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Fall 2009
Event attendees enjoyed engaging speakers, fabulous food, beautiful views and the opportunity to network with friends, colleagues and new acquaintances. |
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At the event, NWDS presented founder board member and Chair Emeritus, Senator Ken Jacobsen with our fourth Community Hero Award in recognition of his continued leadership ensuring all students receive access to post-secondary education. Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn presented the Award to Senator Jacobsen. |
| In addition to the presentation of the Community Hero Award, four chapter volunteers were awarded the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award. Read more about these amazing women on page 3. The evening’s program included an inspirational message from Associate Board Member Monte Bridges, and a heartwarming and entertaining address from Alex Domine, a former recipient of the Steilacoom Historical Education Foundation. |
Thank you to our sponsors:
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2009 Board of Directors
Governing Board |
Mike Madden - Chair
Symetra Financial
Dr. Eric Yocam - Vice-Chair
Microsoft Corporation
Doug Breithaupt - Secretary
College Planning Network
Jennifer Freimund - Past-Chair
Seattle King County Dental Society
The Hon. Ken Jacobsen - Chair Emeritus
Washington State Senate
David Aramaki
Ameriprise Financial Advisors, Inc.
Timothy Brandt
Sonosite
Sam Chughtai
Microsoft Corporation
Dan Cosgrove
Highline Community College
Martin Daniels
Community Volunteer
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Karen deVilla
Northwest Education Loan Association
Vallerie Fisher
Seattle Public Schools
Nick Hailey
University of Washington
Kimberle Jackson-Butler
The Bush School
Kathleen Koch
Seattle University
Eva Mitchell
Community Volunteer
Ron Noborikawa
Pacific Lutheran University
Kathryn Perkins
OCLC
Scott Peyree, President
Quote Wizard
Ram Valliyappan
Microsoft Corporation
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Associate Board |
Dr. Loren Anderson, Dale Bailey, Ruth Bishop, Monte Bridges, Carl Donovan, Suzanne Hittman, Fred Hutchinson, Howard Johnson, Gary Justice, Krist Novoselic, Ron Parker, James P. Pierre, Jay Reifel, Vickie Rekow, Dr. Kathleen Ross, Kay Soltis, Scott Sotebeer, Russell Whidbee, Marion Woyvodich and Gary Wright
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Staff |
Rick Millerick
Executive Director
Selena Allen
Associate Director
Darval Bonelli
Director of Advancement, West Coast
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This publication is written, edited and designed by Northwest Dollars for Scholars staff.
For more information call
(800) 335-4512 or email
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Letter From the Chair
So, summer is over. Kids are back in school. Days are getting shorter and there’s a chill in the air. It’s fall, time to reflect on a fading year, and to scramble to wrap up the loose ends of 2009.
Nationally and globally, again this year, the recession dominated our consciousness. Recently, stock markets and business results began to show signs of recovery. But unemployment worsened, government budgets were strained to the max, and colleges and universities were challenged to meet the needs of increasing numbers of applicants while coping with reduced funding. Many colleges had to raise tuitions and reduce admissions while cutting budgets and staff. Challenging times, indeed!
But these times point up the relevance of Dollars for Scholars, now more than ever! What a great time to be associated with so many helping, caring organizations, nationwide, whose mission is to help motivated students get a college education.
And we certainly played our part this year, at Northwest Dollars for Scholars (NWDS)! I’d like to extend the thanks and congratulations of the NWDS Governing Board of Directors to our NWDS Chapters for a spectacular 2009. Among the many accomplishments are:
- NWDS chapters raised over $10,000,000 and awarded scholarships to 3,026 students
- Total Matching Grants received from WA state to date is $2,540,000
- Reached a total of over $53,000,000 raised by chapters since 1987
- Supported 140 Dollars for Scholars chapters
And the essential work continues. NWDS creates new chapters, supports existing chapters and establishes partnerships to support aspiring students. Our programs include Dollars for Scholars Chapters; ScholarShop and the Collegiate Partners Program (No reduction of other financial aid for Dollars for Scholars scholarships). We have 150 corporate and other matching partners in the United States. We leverage the State Matching Grant Program and partnerships with corporations, businesses and other non-profits as well as the NWDS Scholarship Fund. We are focused on the “4G’s” for college-bound students: Get Ready; Get In; Get Through; and Give Back, with an emphasis on first generation college students, on low income, minority communities and on awarding renewable scholarships.
To do all this, NWDS needs community volunteers. We have current openings for new members of the board of directors. Some ways board members serve are:
- Bring guests to the annual Light the Fire Reception – our major fundraiser
- Make an annual personal contribution to NWDS
- Serve on one of our committees
- Attend a minimum of 5 board meeting per year, plus an Annual Retreat (meet quarterly)
- Recruit Individuals to serve on the board
- Assist in starting a Dollars for Scholars Chapter
To help, please contact us at (800)-335-4512.
Best wishes, and thanks again for all you do for students in the Northwest!
Mike Madden, Symetra Financial
Chair, NWDS Governing Board of Directors
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Outstanding Volunteer Service Award
In honor of National Volunteer Week, NWDS is proud to implement a new program to recognize and support outstanding Dollars for Scholars volunteers. Four finalists, and two honorable mentions, were selected to receive an award based on their commitment to the Dollars for Scholars mission and their leadership in successfully guiding the course of their chapter in a significant and meaningful way. Thanks to our sponsors finalists receive a cash award payable to their chapter.
Honorable Mentions: Millie Anderson - Bright Future DFS and RaeAnn Fleming - LaCrosse DFS.
1st Place: $500
Kathi Williams has been an active member of the Burlington-Edison Education and Alumni Foundation for over nine years. Kathi is the energy behind most of the committees and activities of the foundation including organizing and implementing the brick engraving project, organizing and running the “Antique Safari” fundraiser for the past 3 years, and all publicity. The brick project that Kathi spearheaded has generated $78,000 in donations!
She is also the face of the foundation with the community, which includes meeting with potential donors; maintaining all correspondence with our scholarship recipients both to notify them of the award and to follow for all documentation to ensure proper payment; working with the career counselor at our high school to get the applications out to the senior class and managing the judging of over 80 applications!
It has truly been the energy, commitment, dedication, and leadership of Kathi Williams that has brought this foundation to the level of success that it has achieved and will continue to succeed through her constant involvement as our Community Liaison. Kathi has created a vitality; financial strength; and respect in the community for the foundation that would not have been possible without her energy, dedication, and ability to meet the community members and discuss how they can support B-E students through their charitable giving.
2nd Place: $500
Betty Skidmore is a founding board member of Colville Dollars for Scholars. Her dedication to education and giving back to the local community has been a great benefit to many. Her passion for the scholarship program has inspired many other community members, friends and CHS alumni to get involved and support Colville Dollars for Scholars Foundation as volunteers and/or with monetary donations.
She has been the driving force in keeping the interest and focus centered on providing funding for annual scholarships along with building the endowment fund to ensure scholarship funding for future graduates.
Due to her efforts, the endowment fund balance has grown to over $100,000, providing yearly income for a number of scholarships. With Betty’s assistance, more than $29,000 has been presented in scholarships to Colville High School graduating seniors in the past seven years.
She started her own scholarship fund in 1981 with money from a memorial, used money from her own pocket to award scholarships some years when funds were not available, was the instigator in organizing the chapter and continues to donate financially to the foundation.
3rd Place: $100
Paula Meyer is the secretary for the Rainier Education Foundation. Paula went above and beyond what is asked of a Secretary. She saw the need for a more efficient and effective means of tracking and maintaining the pertinent information obtained to organize the Annual REF Auction. With this in mind, Paula spent numerous hours researching the best product to use, presented the options, and was successful in procuring & implementing an online auction program for the 2009 Auction. She worked endless hours to implement the chosen product, trained other members to use the system, and trained others on the Cashier aspect of the system for a more thorough yet timely collection process at the end of the Auction.
This product allowed the REF to initiate an online Auction for the first time since the inception of the Foundation! Paula’s commitment in seeing the online auction program come to pass allowed the REF to raise over $45,000 for scholarships and teacher grants in support of the students within the Rainier School District.
Paula was very organized and thorough throughout the process. Her leadership style is to always proceed with a positive attitude and calm demeanor which kept all of the REF volunteers productive. Paula was able to accomplish the above and still perform her secretarial responsibilities for the REF, work her full-time job, and be a wife and mom.
4th Place: $100
Pam Held has been the president of the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation for the past two years. Pam continually goes above and beyond the call of duty. After her election into office several years ago, it would have been easy for her to keep business as usual; however, this is not how Pam works. Always looking for a way to make things better, Pam began to dig into past operations and found many, many things that needed to be changed, not only for a smoother operation, but some important state requirements and other critical items that had slipped through the cracks (as often happens in volunteer organizations). Pam spent countless hours bringing the chapter up to speed as well as organizing things in such a way that when she finally passes on her presidential role, the next volunteer will have everything neatly and concisely explained in a notebook.
She has also created an atmosphere of trust and professionalism that has spread into the community. She has made the chapter’s activities transparent and modern so that anyone seeking answers can easily find them. She is not the first President to do so much work. DFS tends to attract people who are passionate about helping children. However, Pam did all of this with a smile on her face and while dealing with some extremely tough personal circumstances. She is a woman of substance and grace, and our organization has benefited immensely from her leadership.
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Sell Better with Stories: 9 Storytelling Tips for Nonprofits
f you heard that a certain type of fox is endangered, would you be moved to act? How about if you heard that a mama fox was trying to keep herself and her litter safe as their forest disappears? Now that’s different. There’s a story there with actual individuals being affected.
Such was the storyline for a campaign by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), which told a universal tale of survival to communicate about the kit fox problem in Northern California.
Information in the context of a story is dramatically more compelling than straight facts. Yet, many nonprofits fail to tell stories to illustrate their challenges and successful outcomes. Most nonprofit staffers know they need to tell more success stories, but just don’t have the capacity.
Here are some tips for helping nonprofits integrate stories more frequently and effectively into communications.
1. Leverage praise letters
Nonprofits that serve their beneficiaries well inevitably get praise letters from time to time. Make the most of this unsolicited praise. Immediately ask the submitter if and how you might use their comments. Even take a few minutes to collect a few more details about their story if possible. Can you reprint their comments and stories in your newsletters, blog, annual reports and brochures, or read them at events? Can you use the person’s full name or just first name?
2. Ask the people you serve
Encourage those that the nonprofit serves, or family members, to submit their own stories. Include a “share your story” page on your web site, ask on surveys, or hand out “share your story” forms at live events that they can fill out right there and hand back. Be sure to collect contact information in case you need to follow up, and let them check multiple-choice options on how you can use their stories publicly.
3. ID story witnesses
What individuals - paid or volunteer - are in a position to see successes firsthand and relay those back to office staff or someone handling communications? Identify your potential story witnesses.
4. Make it easy for witnesses
Communicate to story witnesses - in regular communications - specifically and frequently where to share their positive accounts. Should they email a specific point person? Fill out an online form? How about a success story box in your office for staff or volunteers to write down a few words? Also solicit stories in staff and volunteer meetings.
5. Share within the team
Everyone in the organization that communicates with internal and external audiences should have access to your latest success stories. Your communications person or a volunteer may produce your newsletter while others are creating donor letters, annual reports or grant requests, or training new volunteers and staff. Email stories among the staff to ensure everyone has access to them, or post them on an intranet site. The president of EDF holds fireside chats annually to tell stories and build team spirit with new employees.
6. Stay positive
Katya Andresen (author of nonprofitmarketing-blog.com and our COO at Network for Good) urges nonprofits not to tell tales of doom and gloom. Rather focus more on the positive outcome to avoid depressing your audience.
7. Mix your media
Tell your stories in various ways - audio, video, written, in photos, and verbally in meetings with potential supporters.
8. Find a talented volunteer
No time to interview beneficiaries and write or video success stories? Engage freelancers, or even talented journalism, film or public relations students. But remember, quality does matter. You want to look professional, so hire the best you can.
9. Vary story perspectives
Don’t just tell beneficiary stories. Make-A-Wish Foundation also features wish-granter, volunteer and sponsor stories.
Remember, always use stories in all internal and external communications to connect with your various audiences.
As for EDF’s kit foxes, as a result of the campaign, farmers signed a safe harbor agreement to help protect them.
Source: http://cms.sys-con.com/node/1064944
Copyright © 2009 SYS-CON Media, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.
Help tell our story! |
Help NWDS develop updated student success stories to share in our promotional materials.
These stories are crucial to sharing the impact we have on our community. Below is the link to a survey that will provide the information needed to create these stories. Please forward this link to your former scholarship recipients. For each student who completes the survey, your chapter will receive one entry into a drawing to have your 2010 recertification fee paid by NWDS. The drawing will be held at the Fall Regional Workshop in October (you do not need to be present to win).
Our goal is to have a database of stories that can be used by the local chapters, NWDS and Scholarship America as needed.
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theWashBoard.org | Smarter Scholarship Matches
This fall, the Washington Scholarship Coalition will launch theWashBoard.org to make it easier for Washington students to efficiently find and apply for relevant scholarship opportunities. Free of cost for both students AND providers, theWashBoard.org acts as a clearinghouse for screened scholarships and matches those seeking scholarship support with those looking to provide it.
TheWashBoard.org makes scholarship searching simple. Students can search and apply for screened scholarship opportunities specific to their academic interests, college or university, or by other criteria in one stop. Unlike other search engines, theWashBoard.org only recommends scholarships for which a student is eligible. And it is advertising and spam-free.
TheWashBoard.org offers many benefits to scholarship providers in addition to its no cost. Since it is web-based, the WashBoard.org reduces the need for paper applications and forms. It also enables donors to reach thousands of students statewide. And once scholarships decisions are made, donors will have access to statewide scholarship trend data.
The Washington Scholarship Coalition, which includes NW Dollars for Scholars, is a public/private effort to help Washington state students access scholarship dollars so that they are able to pursue and complete post-secondary education. There is currently no central location for information regarding scholarships in our state. This results in seeker frustration and decreased scholarship applicants; it also causes scholarship dollars to go unused or underutilized.
For more information about theWashBoard.org, or to find out how your chapter’s scholarships can be included, please contact Mary Beth Lambert, Marketing Coordinator for the Washington Scholarship Coalition at:
- FREE to scholarship providers
- Web-based, reducing the need for paper applications and forms
- Efficient – scholarship data only needs to be entered once
- Enables donors to reach thousands of students statewide
- Access to statewide scholarship trend data
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Free Ways to Help NWDS Raise Much-Needed Funds.
Every time you shop at any of 700+ online stores in the iGive network, a portion of the money you spend benefits Northwest Dollars for Scholars. It’s a free service, and you’ll never pay more when you reach a store through iGive. In fact, smart shoppers will enjoy iGive’s repository of coupons, free shipping deals, and sales. To get started, just create your free iGive account. And when you search the web, do it through iSearchiGive.com where each search means a penny (or more!) for our cause!
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NWDS Fall Workshop
We’re excited to announce a new format for our regional workshops. The primary topics will be Volunteer Recruitment, Board Retention and Major Gifts, but we want to be sure we are meeting the needs of those in attendance. To that end we will let you decide what will be discussed. We have gathered a panel of seasoned nonprofit leaders with a variety of skills and knowledge who are eager to answer your questions.
Of course, any information we have ahead of time will help us prepare handouts and materials to address your concerns, but there will also be plenty of time to answer questions that come up during the course of the conversation. If you have any questions, concerns or issues that you need assistance with, this is your chance to hear from others in the field as well as chapters from across the region.
This workshop is for you!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
University of Puget Sound, Wheelock Student Center, Room 101
Tacoma, WA
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News from Chapters Across Washington and Oregon
Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars Receives
WA Grange Volunteer Organization of the Year Award
A fishing tournament and a car show: two seemingly unrelated events, right? Not in Wahkiakum, Washington. Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars and its volunteers have creatively linked these two events together for the past five years, as the Derby for Dollars for Scholars. The event’s goal – raising scholarship money for Wahkiakum High School students – has been met with incredible success. The Derby brings in over $14,000 in scholarship funds each year to the chapter, and its popularity benefits local businesses that participate, as well.
So who are the brilliant masterminds behind this event? That would be Lee and Diane Tischer; passionate and dedicated residents and volunteers for Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars.
Wanting to help make sure students could pursue their education beyond high school, and influenced by a local school principal who had started a Dollars for Scholars chapter in another area of Washington, Lee, Diane and six others met in the Wahkiakum High school library and began their own chapter.
Nine years later, the chapter has become a staple scholarship organization in the community and its success has even brought with it a few awards, including its recognition as the Washington State Grange Volunteer Group of the Year.
The success of Lee, Diane and the chapter has been due to the effort put forth by not only chapter members, but by everyone in the community. As Lee points out, “This community has really suffered in these tough economic times and unemployment is at an all time high, and yet businesses and people in the community are more generous than ever.” Lee also makes a conscious effort not to ask the same businesses over and over to donate to multiple fundraising events. Instead, he and other chapter members extend their reach to out-of-town and non-traditional local businesses like contractors. At the same time, businesses recognize the revenue they make thanks to chapter events like the Derby, which makes them more inclined to help out the chapter mission.
By the same token, individuals in the community have found easy ways to donate to the chapter. For example, Wahkiakum has a local birthday club. Instead of members giving presents to each other, they donate the money they would have spent to a scholarship fund. Frequently, for memorials and services, people send donations instead of flowers. This has become a popular way to honor someone and it also helps the chapter to give out more substantial scholarships to their students – as Diane points out, with college costs so high, any scholarship less than $500 hardly covers fees or books!
The scholarships raised by Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars have truly made the difference for many local students between going and not going to school. Currently, the chapter gives out as many as 18 scholarships per year ranging from $500 to $5,000. The chapter’s average scholarship is around $2,000; in 2008 one student even received a $10,000 scholarship. While the awards given out by the chapter are truly impressive, Lee and Diane and the rest of the chapter volunteers have an even bigger goal: they would like to build a million-dollar endowment, and they want to give EVERY SINGLE student in their community a substantial scholarship. They’re lofty goals, but Lee and Diane dream big and hope that their efforts, combined with the support of the community, will make them happen. Of course, they wouldn’t mind expediting the process – as Lee jokes, “We are still looking for that million dollar donor and of course I bought my lottery ticket.”
Regardless of how long it takes, Lee and Diane are dedicated to the mission of Dollars for Scholars because they know that the future of the community depends on educated youth. As Diane eloquently puts it: “Kids are the future of our community. If we don’t help and educate them, we can’t improve the community, and it will fail.”
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