Case Study: Manchester University achieves streamlined scholarship matching and improved donor relations with Blackbaud Award Management

Manchester University - Customer Case Study

Manchester University, a private liberal arts school serving about 1,600 students, struggled with a manual, spreadsheet-based scholarship process managed by a single staff member. That approach led to awards that didn’t always match donor criteria, large scholarships being concentrated on single students, unused funds when recipients didn’t enroll, and low completion rates for thank-you letters and donor questionnaires.

The university implemented Blackbaud Award Management, integrated with its Colleague student information system, and moved scholarship oversight to donor relations. The system auto-matches students to awards, notifies staff of unmatched funds, centralizes student data for verification, and automates award emails and a required questionnaire/thank-you workflow. As a result, Manchester improved efficiency and accuracy, ensured awards align with donor intent, and achieved a 90% completion rate for thank-you letters and information requests.

Manchester University

Megan Sarber

Manager of Donor Relations