Case Study: Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation scales scholarship and grant management with SmarterSelect

How Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation Scaled Their Impact with SmarterSelect Scholarship Management

The Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation manages scholarships, grants, and educational programs for Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity, but by 2009 its scholarship program had outgrown paper processes and a custom solution built by a volunteer. Each scholarship could have unique criteria while still needing to comply with IRS guidelines and Foundation regulations, making administration increasingly difficult.

To handle that complexity, the Foundation adopted SmarterSelect for scholarship management and later used SendGrant for fund distribution. With SmarterSelect, it scaled to 175 scholarships and more than 300 member applicants annually, reduced application length by 50-75%, saved hundreds of hours in administrative time, improved security for sensitive documents, and reduced bias in reviews through hidden questions.

Sigma Alpha Mu

Maria Mandel

Director of Scholarships & Grants