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Getting Students to Graduation: Elements of a Successful Emergency
Financial Grant Program
Presented by Scholarship America
Lauren Segal, President & CEO
Michelle Reinhardt, Dreamkeepers
February 7, 2013
Meet the Group
About Scholarship AmericaAbout Scholarship America
• Largest nonprofit scholarship and education support organization in the country
• $2.9 billion awarded to 1.9 million students since 1958
• Scholarship focused; added emergency financial assistance program in 2004
About DreamkeepersAbout Dreamkeepers
• 2004: Began as a pilot program with 11 community colleges
• 2009: Expanded to 32 colleges
• 2012: Added the 16 Wisconsin Technical Colleges, thanks to Great Lakes Higher Education grant
In this workshop, you will understand:In this workshop, you will understand:
• What an emergency grant program is
• Who the program impacts
• Why the program is important
• When your college is ready to implement
What is an Emergency Grant Program?What is an Emergency Grant Program?
• Helps students with unforeseen financial emergencies to stay in college
• Most common expenses are “life expenses”
• Connects students with additional resources
Who has an Emergency Grant Program at your
college?
Who does an emergency financial Who does an emergency financial assistance program impact?assistance program impact?
Primary
• The Student– A solution– A bridge– An ask
• The College– Expands completion toolkit– Increases communication
among departments– Increase fundraising
capacity
Secondary
• The Community– Educated workers
• The Nation– Increase in persistence
leading to completion
Why is emergency financial Why is emergency financial assistance important?assistance important?
• The leading reason students drop out of college is a lack of financial resources
• More than 30 percent of all college students leave after their first year and 50 percent never graduate
(Source: U.S. Department of Education)
Impact of an emergency financial Impact of an emergency financial assistance programassistance program
• Improved term completion rates - 95%
• Holistic approach to students
• Connection to other resources
When is your college ready to implement?
Success requires a Success requires a holistic approachholistic approach
• Campus-wide support is essential for program success – President and Senior Leadership– Foundation/Advancement– Student Services/Student Affairs/Counseling– Communications and Marketing– Business Office – Institutional Research– IT
President / Leadership TeamPresident / Leadership Team
• Strong presence and support for student services
• Strategic plan has focus on completion
• Holistic approach to servicing students
• Collaboration among departments
• Supportive of data collection and analysis
Foundation / AdvancementFoundation / Advancement
• Board support
• Ability to market the program needs and impact
• Adopt the program as a permanent program – ongoing fundraising
• Strong fundraising plan and history of success
• Diversified fundraising portfolio
Student Services / Student Services / Student Affairs / CounselingStudent Affairs / Counseling
• Staff available to meet with students
• Ability to connect students to other resources
• Serves as a hub to students and the college
Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
• Ability to develop marketing materials and implement awareness campaigns
• Understands broad constituent base and ability to target messaging to each– Students– Faculty and staff– Community and media– Donors
Business Office / Business Office / Payment ProcessorPayment Processor
• Ability to process checks payments quickly
• Flexible in their approach to manage payments – gift cards, buss passes
Institutional ResearchInstitutional Research
• Ability to track student persistence and completion rates
• Strong focus on comparison data, research and analysis
• Analyze data and make recommendations
ITIT
• Ability to develop robust online application and backend database
• Ability and resources to provide technical support to staff and students
Readiness Assessment
Best Practices
Three Main Areas Three Main Areas
• Administrative
• Fundraising
• Marketing and Communications
Administrative Best PracticesAdministrative Best Practices
• House the program in an office that handles student support services
• Direct students to additional resources/services
• Distribute awards in the form of grants
Fundraising Best PracticesFundraising Best Practices
• Designate CDO as person responsible for raising funds
• Institutionalize the program by including it in your Annual Fund appeal
• Develop diversified funding base with several revenue streams
Marketing Best PracticesMarketing Best Practices
• Create a marketing and communication plan
• Promote the program to all students
• Include a mix of program metrics and student success stories in communications
How Scholarship America Can HelpHow Scholarship America Can Help
• As a member of the Dreamkeepers network, you will have access to:– Proprietary software and online application– Onsite implementation and training– Fundraising & marketing support– Resource and information sharing with other
colleges– Annual Dreamkeepers conference– Connection with a national brand
To learn more about joining the Dreamkeepers network or benefits of
membership, please contact:
Michelle Reinhardt
Questions
Thank you for your attendance and your participation!
Please take a few minutes to complete a workshop
evaluation before you leave.