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 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 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: 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? 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 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 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 assistance program Improved term completion rates - 95% Holistic approach to students Connection to other resources

When is your college ready to implement?

Success requires a holistic 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 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 / 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 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 & 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 / Payment Processor Ability to process checks payments quickly Flexible in their approach to manage payments – gift cards, buss passes

Institutional Research Ability to track student persistence and completion rates Strong focus on comparison data, research and analysis Analyze data and make recommendations

IT 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 Administrative Fundraising Marketing and Communications

Administrative 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 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 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 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.