Scholarship Management
Scholarship Management Guide
Everything you need to run a clear, fair, and compliant scholarship program: ready-to-use documents, a short course, and AI that drafts the writing for you.
About this app
Scholarship Management helps a small nonprofit award scholarships the right way. It gives you the core documents (the policy, application, rubric, committee charter, letters, and disbursement procedure), a short course on running the program, and AI automations that draft your documents and communications from a few details. Everything you create exports to Word on your own letterhead.
The app covers the whole program end to end: design and document it, track applicants through your pipeline, score them against a rubric with conflict-of-interest handling, and record awards and disbursements, with AI on hand to draft the writing. Everything is saved on your device.
Getting started
- Sign in. Use your Build Your Club account. One sign-in works across every app.
- Set up your organization. On the Organization Setup page, add your organization name, letterhead, footer, and signature. These flow into every document and Word export automatically.
- Generate your documents. Open Templates, pick a document, fill in a few fields, and click Generate. Edit the result, then Copy, export to Word, Print, or save as Text.
- Learn the process. The Course Modules walk through designing the program, writing objective criteria, running selection, and staying compliant.
- Let AI help. On AI Automations, AI drafts your program plan, criteria, letters, donor updates, and announcements from a few details.
The templates
Each template asks for a few details and produces a complete document. Bracketed items like [this] are placeholders for you to complete.
- Scholarship Program Policy. The governing document: purpose, award structure, eligibility, selection criteria, the selection process, disbursement, and recordkeeping. Includes a public-charity vs private-foundation switch that adjusts the compliance language.
- Scholarship Application Form. A clean application with the standard fields, your essay prompt, required attachments, and an applicant certification.
- Scoring Rubric. A point-based rubric so every reviewer scores the same way, the backbone of an objective, defensible process.
- Selection Committee Charter. Who selects recipients, how they decide, quorum, and the conflict-of-interest rules.
- Award Letter. Congratulates the recipient and states the award, how it is paid, and any conditions.
- Decline Letter. A warm, respectful note for applicants who were not selected.
- Disbursement Policy. How and when funds move, what proof is required, and how each payment is documented.
Applications, scoring & awards
Beyond the documents, the app runs your program operationally. Everything is saved on your device.
Applications
On the Applications page, add each applicant and move them through a status pipeline: New, Under Review, Finalist, Awarded, Declined, or Withdrawn. The summary cards show how many sit at each stage, so you always know where things stand.
Review & Scoring
On Review & Scoring, set your rubric (the criteria and their point values), then score each application against it. More than one reviewer can score the same applicant; the app averages the non-conflicted reviews into a single score. A reviewer who has a personal or family connection to an applicant checks the conflict box, and that review is excluded from the average, which keeps the process objective and documented.
Awards
On Awards, record each award and disbursement: the amount, the date, whether funds go to the school or the recipient, the proof you collected (such as enrollment verification), and the status (Offered, Accepted, Paid, or Declined). The "Record award" button on an application carries the details straight into the ledger. The summary shows totals offered and paid.
Your scholarship workflow
A scholarship program follows a lifecycle. Here is where each template and automation fits.
| Stage | Templates | AI automations |
|---|---|---|
| Design the program | Scholarship Program Policy | Scholarship Program Plan |
| Set objective criteria | Scoring Rubric | Eligibility & Criteria Builder |
| Open and promote it | Application Form | Announcement & Applicant FAQ |
| Review and select | Selection Committee Charter, Scoring Rubric | (score on the rubric) |
| Award and notify | Award Letter, Decline Letter | Award Letter, Decline Letter |
| Disburse funds | Disbursement Policy | (follow your policy) |
| Steward your funders | (thank donors) | Scholarship Donor Update |
Compliance essentials
A scholarship program holds up when two habits are built in: objective criteria and good records.
Objective, nondiscriminatory criteria
Award on factors you can point to and score, such as academic record, service, financial need, or essay quality. Never select on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or other protected characteristics. The rubric and the AI Criteria Builder are designed around this.
Document every decision
Keep applications, score sheets, conflict-of-interest recusals, award decisions, and disbursement records together for each cycle. These records are the evidence that your process was objective and followed.
Public charity vs private foundation
Most small nonprofits are public charities, which can run scholarship programs with flexibility as long as awards use objective criteria and decisions are documented. Private foundations are different: they generally must obtain advance IRS approval of their grant-making procedures before awarding individual grants, then follow the approved procedures. Know which you are, and if you are a private foundation, confirm your approval is in place.
Recipient taxes
Scholarship payments can have tax consequences for recipients depending on how the funds are used. The app does not provide tax advice; encourage recipients to consult their own advisor, and confirm any reporting obligations with yours.
Document branding
On the Organization Setup page you set your organization name, letterhead (one line per row), footer, and a signature name and title. These appear automatically at the top, bottom, and closing of the documents you generate and on your Word exports, so everything goes out looking like it came from your organization. Settings are saved on your device.
In-app course
Open Course Modules inside the app for a short, four-module course: Designing Your Program, Objective Criteria, The Selection Process, and Awarding & Compliance. Each module is a few quick lessons and a check. It is the fastest way to get confident before you launch.
Automations Beta
The app includes AI automations that draft your scholarship documents and communications from a few details. You review and edit everything before it is used. They are free for everyone during the beta, and will become part of a paid plan afterward (see pricing).
For a full walkthrough of each automation, what to enter and how to use the output, see the AI Automations guide.
Pricing
Scholarship Management is part of the Fundraising & Development suite. Suites are one-time purchases that you own outright. The AI automations are part of the optional Autopilot subscription, free for everyone during the beta. See the pricing page for current details.
Contact
Questions or feedback? Email support@buildyourclub.com. We read every message.