A lot of planning goes into any great undertaking and that is also true for starting a company scholarship. You want to help as many people as possible by providing effective funding so students can acquire a degree that will set them on a path to success.
One of the major facets of starting a company scholarship includes budgeting. If you don’t budget properly, you can find yourself in a tight spot or perhaps providing less financial aid than you wanted.
Here are some considerations when working up your scholarship program’s budget to ensure that your program is as effective as possible.
What To Consider When Setting Your Scholarship Goals
There are two major considerations you need to take into account when you’re formulating a budget.
Your Program’s Major Objective
First of all, is your intended goal to reach as many students as possible and offer assistance or do you prefer to help a selected pool of students through the entire educational journey?
If the former is your plan, you are probably interested in one-time payments so that you can help a set of students and then move on to others, spreading your scholarships to a wider audience.
If you want to guide individual students through their journey from start to finish, a renewable scholarship may be in your best interest. That way, the same student can receive assistance each year with the hope of an improved success rate, as sometimes a one-time payment will get them started, but they may be unable to sustain their tuition through the long haul.
Or perhaps the best of both worlds? Whatever your plan, your mission will make a difference as to how you will budget your money, so it’s important to have this information locked in before you begin.
1. Consider Your Pool of Applicants When Budgeting
It’s crucial to take into account the application pool in the future when managing your money. After all, when your program gets going and more people learn about it, you’re going to receive more requests for your financial aid.
If you do not have a plan for this increased demand, you may find that this reduces your program’s potential. Since you want your program to grow, and you want people to make use of it, you need to have an action plan for this growth so that you do not face complications with your scholarship funds down the line.
2. Keep Your Original Goals In Mind When Budgeting
Once you have pondered your options and determined the proper allocations for your finding based on your targeted method of scholarship provisions, you have to remember to evaluate and restructure your budget year after year.
Your first year is going to be more of a gamble because you don’t yet have enough relevant data, so you are, in essence, making an educated prediction as to how much you will need and where.
In the second year and beyond you will have actual hard data you can use to modify your budget accordingly. Monitor trends and other important data which can make a difference in your planning to re-evaluate and tweak your budget.
This will provide your scholarship program the best chance to reach the most students and develop interest from new applicants, which in turn will help your program to grow.
Final Thoughts
If you have a preliminary budget in place, let us handle the rest.
Scholar’s App is a great option to provide you assistance to simplify the entire process of your company scholarship program throughout its lifecycle. Furthermore, the scholarship management platform is free, so it provides incredible value!
Implementing changes is a breeze with Scholar’s App, and it will also free up a considerable amount of time so that you can focus on what’s important: program growth and helping those who need you to further their education with your scholarship program.
