Scholarships are a great way to help people and to use the money you raise. It is also a great way to look into the future. Here are the way to put together a scholarship that will last and that will grow.
Before you get into budgeting and even fundraising for the scholarship you need to decide who is going to administer the scholarship and the type of person who you want to receive it. These are the questions to ask.
- Who are you going to give the money to?
- Write out the profile of the person you wish to support. Are they male or female? Are they in high school or college? What qualifies them for this scholarship?
- How do they earn the money?
- Do they have to submit an essay? A video? Do they have to have a certain GPA? Do they need to be under a certain income level? Do they need to have worked within your organization?
- You can change and update this but having a clear idea of what you want them to do is a crucial part.
- Who will administer the scholarship?
- Will you have an elected committee? Will you have an outside scholarship administrator? Will you bring in people from the community to judge the scholarship but then have the finances internally? How will changes be made and who can make them? Who will be able to sign checks?
Once you have answered these questions then you need to figure out what your budget will be. Now this is the hard part because you can decided to just give $500 every year out of your budget but what happens in a lean year? What happens if you don’t have the money?
To make sure that your scholarship lasts, you need to plan for the long term. That means setting aside more money that you need each year into a savings or a fund. You should talk with a financial advisor about the best vehicle for you and your organization. But if you put $1000 away each year and give out a $500 scholarship then you will be years ahead. You will be able to eventually give out more scholarships or larger amounts. Learning how to manage your lean months will help you put this money away.
I know that it is tempting to give away all the money that you can each year, but if you can set some aside and put some into savings, you will be able to help more people in the future and for longer.