When and How to Automate Scholarship Program Communication

As with every business, communication is an essential component of success for a program manager. Regardless of  whether you are running scholarship, grant, or tuition assistance programs, the people you are working with and the applicants applying for a chance to be given a monetary award all expect communication. Read on to learn why you should use scholarship management software to automate your program communications with your staff, partners, donors, and applicants. 

Optimize Your Time and Energy With Application Management Software

Communication can quickly become a full time job for a busy program manager who already has a lot on their plate. This is especially true if you find yourself getting the same questions over and over again. By automating as much of your communication as possible with scholarship management software, you can take back those valuable hours. For example, automation can give you the ability to send a cluster of messages at one time as opposed to relying on your team or yourself to manually create and send each individual message.

All of those frequently asked questions you receive - those can be pooled into one web page/document that you can include with your application. The notifications that ‘you’ve received an application’ can be sent automatically upon receipt. Notices of upcoming deadlines can be scheduled for auto dispersal for a given date and time. The list goes on and on, and you can save all of this correspondence for future programs to save even more time down the road.

Batch and Schedule Your Communications

A huge benefit to adopting an automated communication system is the convenience of scheduling your communication campaigns in advance. Not having to send your communications in real time allows you to batch the task and schedule them for release ahead of time. 

The ability to compose multiple messages in one sitting helps you think of all the things that might come up in advance so that your messaging can be proactive rather than reactive. And, you can outsource some of this bulk messaging to a copywriter or team member to free up even more of your time.

Messaging via SMS and Email

Your messages don’t have to all be sent through email if you’re using SmarterSelect’s application management system. We understand that some people don’t check their emails everyday. That’s why we allow our users to send notifications and reminders via both email and text message. 

Automate Communication Within Your Applications Too

Imagine being able to “talk” to your applicants while they are filling out their applications. For example, if they have a question about the form. With our scholarship application software you can add question-level prompts and tips that automatically communicate to your candidates what you’re looking for in the answers they are submitting. This simple step alone can save you an untold number of hours corresponding back and forth about your scholarship forms and what you’re expecting from applicants.

SmarterSelect Makes Automation Effortless

At SmarterSelect, we understand how much time and resources go into running a successful scholarship program. That’s one of the reasons why we created our scholarship management software in the first place. We want to give you back your time, and make your job as effortless as possible. Communication isn’t the only thing we help you automate either. 

With our pre-qualification settings you can automatically eliminate individuals that are ineligible before they even apply. Our automated scoring and calculations will also save you time and reduce the risk of calculation errors. 

Learn how we can simplify your tasks and get your program running like a well-oiled machine. Sign up for a free trial account today!

FAQs

1. Why should I automate scholarship program communication?

By automating as much of your communication as possible with scholarship management software, you can save valuable hours. For example, automation can give you the ability to send a cluster of messages at one time as opposed to relying on your team or yourself to manually create and send each individual message.

2. How can I automate scholarship program communication?

With our scholarship application software SmarterSelect, you can add question-level prompts and tips that automatically communicate to your candidates what you’re looking for in the answers they are submitting. This simple step alone can save you an untold number of hours corresponding back and forth about your scholarship forms and what you’re expecting from applicants.

3. What is the benefit of batching and scheduling my scholarship communications?

A huge benefit to adopting an automated communication system is the convenience of scheduling your communication campaigns in advance. Not having to send your communications in real time allows you to batch the task and schedule them for release ahead of time.