Last October I made an observation, I saw that the scholarship market is an inefficient market with weighed down rules impeding supply of long-tail scholarships (e.g. individuals vs. large foundations) and a fragmented landscape that creates barriers for demand fulfillment (e.g. the matching of student to scholarship).
That observation gave birth to the non-profit that I now chair, ScholarFund.org that was launched in April to help individuals set up and award personally meaningful scholarships and to help reach out to students to apply to the scholarships. I thought to myself if there are people out there that wanted to put aside a bit of money that would go directly towards a scholarship that they can easily set up, then it shouldn’t be hard for them to give away money.
So starting this year I’ve deciphered and tackle the red-tape and the ins and outs of giving away scholarships legitimately with the legal and IRS code compliance, the department of education consent and the bookkeeping nightmare of wanting to make it as easy as possible for one person or a bunch of people to set up a scholarship online. With the legal and finances cleared, I thought the tough part was the tech platform and marketing to donors to use the site, but my digital world brain met youthful reality – getting students to even apply is tough.
ScholarFund.org is still in Beta from a platform perspective,, with more functionality and matching ability of students to scholarship to come, but right now it is live with basic functionality with 3 scholarships available and today is the deadline.
One scholarship, aimed at New York City Public High School Students, had a steady stream of applications fill up our inbox, with today being the busiest. No surprise there. The scholarship was streamlined with minimal form information, everything was online and we reached out to schools and local non-profits to spread the word. All in all, the vision that I had for ScholarFund.org being fulfilled. There are about 200,000 eligible students for this scholarship but what if the scholarships were to a smaller group of people, where you have an even higher chance of winning? Let’s move on to the other two scholarships….
The other two scholarships are aimed at specific schools, the first to a public high school in California for $2,000 and the second to a junior high school in Alabama for $1,000 – both have received zero applications. Yes, that’s right zero applications for a scholarship open to only you and your classmates at your school where chances are high and application quite simple (essay + letter of recommendation). Zero applications after outreach to the principal, the guidance counselor and teachers of the school as well as area local non-profits. What gives? I don’t know but am reaching out.
Some theories pitched my way is that counselors and teachers are overwhelmed and can’t be the only source of outreach. Others say that it’s about the quality of non-profit you reach out to, if they really have the relationships with students. Then the math people say it’s a number games, but rationalist would counter that if your chances went up for a scholarship you don’t need huge numbers to get a good showing. Then there is the depressing idea that students are apathetic and unless you can get upfront and personally reach out, chances are low that they will apply.
I still have 12 more hours, so perhaps I will see a flood of applications at the midnight hour. Maybe not. Who knew it was so hard to give away money.
Post Update:
The California scholarship and the Alabama scholarship saw a number of applications at the last 12 hours. The additional outreach and direct emails to students who started but didn’t submit an application seemed to work! More work then expected, but now we know where the pain point is in scaling ScholarFund.org.