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

mreinhardt@scholarshipamerica.org

Questions

Thank you for your attendance and your participation!

Please take a few minutes to complete a workshop

evaluation before you leave.