LIVE VIRTUAL WORKSHOP (OPEN-ACCESS)
Beyond the Dollar
How to Measure (and Prove) Your Scholarship Program’s True Impact
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
2:00 pm EST/11:00 am PST
The Vanity Metric Trap
You know exactly how much money you awarded last year.
But do you know what that money actually achieved?
For decades, scholarship programs have relied on "vanity metrics", including dollars awarded and number of students funded. But in 2026, those numbers aren't enough.
Donors want to know if they’re breaking the cycle of poverty. Boards want to know the ROI on administrative costs. Staff are sitting on mountains of survey data but lack the time (or tools) to analyze it. And if you can’t prove your impact, you can’t protect your budget.
Grab Your Spot
This Workshop Will Cover:
Use a logic model to ensure every dollar is an investment in a student’s graduation or career, rather than just an administrative output.
Identify the specific needs and obstacles of your students, alumni, and volunteers using our stakeholder survey bank.
Turn feedback into documented program changes for your next cycle by implementing a formal improvement tracker.
Summarize hundreds of student stories into clear reports in seconds by using simple AI tools and our prompts to analyze your qualitative data.
Prove exactly how your program helps students finish school and start careers using a report template designed for board-level leadership.
Your Presenter
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Erika Orsulak
Founding Partner
Erika Orsulak cut her teeth in the scholarships industry by overhauling a legacy scholarship program with a team of just 1.25 staff. That experience turned her into a passionate advocate for practical evaluation. While she now focuses on leading the strategic growth of Students First Consulting, evaluation remains one of her core areas of interest and expertise. She draws on that background to help today's scholarship leaders prove their impact without blowing their budgets.