Measuring Social Impact While Streamlining Operations
A Deep Dive into How Brands and Foundations Can Power Purpose-Driven, Data-Backed Scholarship and Grant Programs
In today’s landscape, doing good isn’t just a moral imperative—it’s a strategic one. Corporate brands and their foundations are increasingly investing in scholarships and grantmaking to strengthen community presence, reinforce brand purpose, and engage employees.
But here’s the challenge: while launching a scholarship or grant program sounds noble, managing one efficiently—and proving its impact—requires thoughtful planning, structured systems, and clear benchmarks. Without those, these high-intent programs risk becoming logistical nightmares, underperforming in both reach and results.
That’s exactly why Reviewr hosted a recent webinar titled “Measuring Social Impact While Streamlining Operations.” Led by CEO Kyle Fredrickson, the session explored how companies can run high-impact scholarship and grant programs without being bogged down in complexity, and how to design these programs to generate measurable, meaningful outcomes.
Why These Programs Exist—and Why They’re Worth Doing Right
Before diving into process and strategy, it’s critical to understand the types of programs brands are building—and the deeper reasons behind them. Whether it’s scholarships for external communities, internal benefits for employees, or grants for mission-aligned causes, these initiatives all share a common goal: making a meaningful impact while aligning with brand purpose.
Three main types of corporate programs:
1. External Scholarships
These are programs offered to students outside the organization—often through partnerships with universities, foundations, or trade associations. They’re typically aligned with the company’s industry, mission, or community footprint.
Purpose:
- Invest in future workforce talent
- Enhance corporate reputation
- Provide access to underserved communities
2. Internal Scholarships
These are offered to employees or their families as part of HR and workforce development initiatives.
Purpose:
- Increase employee retention
- Enhance loyalty and internal mobility
- Foster a culture of growth and support
3. Grants to Organizations or Causes
Grants are generally targeted toward nonprofits, community-based organizations, or research projects, often tied to corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Purpose:
- Support community impact and mission-aligned initiatives
- Drive brand favorability (30%+ improvement is not uncommon)
- Promote long-term stakeholder trust
Each type has a distinct audience and impact path. But regardless of scope, success is driven by clarity of purpose, operational excellence, and measurable outcomes.
The Four Key Program Phases—and How to Master Each
Building a program is one thing. Running it efficiently and equitably—while capturing meaningful data—is another. The most effective scholarship and grant programs are designed around four key pillars, each requiring its own set of best practices. Let’s take a look at how to elevate performance across every phase.
1. Applicant Experience: The Front Door to Your Program
Expanded Best Practices:
- Go Mobile-First: Ensure forms are mobile-friendly.
- Profile-Centric Design: Allow applicants to reuse profiles, saving significant time on future submissions.
- Embedded Eligibility Checks: Automate eligibility checks to save applicant and reviewer time.
- Multimedia Inputs: Encourage video uploads or multimedia portfolios for richer storytelling.
- Simplify Reference Collection: Use structured, automated forms instead of letters.
- Transparency via Checklists: Allow applicants real-time tracking
Results:
- Up to 30% more completed applications
- Improved applicant quality and inclusivity
Actionable Steps:
- Audit your current application form for mobile accessibility.
- Implement automated eligibility checks immediately.
- Set up automated reminder emails (available in most platforms).
- Develop clear, concise FAQs embedded in forms to reduce confusion.
2. Operational Experience: Behind-the-Scenes Efficiency
Common Pitfalls:
- Disconnected tools (Jotform, Dropbox, email, Slack)
- Lack of compliance protocols
- Reactive workload surges
Expanded Best Practices:
- Centralized Management Hub: Use integrated platforms like Reviewr to centralize submissions, documents, and communications.
- Automate Repetitive Tasks: Automate reminders, eligibility filtering, and progress tracking.
- Real-time Dashboards: Track submissions and reviews through customizable dashboards.
- Prioritize Data Security: Opt for SOC 2 Type II compliant platforms to safeguard sensitive data.
Insight: Operational excellence isn’t software-dependent—it’s about smart, scalable, compliant processes.
Actionable Steps:
- Migrate all manual tasks into one central software immediately.
- Set up automated notifications to applicants and reviewers.
- Clearly define roles and permissions in your chosen platform.
- Integrate your management software with finance or HR systems for seamless workflow.
3. Review Process: Fair, Structured, and Transparent
Expanded Best Practices:
- Scorecard-Driven Reviews: Establish clear rubrics within your management system.
- Randomized Assignment: Automatically randomize reviewer assignments to avoid bias.
- Normalize Scores: Platforms like Reviewr offer score normalization tools to address reviewer variance.
Redact Biased Data: Employ anonymized review features to mitigate bias. - Qualitative Feedback: Encourage reviewers to provide rich comments alongside numeric scores.
Pro Tip: Replace numeric scores with descriptive labels (“Exceeds Expectations”) for clearer evaluations.
Actionable Steps:
- Immediately create and deploy standardized scoring rubrics.
- Configure automated, randomized reviewer assignment.
- Train reviewers in bias-awareness and score calibration workshops.
- Provide constructive applicant feedback post-review to enhance transparency and credibility.
4. Measuring Impact: Proving Outcomes Beyond Feel-Good Stories
Expanded Best Practices:
- Define Clear Success Metrics: Align metrics to strategic CSR and HR goals early.
- Automate Outcome Collection: Schedule regular, automated follow-up forms to collect data systematically.
- Dashboards & Reporting: Generate automatic dashboards to visualize impact data.
- Maintain Data Quality: Validate and standardize data collection across programs.
- Storytelling & Communication: Share compelling impact stories and data in CSR reports and employee communications.
Actionable Steps:
- Define measurable success metrics immediately.
- Schedule automated impact report reminders.
- Establish standard dashboard templates for easy reporting.
- Regularly communicate impact results to stakeholders and incorporate learnings into continuous program improvement.
The Path to Streamlined, High-Impact Programs
Running a purpose-driven scholarship or grant program doesn’t need to be complicated. By grounding your efforts in a clear mission, designing for efficiency, and committing to impact measurement, your organization can build a program that not only feels good—but does good, too.
- Start with your ‘why.
- Design the program backward.
- Digitize the experience.
- Centralize operations.
- Measure what matters.
Implement these trends today
