From Divisional to Central: Changing the Scholarship and Stewardship Narrative-Presentation

Presentation

Pdf Summary

The presentation described Johns Hopkins University’s effort to centralize scholarship awarding and donor stewardship across multiple schools, as part of the “One Hopkins” initiative. The university had tried to centralize previously but lacked the right tools. It partnered with Awarded to support the transition and improve the donor experience.<br /><br />Before the change, scholarship awarding for each of the three pilot schools required three to four full-time staff members per cycle. The new system helps match students with scholarships for which they are eligible, reducing awarding time from eight weeks to five—a 40% improvement. The team also tracks student profile completion to assess the student experience.<br /><br />For development and donor reporting, the platform provides consistent, branded impact reports across schools and reduces time spent on mail merges and offline edits. AI-assisted review of student thank-you notes shortened review time from one week to about three hours. Staff also reported improved efficiency and greater donor satisfaction. One donor praised the resulting materials, and a university leader noted that donors valued having information captured in one place.<br /><br />The presenters shared three key lessons: build the case by clearly identifying what is not working; achieve structured buy-in from divisional offices rather than relying on a mandate; and measure success in more ways than time saved. They encouraged institutions to consider what centralization would require, which operational pain points it would address, and how they would define success beyond efficiency gains.

Keywords

Johns Hopkins University

One Hopkins initiative

scholarship awarding

donor stewardship

centralization

student matching

impact reports

AI-assisted review

donor satisfaction

operational efficiency