Friday, December 5, 2014
by Elizabeth Leiman Kraiem, Executive Director, Jewish Foundation for Education of WomenAs old as formal education, scholarships have a kind of dusty reputation. They have not typically assumed the metrics or vocabulary of impact philanthropy, or been measured by return on investment. At the same time, many new donors are choosing scholarships as the vehicle for entering philanthropy because of their potential to direct human capital toward important goals and also to change the course of lives. When 30 scholarship and fellowship funders gathered last month at Philanthropy New York, they explored together how this form of philanthropy is both classic and cutting edge.
- The story is the work. Scholarships proceed at the snail’s pace of one life at a time, whether awarded for merit, need, promise, achievement or some combination thereof. Funders often talk about finding the individual story or anecdote to illustrate their work. With scholarships, that story or anecdote is the actual work, even as it also fills in a larger picture.
- Scholarships are both an end and a strategy for achieving an end. Curing disease, narrowing the opportunity gap, fostering understanding between countries: all use scholarships as one way to move the needle. Measuring these outcomes can require keeping up with individuals over time. Even in the age of social media, this is a difficult task requiring a commitment of staff time and technology, and many funders are working out how to do this in a cost effective way.
- Making scholarship grants is increasingly a shared undertaking. Collaborations with educational institutions, community-based organizations and professional associations can help funders in many ways, including: reaching candidates, staying current in evolving fields, delivering services and navigating laws and regulations around financial aid, travel and related activities.
- Scholarships afford donors a perspective unique in philanthropy. Scholarship donors have a window into both structural and incremental change. Even as big challenges remain, scholarship recipients want to meet them and help donors to see them with fresh and optimistic eyes. Together, they wipe the dust off of this old but serviceable form of philanthropy, helping to make it—and small corners of the world—new again.