can track scholarship recipients and reach out to both donors and potential donors with compelling, data-driven scholarship stories that make it easier to secure more funds. And finally, as student recruitment and retention have become more important to us, AwardSpring helps us measure progress toward our goals. Now we can establish scholarships specifically for recruitment, track recipient retention, and use data to show how scholarships impact our students. None of this was possible before AwardSpring; it was just too much to manage. We recommend AwardSpring thanks to the quality of their customer support and the data and reporting they provide! Misty Isak Associate Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, Thomas Edison State University ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # University of South Florida Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/university-of-south-florida-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > AwardSpring integrates with our Banner student information system, eliminating the need to cross-reference every single applicant's information across platforms. # University of South Florida Foundation University · Florida 500 Scholarships 16,000 Applicants 2015 Customer since I started working at the financial aid office at USF in 2013, and we started using AwardSpring as our scholarship management system after it took over our previous software. Since transitioning into a new role, I’ve had the opportunity to work more regularly with AwardSpring over the past year. We’re a big school with over 50,000 students and around $8 million in scholarship funds to award yearly, so having organized, easily-referenced data is key to our success. AwardSpring integrates with our Banner student information system, eliminating the need to cross-reference every single applicant’s information across platforms. Just being able to pull the data directly from a centralized source makes it a lot easier for everybody involved in awarding scholarships across departments. I also like how easy AwardSpring is to use. I was able to figure out how to do everything without much guidance, and I can find any data I need using the many search bars within AwardSpring, they always yield helpful results whether I’m searching for a student, another user, or a scholarship. On the foundation side of things, we utilize AwardSpring’s review groups to organize our committees. I know our reviewers find the software easy to use and that it streamlines our scholarship review process. We use also use AwardSpring for recruitment, two of our biggest programs that both live in AwardSpring are our Latino Scholarship Program and Black Leadership Network. To encourage students to apply, we send out postcards with a QR code leading right to the application form. I think it’s been really helpful; a lot of students seemed really engaged with it. Anytime we have a question about AwardSpring, the customer service team answers it right away. Everyone on the team is so nice and helpful, and that’s a big deal not only when you’re implementing a new system but in the upkeep of it as well. AwardSpring has a dedicated team set to communicate and work with customers to get them back up and running quickly. AwardSpring’s customer service would definitely tip it over the edge compared to competitors. Kathryn Swisher Scholarship and Stewardship Officer, Foundation Scholarships, University of South Florida Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Wapakoneta Area Community Foundation | Customer Story | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/wapakoneta-area-community-foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/campus-aerial.CmGEHTBH_KlJnw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > In one instance, the support team solved the problem within one hour and included instruction to assist me with next steps! # Wapakoneta Area Community Foundation Foundation · Ohio 76 Scholarships 150 Applicants 2017 Customer since As a new customer, we occasionally experience a few bumps, as is typical with any new process, but the support team addresses my questions and issues in a timely manner. In one instance, the support team solved the problem within one hour and included instruction to assist me with next steps! My questions are answered while also receiving additional hands-on training. I appreciate their consistent friendliness and helpfulness. The support team is an outstanding source of information and support. The team is helpful with walking me through changes that need to be made, providing additional guidance and suggestions. They even provide support to our applicants and reviewers! All experiences with the support team have been positive - I have nothing negative to say. I am very impressed with their patience as I learn to continue to use AwardSpring! Robert Askins Executive Director, Wapakoneta Area Community Foundation ## Join the institutions that made the switch. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # From PDF Forms to 650 Applications: WSU Tech Foundation | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/wsu-tech-foundation ![National Center for Aviation Training campus in Wichita, Kansas](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ncat-campus.CQmYjDzj_9e6Sa.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Customer Story > Having a tool that allows me to do everything as efficiently as possible is really important to us, because we're a small team. Sydney Bolin, CNP Assistant Director of Operations WSU Tech Foundation 134 to 650 Completed applications, first cycle to this one About $450,000 Available to award this cycle, up from $160,000 About 8 hours Per reviewer to review 650 applications, down from about 40 for a far smaller cycle 90+ Applications completed on the final day after one automated reminder WSU Tech Foundation case study # From PDF forms to 650 applications: how the WSU Tech Foundation built its scholarship program A three-person Foundation in Wichita puts a 650-application cycle through review in about eight hours per reviewer, and awards post to the student system the night a student completes their follow-ups. ![Sydney Bolin, CNP, Assistant Director of Operations, WSU Tech Foundation](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/sydney-bolin-headshot.BdntMz2U_Z1Ribme.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Sydney Bolin, CNP Assistant Director of Operations, WSU Tech Foundation ![WSU Tech Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/wsu-tech-foundation-logo.DZIEde4p_Xmy32.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) WSU Tech, Kansas’ largest technical college, offers more than 100 degree and certificate options in high-demand fields including aviation, manufacturing, healthcare, skilled trades, business and technology, along with transferable general education courses. Its Foundation operates with a small team of three full-time employees: two on development and one, Sydney Bolin, carrying prospect development, data analytics, database administration, and the scholarship operation. “Having a tool that allows me to do everything as efficiently as possible is really important to us,” she says, “because we’re a small team.” ## Before there was a cycle Before AwardSpring, the Foundation managed a much smaller scholarship program through individual PDF applications. Applications were reviewed one at a time, and staff manually matched students with available scholarships. As the program grew, the process became harder to manage, and students had no single place to see all of the opportunities available to them. The tipping point came when the Foundation’s executive director raised more scholarship dollars than one person could administer, and recognized the deeper problem: students had no way to see what they could qualify for. Every award depended on someone inside the college noticing them. ## The answer came from her peers Kansas’ community and technical colleges gather once a year to compare notes. When WSU Tech Foundation’s executive director told that room the Foundation needed a real scholarship system, multiple colleges gave the same answer: have you looked at AwardSpring? ## The numbers a three-person Foundation carries now The first AwardSpring cycle, fall 2022, closed with 134 completed applications. The cycle that closed this September 4 drew 650 completed applications for the 26-27 academic year, with approximately $450,000 available to award, up from $160,000 that first year. The Foundation ended up awarding about 300 students. It was the largest scholarship cycle in the Foundation’s history. ## The gap she went hunting for Sydney calls herself a data nerd, and the first thing the data showed her was a gap nobody had ever seen: 1,970 students logged in and started looking this cycle, and 650 finished. Before the platform, that gap was invisible. “We didn’t have the data or any system that could read us those numbers,” she says. So she went after it: automated reminders now go to every student who starts an application without finishing, four emails on a set cadence, with a final nudge the day before the cycle closes. This year that last-day reminder produced more than 90 completed applications on the final day alone, and the completion gap is the smallest it has ever been. > “Before AwardSpring, we didn’t even know the gap existed. We didn’t have the data. Narrowing that gap over the last few years is something I’m really proud of.” > > Sydney Bolin, CNP, Assistant Director of Operations, WSU Tech Foundation ## Eight hours per reviewer for 650 applications Review used to mean manual matchmaking, people sitting with applications and guessing who fit which fund, about 40 hours for a far smaller cycle. This year’s 650 applications took roughly eight hours per reviewer: rubrics auto-score the numerical criteria in every donor agreement, GPA and credit hours and the rest, and the committee spends its time on the one thing it refuses to automate. “We like to read the essays,” Sydney says. “It’s our favorite part.” About 15% of WSU Tech students choose to submit theirs as a video instead of a written statement, a barrier removed for students who would rather talk than type. > “We haven’t turned on AI review for the essays. We like to read them. It’s our favorite part.” > > Sydney Bolin, CNP, Assistant Director of Operations, WSU Tech Foundation ## The award that posts itself overnight Two years ago Sydney implemented the piece she is proudest of: a nightly feed from AwardSpring into the college’s student system. Before it, awarding meant a spreadsheet of about 200 students, fall and spring portions, detail codes, and ID numbers, emailed to the business office and financial aid to be keyed in row by row, roughly 40 hours of manual entry, while students opened invoices showing full balances and asked when their scholarship would hit. Now, the night a student completes their required follow-ups, the award posts automatically. Some recipients see their balance drop to zero, and the “where’s my scholarship?” questions have simply stopped. The integration took months, largely because WSU Tech’s student system runs a non-standard configuration, and it made her a believer in the people behind the product: “I can’t sing the praises of the support team enough.” ## Built around their donors The Foundation leans hard on customizable post-award follow-ups: thank-you notes for donors, consent for the recipient video the Foundation films every year, and every piece of information a specific donor agreement requires, all collected before an award releases. What used to be chased by email now arrives as a condition of acceptance. ## See AwardSpring on your own scholarship cycle. A walkthrough shaped to your program: your funds, your students, your questions. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Customer Stories | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/testimonials Customer Stories # The people behind the programs, in their own words. All (41) Community & Technical Colleges (21) Universities (5) Foundations (14) Professional Associations (1) Showing all 41 stories - [ Community & Technical College · South Carolina ## Aiken Technical College How a one-person scholarship office traded paper for high school outreach and grew from 100 applications per cycle to 500. 75 scholarships · 700 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/aiken-technical-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Washington ## Big Bend Community College How going paperless freed a foundation team to visit area high schools and lift its application rate by 94.3 percent. 95 scholarships · 900 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/big-bend-community-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Alberta ## Bow Valley College ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/BowValleyCollege_Logo_Poppins.Cs4FxgyR_ZgcFzp.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Three award competitions a year, run by two people A Calgary college puts a panel of three on every application and gets funds out by month end, with 40 to 60 volunteer reviewers behind a two-person awards team. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/bow-valley-college) - [ Community & Technical College · North Carolina ## Brunswick Community College On responsive support, one-click reports, and deadline reminders that brought in more applicants after a rocky first cycle. 96 scholarships · 350 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/brunswick-community-college) - [ Community & Technical College · South Carolina ## Central Carolina Technical College How replacing spreadsheets and paper reviews won back reviewers who had stopped volunteering and made board reporting routine. 75 scholarships · 600 applicants · Customer since 2018 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/central-carolina-technical-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Ohio ## Central Ohio Technical College Three pools of money, two people, one link A two-year technical college in Ohio awards about $1.2 million a year with no paper applications and no spreadsheets, and sees every award a student holds before adding another. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/central-ohio-technical-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Georgia ## Chattahoochee Technical College How moving off fillable PDFs took the college from 82 applications a year to 900 and made the program a selling point for donors. 50 scholarships · 400 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/chattahoochee-technical-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Washington ## Clover Park Technical College How a new administrator kept her first award cycle on track with fast training and now sets up a new cycle in a single day. 68 scholarships · 245 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/clover-park-technical-college) - [ University · South Carolina ## Coastal Carolina University How Coastal Carolina replaced a manual scholarship process, more than tripled applications, and recovered two weeks of staff time every cycle. 130 scholarships · 2,693 applicants · Customer since 2022 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/coastal-carolina-university) - [ Professional Association · Connecticut ## Connecticut Association of Realtors How a self-described non-tech person runs a growing association scholarship program with same-day support and a single online link. 2 scholarships · 250 applicants · Customer since 2016 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/connecticut-association-of-realtors) - [ Foundation · West Virginia ## Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation How a 25-year-old community foundation moved a fully manual process online mid-pandemic without losing its personal touch. 56 scholarships · 268 applicants · Customer since 2020 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/eastern-west-virginia-community-foundation) - [ Community & Technical College · Virginia ## Germanna Community College On switching from an expensive, less friendly platform and watching applications climb on a system staff and students find intuitive. 87 scholarships · 1,000 applicants · Customer since 2021 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/germanna-community-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Texas ## Grayson College How automating matching and review cut a coordinator's scholarship-season overtime from about 100 hours to 20. 325 scholarships · 1,200 applicants · Customer since 2019 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/grayson-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Washington ## Highline College On leaving paper behind, finally understanding program data, and awarding applicants so quickly it hardly seems possible. 31 scholarships · 353 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/highline-college) - [ Foundation · Iowa ## Iowa 4-H Foundation How guided onboarding moved a statewide 4-H scholarship program online, raising applications while cutting copy costs and admin hours. 57 scholarships · 1,000 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/iowa-4-h-foundation) - [ Community & Technical College · Washington ## Lake Washington Institute of Technology How a foundation team reclaimed at least 60 hours of administrative time per award cycle, half of it on building and auditing scholarships alone. 95 scholarships · 400 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/lake-washington-institute-of-technology) - [ Foundation · Michigan ## Lenawee County Education Foundation How a county education foundation handling over 5,000 applications a year brought paper-shy reviewers along to a far simpler process. 160 scholarships · 5,000 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/lenawee-county-education-foundation) - [ University · Georgia ## Life University Why a financial aid director who left a homegrown system behind recommends the switch to any university still running its own. 32 scholarships · 552 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/life-university) - [ Foundation · California ## Long Beach Rotary Scholarship Foundation Letty Totah has run the foundation's scholarship program for 13 years, most of them as its only staff member. Every year, roughly $500,000 in renewable scholarships reaches more than 200 students. Here is how one desk carries all of it. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/long-beach-rotary-scholarship-foundation) - [ Foundation · Texas ## Mensa Foundation > "During judging season this used to be my whole week. Now it's about a day." Jill Beckham, Director, Mensa Foundation ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/mensa-foundation) - [ Community & Technical College · Nebraska ## Metropolitan Community College $3.7M in 2.5 weeks on the quarter system Metropolitan Community College nearly doubled applicants and grew dollars transmitted from $4.4M to $7.3M with a five-person team. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/metropolitan-community-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Michigan ## Mid Michigan College On trading mounds of paper and monstrous spreadsheets for a process so smooth that student and reviewer complaints simply stopped. 30 scholarships · 400 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/mid-michigan-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Minnesota ## Minnesota North College How a small foundation managing 150 scholarships on paper reached its first international applicants and made reviewers ask for more work. 150 scholarships · 200 applicants · Customer since 2017 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/minnesota-north-college) - [ Foundation · California ## New Haven Schools Foundation How automating a 30-year-old scholarship program let a foundation redirect its energy toward donors and growing student funding. 73 scholarships · 450 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/new-haven-schools-foundation) - [ Foundation · Missouri ## North Kansas City Schools Education Foundation How a universal, blind application took a district foundation from 189 applicants to 575 in a single year. 55 scholarships · 520 applicants · Customer since 2022 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/north-kansas-city-schools-education-foundation) - [ Community & Technical College · Washington ## Pierce College How a manager building a scholarship program from the ground up used platform data to win over donors, board members, and researchers. 27 scholarships · 159 applicants · Customer since 2017 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/pierce-college) - [ University · Rhode Island ## Rhode Island College $1M+ to 400+ students in year one Every foundation scholarship on one application, every review behind blind IDs. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/rhode-island-college) - [ Community & Technical College · North Carolina ## Richmond Community College > "It's just made us more efficient." Dr. Wendy Kelly Jordan, Associate Vice President for Development ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/richmond-community-college) - [ Foundation · Washington ## Scholarship Foundation of Northshore How an all-volunteer foundation went paperless and set its sights on growing from 40 scholarships to roughly 300. 50 scholarships · 425 applicants · Customer since 2017 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/scholarship-foundation-of-northshore) - [ Community & Technical College · Washington ## Shoreline & Edmonds Community Colleges Why a foundation manager who led a platform switch at one college was glad to find AwardSpring already running at her next. 64 scholarships · 1,075 applicants · Customer since 2017 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/shoreline-edmonds) - [ Foundation · Illinois ## Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society How an international honor society with volunteer judges spread across the globe consolidated scholarships, grants, and stipends in one system. 20 scholarships · 942 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/sigma-tau-delta) - [ Foundation · Michigan ## South Haven Area Community Foundation How a small-town community foundation went from single-digit applications for its largest endowments to 52 and climbing. 25 scholarships · 100 applicants · Customer since 2022 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/south-haven-area-community-foundation) - [ Community & Technical College · Louisiana ## South Louisiana Community College How an online process helped one community college quintuple its scholarships and bring in ten times as many completed applications. 100 scholarships · 1,000 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/south-louisiana-community-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Georgia ## Southern Regional Technical College Foundation How a technical college heading into a merger doubled its application rate in the first cycle and cut awarding to mere minutes. 75 scholarships · 700 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/southern-regional-technical-college) - [ Community & Technical College · Oregon ## Southwestern Oregon Community College How a foundation that once pulled applications off a fax machine cut awarding time from two full days to a half-day. 62 scholarships · 359 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/southwestern-oregon-community-college) - [ Foundation · Colorado ## St. Vrain Education Foundation ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/st-vrain-education-foundation-horizontal.DIv_OBVk_Z2rJiRG.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) $418,000 across 233 awards, run by one person A K-12 district foundation moved application, review and awarding onto one platform after the year the scanner broke. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/st-vrain-education-foundation) - [ Foundation · Texas ## The Marti Foundation $930K to students since January, from one desk A private foundation retired a twelve-page paper application and runs on one person and one platform. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/marti-foundation) - [ University · New Jersey ## Thomas Edison State University How a university built for working adults replaced spreadsheets and paper meetings with data it can put in front of donors. 30 scholarships · 1,000 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/thomas-edison-state-university) - [ University · Florida ## University of South Florida Foundation How a foundation awarding around $8 million a year keeps every department working from one centralized, Banner-integrated source. 500 scholarships · 16,000 applicants · Customer since 2015 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/university-of-south-florida-foundation) - [ Foundation · Ohio ## Wapakoneta Area Community Foundation A new customer's early read: quick answers, hands-on training, and one problem solved within the hour. 76 scholarships · 150 applicants · Customer since 2017 ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/wapakoneta-area-community-foundation) - [ ![WSU Tech Foundation logo](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/wsu-tech-foundation-logo.DZIEde4p_Xmy32.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Foundation · Kansas ## WSU Tech Foundation 134 to 650 applications, from a three-person foundation A technical-college foundation with about $450,000 available to award and awards that post overnight. ](https://www.awardspring.com/testimonial/wsu-tech-foundation) ## Start writing your own customer story. See the platform behind these stories and what it could do for you. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Webinars | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars Webinars # Watch, learn, and put it to work. Live sessions and on-demand recordings on scholarship management, donor stewardship, and getting more from the Fund Platform. ## On-demand On-Demand Recorded September 29, 2026 ### [AI Under Human Review](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/ai-under-human-review) An AwardSpring Executive Forum. AI that drafts, briefs, and prepares, and people who decide what actually gets sent. With James Francis and Alex Stepien [Watch](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/ai-under-human-review) On-Demand ### [The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark: The Deep Dive](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive) All seven findings, the data behind them, and what the strongest programs do differently. Recorded live with Kevin Martin. With Kevin Martin [watch on demand](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive) On-Demand Recorded September 1, 2026 ### [Donor Experience: A First Look](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/donor-experience-first-look) Alex Stepien, CEO, walks through Donor Experience live: the donor's own portal, impact reports worth keeping, and the thank-you loop that connects them. Available now. With Alex Stepien [Watch](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/donor-experience-first-look) On-Demand Recorded August 20, 2026 ### [The Real Cost of Running Scholarships the Old Way](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/real-cost-of-scholarship-management) Ben Montecillo, Executive Director of Financial Aid at the University of Houston, on what a six-figure legacy contract actually bought, why he let it expire, and what changed after the switch. In conversation with AwardSpring President Kevin Martin and VP of Sales Brandon Weisenberger. Recorded August 20, 2026. With Ben Montecillo, Kevin Martin, and Brandon Weisenberger [Watch](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/real-cost-of-scholarship-management) On-Demand Recorded July 28, 2026 ### [After the Gift](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/after-the-gift) Donor stewardship stalls for predictable reasons. In this 30-minute session, AwardSpring CEO Alex Stepien shares three habits that keep it moving, no new software or new headcount required. Recorded live July 28, 2026. With Alex Stepien [Watch](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/after-the-gift) On-Demand Recorded June 18, 2026 ### [Look Again: Donor Management in the AwardSpring Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/look-again-donor-management) Our CEO, Alex Stepien, on how AwardSpring Donor Management is evolving from a system of record into a system of action, with a first look at what's launching in the Summer Release. With Alex Stepien [Watch](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/look-again-donor-management) On-Demand Recorded June 4, 2026 ### [Introducing the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/introducing-fund-platform) Hear from our CEO on the launch of the Fund Platform: what's new, and what it means for your team. Plus two new opportunities to get more out of AwardSpring: AI Summer School and AwardSpring Alpha. With Alex Stepien [Watch](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/introducing-fund-platform) ## Bring these ideas to your campus. Get a walkthrough tailored to your institution's goals and the products you already run. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # After the Gift: Donor Stewardship Webinar On-Demand | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/after-the-gift On-Demand Webinar # After the Gift Donor stewardship stalls for predictable reasons. In this 30-minute session, AwardSpring CEO Alex Stepien shares three habits that keep it moving, no new software or new headcount required. Recorded live July 28, 2026. 30 minutes - Alex Stepien CEO [Download the slides (PDF)](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/After%20the%20Gift%20Webinar%20-%20July%202026.pdf) What's covered ## What Alex walks through - ### Why stewardship stalls Scholarship programs are built to do two things well: raise the money and give it away. What happens after the gift is where relationships are won or lost, and it usually gets lumped into one outreach a year, if it happens at all. Four in five first-time donors never give again, and more than half of institutions say staff time is the single biggest barrier. - ### Habit 1: Pick the record Name one system of record for donors and put everything on it: contact information, conversations, event attendance, the funds they support, and the students who benefit. If it doesn't live in the system, it didn't happen. Give yourself a clean slate and start from today instead of reconciling years of shadow spreadsheets. - ### Habit 2: Make the next touch automatic Set stewardship dates in advance, inside the system your team actually works in. Swap the January mega-packet for three lighter drops tied to your scholarship calendar: thank-yous when dollars disperse, student stories before the luncheon, and the renewal ask after the luncheon, before the next cycle opens. - ### Habit 3: Split the list once One cut of segmentation by fund type beats one-size-fits-all. Donors fund students, not programs. A memorial fund and the general fund should never get the same letter. - ### Start with the tools you own Every habit works without buying anything new. Even a once-a-year export from your scholarship system into your donor CRM is a real step forward. Don't let perfection be the enemy of progress. - ### How the Fund Platform makes it the default One donor record that carries scholarships, funds, communications, and student stories together. Built-in outreach that collects thank-you notes from students and delivers them to donors. Segmentation that is native to the platform. Donor Experience and Fund Management arrive this fall. Limited-time offer ## Sign by August 15, migration and implementation on us. Switching is our job, not yours. Talk to us before August 15 and our team handles the move. [Talk to us](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) Learn more ## Keep exploring - [ Product ### Donor Management See the full product: one trusted donor record, campaigns, journey automations, and board-ready reporting. Explore Donor Management](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management) - [ Platform ### The Fund Platform Four products on one architecture, built for the foundation and advancement teams that run them. See the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/platform) - [ Research ### The Stewardship Benchmark The full benchmark results arrive September 15. See the benchmark](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) ## See these habits in your own environment. [Schedule a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # AI Under Human Review | AwardSpring Executive Forum Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/ai-under-human-review Executive Forum · Recorded Tuesday, September 29, 2026 # AI Under Human Review An AwardSpring Executive Forum. AI that drafts, briefs, and prepares, and people who decide what actually gets sent. Recorded September 29, 2026 · 45 minutes, heavy on Q&A - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/team-james-francis-2026-06-03.9kpKZMbk_1fdCEU.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) James Francis Chief AI Officer, AwardSpring - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/alex-stepien-navy.Cdey2mWR_ZtIbb1.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO, AwardSpring [Watch the recording](#recording) The recording ## Watch the full session The conversation and the Q&A, as it happened. ## About this session AI vendors are starting to promise agents that reach out to your donors and students for you. We think that's exactly backwards. In this Executive Forum, AwardSpring's leadership makes the case for the opposite design: AI that drafts, briefs, and prepares, and people who decide what actually gets sent. It was an informal fireside conversation with clients, colleagues and partners in higher education about where AI helps in scholarship and donor work today, how SpringIQ keeps a human quality check on every output, and the questions this industry moment raises. ![An empty chair at a boardroom table at dusk](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/scene-emptychair-boardroom-dusk.DcwtLKiA_2lmD7E.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ## What we covered 1. ### From "should we?" to "how do we do this?" A year ago most campuses treated AI as a threat to the learning model. The academic side and the administrative side are now converging on one institutional view, and the leaders getting furthest are rethinking how the institution runs, not just rolling out licenses and stopping there. 2. ### Data is the bottleneck Without access to real data across the student information system, scholarship management and finance tools, an institution captures only a fraction of what AI can do. The panel's advice: make data unification a top-three cabinet priority. 3. ### Meet Jordan Think of AI as a new hire who graduated top of the class with no context, no system access and no knowledge of your environment. Jordan gives generic answers until you hand over specific data, context and tools. Implementation is the work of giving Jordan what the job needs. 4. ### Decompose the role Break a job into its skills and sort each one: uniquely human (building relationships, navigating ambiguous situations, donor and student conversations) or automatable (CRM updates, meeting notes, data entry). Automate the second list. Train and reward the first. You cannot electrify a steam-powered line and call it progress; the workflow itself has to change. 5. ### AI under human review AI handles the first 80 percent of a task: drafts, triage, reporting. People keep the craft and the final call. A two- or three-person foundation office cannot read thousands of recipient thank-you notes by hand, so AwardSpring's donor experience product is the first line of review at scale, and the office decides how much autonomy the agent gets. Trust is built the way software teams build it: deterministic tests, agent-to-agent review, continuous validation, and spot checks with a clear view of the blast radius when something is wrong. 6. ### No single right answer Different institutions, comfort levels and workflows need different calibrations. AwardSpring's goal is to let every customer set the dial and keep a finger on the scale. Related ## From AI Summer School In July, 40 higher education leaders across financial aid, enrollment and advancement joined five AI Summer School sessions. The biggest unlock was connecting AwardSpring's MCP to ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot and running custom reports in seconds, free of the limits of pre-built software reporting. [Explore AI Summer School](https://www.awardspring.com/ai-summer-school) ## Who this is for Leaders at colleges, universities, and scholarship foundations working out what AI should and should not do in scholarship and donor work. If your team is somewhere between curious and skeptical, this session was built for you, and the Q&A is the point. ## Panelists ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/team-james-francis-2026-06-03.9kpKZMbk_Z1oht4M.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### James Francis Chief AI Officer · AwardSpring ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/alex-stepien-navy.Cdey2mWR_ZVpiJh.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Alex Stepien CEO · AwardSpring ## Keep AI under human review. See how SpringIQ keeps a person's sign-off on every output that moves. [Request a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) [Watch the recording](#recording) --- # Donor Experience: A First Look (Replay) | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/donor-experience-first-look On-Demand Webinar · Recorded September 1, 2026 # Donor Experience: A First Look Alex Stepien, CEO, walks through Donor Experience live: the donor's own portal, impact reports worth keeping, and the thank-you loop that connects them. Available now. - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/alex-stepien-navy.Cdey2mWR_ZtIbb1.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Alex Stepien CEO, AwardSpring [Download the slides (PDF)](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/AwardSpring_DX_First_Look_Sep1_2026_LIVE_DEMO_v2.pdf) ## What’s in the walkthrough Most donors give once and never hear what happened next. Four out of five first-time donors don’t give again, and replacing a donor costs roughly five times what keeping one does. Donor Experience is built to close that gap, and this session shows it working: - ### Every donor gets a major gift experience. A personal portal of their own, secure and unique to each donor, that shows the story of what their giving did. - ### Impact reports worth keeping. Built in a simple editor from the records your team already has, in your institution's brand, ready for print or digital. - ### The thank-you loop, automated. Student thank-yous collected on a schedule, reviewed with AI assistance, and nothing goes out without your approval. - ### Consent and control throughout. Release and consent collected natively in the awarding experience, and snapshot publishing so donors only ever see what you have signed off on. - ### The live demo. Alex builds impact reports and opens a real donor portal on production, unscripted. ## Chapters Jump to a chapter in the recording. 1. [2:30Welcome and why we built it](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=150s) 2. [4:40The donor retention problem: attention thins below the top of the pyramid](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=280s) 3. [6:30The math: four out of five first-time donors never give again](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=390s) 4. [7:45The content factory: collecting, assembling, and delivering by hand](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=465s) 5. [12:20The vision: every donor gets a major gift experience, without adding headcount](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=740s) 6. [13:20Where Donor Experience sits in the Fund Platform](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=800s) 7. [16:00Live demo: the thank-you loop and automation](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=960s) 8. [19:40Live demo: building impact reports and letters](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=1180s) 9. [23:38Live demo: the donor portal, publish modes, and a real donor view](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=1418s) 10. [26:49The ethos: nothing donor-facing goes out unapproved](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=1609s) 11. [28:20What's coming next](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=1700s) 12. [30:30Getting started, and September's webinars](https://vimeo.com/1223415724#t=1830s) ## Keep the momentum - [ Tue Sept 15, 2:00 PM ET ### The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark: The Deep Dive All seven findings from 125 foundations, live. Save your seat](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive) - [ Tue Sept 22, 2:00 PM ET ### AI Under Human Review: An Executive Forum AI that drafts, and people who decide. Save your seat](https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/ai-under-human-review) ## Speaker ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/alex-stepien-navy.Cdey2mWR_ZVpiJh.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Alex Stepien CEO · AwardSpring ## Ready to see Donor Experience on your own funds? [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # Introducing the Fund Platform | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/introducing-fund-platform On-Demand Webinar # Introducing the Fund Platform. Hear from our CEO on the launch of the Fund Platform: what's new, and what it means for your team. Plus two new opportunities to get more out of AwardSpring: AI Summer School and AwardSpring Alpha. - Alex Stepien CEO [Download the slides](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/AwardSpring_Client_Webinar_June4_2026_FINAL.pdf) What's next ## Two new ways to get more from AwardSpring The launch is just the start. Both programs are open now, and each is built to help your team go further on the Fund Platform. - [ New cohort ### AI Summer School A 5-week, hands-on cohort that teaches higher-ed teams to actually use AI. You finish having built your first working agent. Learn about AI Summer School](https://www.awardspring.com/ai-summer-school) - [ Early access ### AwardSpring Alpha The opt-in program for institutions who want new Fund Platform capabilities the moment they're built. Be first; shape what's next. Learn about AwardSpring Alpha](https://www.awardspring.com/alpha) ## See what the Fund Platform can do for your team. Get a walkthrough tailored to your institution's goals and the products you already run. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) --- # Look Again: Donor Management in the AwardSpring Fund Platform | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/look-again-donor-management On-Demand Webinar # Look again at Donor Management. Our CEO, Alex Stepien, on how AwardSpring Donor Management is evolving from a system of record into a system of action, with a first look at what's launching in the Summer Release. 30 minutes - Alex Stepien CEO What's covered ## What Alex walks through In about 30 minutes, Alex shows where Donor Management is headed and previews new functionality, demoed live from the development environment, rolling out this summer. - ### One Fund Platform Four products on one architecture: Scholarship Management, Donor Management, Donor Experience, and Fund Management. Donor Management lives in the same place you already manage scholarships. No separate login, no second system to fight. - ### From system of record to system of action Going beyond a trusted donor catalog to driving net-new gifts, repeat giving, and a growing base of recent-alumni donors. - ### Redesigned donor profiles Customizable and enriched with change-of-address, wealth screening, and deceased-record searches. At-a-glance activity, giving history, and SpringIQ summaries, plus one-click donor briefs. - ### Automations Segments, Signals, and a visual Journey Builder. A large soft credit can trigger a gift-officer task on its own. - ### Communication engine Email and SMS with a new drag-and-drop newsletter builder and per-gift-officer messages, synced with Outlook and Gmail. - ### Events and payments Event ticketing, promo codes, campaign attribution, a check-in app, and Stripe-powered payment pages. - ### SpringIQ, AI-native throughout AI woven through the platform, secure and with no training on your data. - ### No record limits, open platform An uncapped donor CRM with deep API and integration support: Constant Contact, MailChimp, QuickBooks, Sage, Financial Edge, and more. Limited-time offer ## Sign by August 15, migration and implementation on us. New Donor Management customers, including current scholarship customers adding Donor Management, who sign by August 15 get data migration and implementation costs waived. Migration typically runs 4 to 6 weeks and includes data cleansing, custom-field mapping, and first-time user training. Current Donor Management customers receive all of this in the Summer Release at no additional cost. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) Learn more ## Keep exploring - [ Product ### Donor Management See the full product: one trusted donor record, campaigns, journey automations, and board-ready reporting. Explore Donor Management](https://www.awardspring.com/donor-management) - [ Platform ### The Fund Platform Four products on one architecture, built for the foundation and advancement teams that run them. See the Fund Platform](https://www.awardspring.com/platform) ## See Donor Management in your own environment. Request a demo and we'll walk through Donor Management against your institution's goals, including the new functionality landing in the Summer Release. [Request a Demo](https://www.awardspring.com/contact) --- # The Real Cost of Running Scholarships the Old Way | AwardSpring Webinar Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/real-cost-of-scholarship-management On-Demand Webinar # The Real Cost of Running Scholarships the Old Way Ben Montecillo, Executive Director of Financial Aid at the University of Houston, on what a six-figure legacy contract actually bought, why he let it expire, and what changed after the switch. In conversation with AwardSpring President Kevin Martin and VP of Sales Brandon Weisenberger. Recorded August 20, 2026. - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ben-montecillo-university-of-houston.Ce3HXjdJ_21FRUJ.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Ben Montecillo Executive Director of Financial Aid, University of Houston - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kevin-martin-navy.B_hz5KVu_1epteU.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Kevin Martin President, AwardSpring - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/brandon-weisenberger-navy.ruEcRv3__aTWoV.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Brandon Weisenberger VP of Sales, AwardSpring From the conversation ## What changed, in Ben’s numbers The University of Houston’s own figures for its program, as Ben describes them on the recording. Old system cost $150Ka year, and it touched roughly 50 scholarships From 2 weeks 1 hourfor a mass award run after the switch From 20+ steps About 5across the whole awarding process, now in one system Year over year About 1,000more applications after going live What you’ll hear ## Six things Ben walks through In the order they come up on the recording, from the renewal decision to what he wants the program to look like in 2027. 1. The ROI math that ended the renewal: a six-figure contract covering about 20% of scholarships while the rest ran manually, including 500 applications read in a week for a single $1,000 award. 2. How Ben made the case internally: the three numbers he recommends pulling (total annual system cost, scholarships awarded and students reached, and time from submission to funds hitting a student's account). 3. Why he started with a smaller AwardSpring contract to speed procurement, skipped the RFP cycle, and scaled up as adoption grew. 4. What the transition actually looked like: a phased, college-by-college rollout, and a build-out measured in weeks. 5. His advice for evaluating any vendor: ask how fast they push updates and what the roadmap looks like, ask what happens when something breaks, and talk to advancement, treasury, and enrollment management before you decide. 6. The 2027 vision: every award finalized before spring semester ends, students planning their summers with their funding known, and advancement conversations powered by data. > “A mass award that would have taken two weeks took one hour.” Ben Montecillo, Executive Director of Financial Aid, University of Houston Speakers ## Who you'll hear from ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/ben-montecillo-university-of-houston.Ce3HXjdJ_WaWJb.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Ben Montecillo Executive Director of Financial Aid · University of Houston Ben leads the scholarship function at the University of Houston, one of the largest public universities in Texas, where he let a fifteen-year-old contract expire and moved the program onto a modern awarding platform. ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kevin-martin-navy.B_hz5KVu_LIlFE.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Kevin Martin President · AwardSpring Kevin hosts these conversations with the institutions doing the awarding, and spends his time on what actually changes when a program moves off the old way. ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/brandon-weisenberger-navy.ruEcRv3__Z1EG9Kw.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Brandon Weisenberger VP of Sales · AwardSpring Brandon has sat in on hundreds of these evaluations and knows which questions separate a platform that fits from one that just demos well. ## Run Ben's math on your own program. Bring your three numbers: what your system costs, how many scholarships it actually touches, and how long awarding takes end to end. We'll show you the same view with your own funds. [See a demo](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark: The Deep Dive | AwardSpring Webinar Source: https://www.awardspring.com/webinars/stewardship-benchmark-deep-dive On-Demand Webinar · Recorded September 15, 2026 # The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark: The Deep Dive All seven findings, the data behind them, and what the strongest programs do differently. Recorded live with Kevin Martin. Recorded Tuesday, September 15, 2026 · about 30 minutes plus live Q&A - ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kevin-martin-navy.B_hz5KVu_1epteU.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) Kevin Martin President, AwardSpring [Download the slides (PDF)](https://5806837.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/5806837/2026%20Benchmark%20Deep%20Dive%20Webinar.pdf) ## About this session Early this year we asked 125 scholarship foundations how donor stewardship actually gets done. The findings became the 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark: 46% of the foundations we surveyed run the whole operation on one FTE or less, 71% had a fund go unawarded last year, and 45% can’t tell whether a donor ever opened the report they were sent. In this recorded session, Kevin Martin goes inside that data: all seven findings across the three pillars, the Capacity-Quality Trap, the Measurement Blind Spot, and the AI Inflection Point, with the numbers behind each and what the strongest programs do differently. The through line: stewardship is the only part of the fundraising cycle with no scoreboard. You’ll leave knowing where you stand against the field, and the one move to make first. ## What’s covered 1. What donor stewardship is, and what it is not: everything owed to a donor after the gift is committed and the award is made 2. Why this benchmark exists, and the honest frame behind the numbers 3. Three numbers that tell the story 4. Pillar 01 · The Capacity-Quality Trap: capacity, quality, and thank-you letters (findings 1 to 3) 5. Pillar 02 · The Measurement Blind Spot: reporting channels and unawarded funds (findings 4 and 5) 6. Pillar 03 · The AI Inflection Point: adoption, and Financial Aid to Advancement alignment, a systems problem rather than a relationship problem (findings 6 and 7) 7. Where your program stands: scoring yourself against the field 8. Live Q&A [ Score your stewardship ](https://benchmark.awardspring.com/survey) two minutes, scored against the same 125-foundation study [ Get the full report ](https://www.awardspring.com/stewardship-benchmark) ## Speaker ![](https://www.awardspring.com/_astro/kevin-martin-navy.B_hz5KVu_LIlFE.webp?dpl=dpl_DazsYiXz1awthExaRHvieiGP2JaC) ### Kevin Martin President · AwardSpring ## The 2026 Donor Stewardship Benchmark: The Deep Dive. [See AwardSpring in action](https://www.awardspring.com/demo) --- # What's New | AwardSpring Source: https://www.awardspring.com/whats-new RELEASE NOTES # What's new in AwardSpring What shipped on the AwardSpring platform, release by release. SEPTEMBER 2026 ## The September 2026 release Donor Experience goes live, donor records are rebuilt, and scholarship season gets easier to run. [Read the release notes](https://www.awardspring.com/whats-new/september-2026) Questions about anything here? Your customer success manager will walk you through it. New to AwardSpring? [See it in action](https://www.awardspring.com/demo)