5 Ways to Set up a Scholarship Fund for any Student 2020 Update.
Ways to Set up a Scholarship Fund: It takes good people like you to think of life changing projects like this. People’s lives around the world will be changed because of this single step that you are about to take.
You will help bring a lot of people’s dream into reality. Well-done. This article will provide you guidelines on how you can set up a scholarship fund. Read on.
Starting a scholarship is indeed an exciting and rewarding experience! It’s a unique opportunity to bring a student’s dream into a reality.
Scholarships can provide life-changing financial assistance to students from a variety of different backgrounds.
Who you choose to assist is completely in your hands. For example, your scholarship could major on students who share similar backgrounds or interests.
A common theme we see is donors assisting students from their high school, but you can also make your scholarship more general and help low-income students or students with disabilities as an example.
Another reason to create a scholarship fund is to memorialize a loved one and honor their life.
As friends and families can also contribute, it can be a powerful healing experience.
In addition, many companies create scholarships to continue the legacy of an important person in their organization.
It is a great method to show your school, company, or organization’s commitment to social responsibility and student development as well.
Steps to go through when figuring out how to start a scholarship fund – Now that we’ve figured out the why this project is important, let’s break down the steps to go through when figuring out how to start a scholarship fund:
Step 1: Decide which class of students you’d like to support
The first step to figuring out how to begin a scholarship fund is to decide who your scholarship is for.
There are many various options as you can use a wide range of criteria. The most common ones are:
- High school or university (e.g. you or a loved one’s alma mater)
- Home city or state
- Age or grade level
However, there are many others to keep in mind, including:
- Gender
- GPA
- Major
- Financial need
- Extracurricular activities
- Sports
- Ethnicity
- Religion
Furthermore, you’ll want to decide the criteria that you’ll use to judge applications.
Several scholarships look into factors like financial need, academic achievement, work history, community involvement, the scholarship essay, or achievements in specific fields.
So, for example, let’s say that you chosen your scholarship is for high school students intending to major in music education.
Will you grant your scholarship to future college students in need; or future college students with outstanding academic achievement?
Alternatively, you can award students who have already portrayed success in the field of music education through community involvement or work.
Step 2: Figure out the Logistics
Once you are certain on who your scholarship is going for, it’s time to concentrate on the logistics. Check out these key questions you should ask when thinking of how to start a scholarship fund:
- How many students will obtain the scholarship per year?
- How much is the award worth?
- Is your scholarship going to be a one-time award or renewable?
- How will students apply?
- When is the deadline?
P.S. When determining how students will apply for your scholarship, we can help out and handle the logistics for you! We help you:
- Build a website for your award
- Add a donation link so that family and friends can contribute
- Set your eligibility requirements
- Create the online application
- Reach out to the eligible students
- Receive and review the completed applications
Step 3: Decide How Your Scholarship Will Be Funded
So you have all of the information and criteria ready to go, but where will you get the money from?
Funding the scholarship is often the most challenging part to decide when figuring out how to start a scholarship fund. Luckily, there are tons of options available!
One of the easiest ways to raise money for your scholarship is to get people to donate to it.
This can be done through fundraising events or online crowd funding sites.
If your company is holding a scholarship, you can set aside a specific number of funds each year.
Or if you’re generating a memorial scholarship, perhaps personal funds or inheritance money can be used for funding.
Step 4: Review the Tax Guidelines
Keep in mind that many scholarships are tax payers, so it’s a great idea to meet with a tax expert beforehand to make sure that you meet all the requirements.
Step 5: Advertise it!
There’s not much sense in having a scholarship fund if nobody is aware of it.
One of the most vital parts when figuring out how to start a scholarship fund is advertisement! In what will you make sure that students hear about the opportunity?
Social media can be a big help, especially since high school and college students tend to spend a lot of time on major sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Your website is another great option and, especially if your scholarship is local, getting in contact with colleges and universities in the area can be an effective marketing tactic as well.
Going Merry Outreach
When it comes to outreach, has you covered. We have established relationships with over 2,500 schools across the country and have helped people manage thousands of scholarships already.
Through our network, we can counsel you on how many applications to expect and then help you get them!
To give you an idea, here are just a little of the amazing, diverse scholarships that we’ve added to our site:
Jennie Goas Memorial Scholarship: Two female students in Chicago lately won $10K in scholarship money from this generous award created by a local woman in memory of her best friend.
Tara Grinstead Memorial Scholarship: This memorial scholarship was originated by a Georgia TV station to honor the memory of a beauty pageant participant whose murder they helped to solve.
Caleb Tripp Thornton Memorial Scholarship: This scholarship was created by his sister in memory of Caleb Tripp, this scholarship has raised $5K of its $26K target so far.
Helen Herzberg Memorial Scholarship: This scholarship was formed by a couple in California in loving memory of the wife’s mother.
The couple planned their wedding so that friends and family could donate directly to the scholarship.
Lincoln J. Powers Memorial Scholarship: A Utah family began this scholarship fund in honor of their son, who was killed in a fatal car accident.
Bill Browning Memorial Scholarship (Dallas & Ann Arbor): These two scholarships were formed by a successful entrepreneur, the Founder of Bonobos and Trunk Club, to honor the memory of one of his family’s teachers.
WillowTree Scholarship in Honor of Whitney French: This generous scholarship was formed by the employer of a domestic violence victim in Virginia.
Students majoring in graphic design are eligible to apply.
Courtney C. Gregoire Memorial Fund: In memory of a suicide victim, this scholarship is aimed at assisting young women with mental health issues succeed and pursue higher education.
Phoenix Home Services Felon Reform Scholarship: This scholarship is aimed at assisting adults with prior convictions, especially felonies, to reenter the workforce.
This scholarship can a long way towards training in a variety of fields.
Compassionate Leadership Apprentices: This scholarship makes paying for school easier for high school students planning to pursue a vocational education.
National Art & Trade Tuition Opportunity Scholarship: This scholarship supports students who are chasing a career in sequential art, such as comics, animation, storybooks, or children’s books.
Want to Make the Process Easier? Going Merry can handle it.
Going Merry handles the logistics for you. We help you:
- Build a website for your award
- Include a donation link so families and friends can contribute too
- Set your eligibility requirements
- Create the online application
- Reach out to the eligible students
- Receive and review the completed applications
If you have already provided a scholarship and want to make it easier for students to find, we match your scholarship with the right students and collect application materials in one convenient place.
Also, we provide you with a Going Merry login that can be used to review completed applications and we always offer outstanding customer service along the way to make the process as simple as possible from start to end.
Not to mention, assisting students is at the core of our mission and vision at all times!
Now that you have seen the steps to follow in setting up a scholarship fund, it will be easier for you to start somewhere.
If you are lost on the way, you can still visit this article. Your comment is important; do well to drop one below.
StudentsandScholarship Team.