Edinburgh Napier University leads the way advancing student funding practices with Blackbaud

Student funding plays a fundamental role in the overall student experience. Financial difficulties can impact students’ mental and physical wellbeing negatively and even lead to large unmanageable debts. In these challenging situations, many students consider leaving university altogether.

That is where the talented student funding team at Edinburgh Napier University comes in. As part of the broader wellbeing and inclusion team, five key student funding team members work hard to ensure that students are set and supported financially. Students apply for help as often as they feel the need, and student funding works with various scenarios. In fact, the team helps students with funding applications, provides guidance, shares advice on external funding opportunities, creates strategies to address emergencies and much more. “We are very much there to ensure that students are set financially and feel supported that they can reach their goals. That ties in with some of the wider university and sector goals, such as student retention,” explained the student funding Team Leader Letitia Friary. With three teams offering funding—all working under different departments—and various funds available with distinct eligibility criteria, the student funding team have found a way to manage the process better while improving the overall student experience. The aim was to put robust systems in place to create a pain-free funding process for both students and the university. “At the moment, we offer 32 different funds. It’s quite a lot for students to read to know what exactly they should apply for. That’s where Find-a-Fund comes in because it’s one application, and it can match students to the funds they are eligible for,” said Student Advisor Katrina Lindsay.

Software Empowering Wellbeing and Inclusion Professionals to Innovate

To streamline its student funding processes, Edinburgh Napier University launched a Find-a-Fund funding programme in 2019. The system harnesses Blackbaud Award Management, a purpose-built scholarship management tool for education institutions, making Edinburgh Napier University the first university in the UK to implement the software.

While the new digital approach continues to have its challenges and has faced resistance, the student funding team sees it has helped them take the right steps forward. Find-a-Fund is now used for most of Edinburgh Napier University’s funds, and having nearly all data in one place and under the team’s control has helped to simplify and streamline the whole funding process. Previously, it would require extensive manual work to sort through applications and vast knowledge to identify the funds students would be eligible for. “Before you would have a meeting with a student to discuss funding opportunities, but you had to have a certain working knowledge to know which ones to offer, whereas the system cuts out a lot of that as you can rely on it to tell which ones they are eligible for,” said Lindsay.

With the more advanced digital approach, the student funding team can use the software to narrow data down and filter it based on the requirements of the fund. It is also easier to identify if the student has received funding from elsewhere. “It’s really quite powerful how quickly you can manipulate the data for things like that,” Lindsay added.

This streamlined process was especially important during COVID-19 when demand for student funding reached an all-time high, and the team was distributing more funds than before. Extra funding from the government needed to be dispersed to students within a 6-week period, and the team received 1400 applications within a month. Previously, they dealt with paper applications sent by email, but having the Blackbaud software in place ensured the team was able to work through the applications quickly and successfully. “I don’t know what we would have done without having the system in the COVID-19 period,” Friary said.

With Find-a-Fund, the student funding team has been able to boost its processes when it comes to identifying the best ways to use the funds they have available. For example, funds with lower amounts but high demand may have applicants who are eligible for other funds, and this is now easier to identify with the software. “The way funds Find-a-Fund is set out, it does allow us to be far more innovative—particularly these days when we needto make funds go as far as we possibly can,” explained Friary.

Informed Student Support Through Digital Collaboration Offers Meaningful Social Impact

Even though the student funding team works with funds and numbers, the individual student experience continues to be their primary focus. The social impact of making a positive difference in students’ lives is at the forefront of all decision-making and new approaches they implement. With this in mind, it was essential that Find-a-Fund enabled better student support and improved experience throughout the funding process.

Currently, the university places a big focus on understanding student retention to prevent them from leaving because of financial difficulties. Find-a-Fund helps the student funding team break down barriers to students identifying funds they should apply for by streamlining the application process and making communication easier than before. Team members have built confidence in using the system and have set up tools, like email templates, that make the funding process easier for students to understand. This has enabled them to develop more personal relationships with students. “Because we now have this system, we can respond very quickly,” said Friary.

As everything is online, the team can also enjoy a better awareness and visibility of what the university’s other teams providing funding for students are doing. By collaborating digitally, the different teams have been able to ensure that Find-a-Fund makes a whole simpler process for students. A survey conducted by the student funding team found that 20% of students surveyed were thinking of leaving university before accessing support. Of the students who used the student funding service, 45% said they might have left the university without this support, and 43% said they would have definitely left the university had they not accessed the student funding team services. With Find-a-Fund at hand, the student funding team has been able to provide enhanced support that helps Edinburgh Napier University tackle key issues like student retention. “Thank you very much for your unwavering support and advice. Your assistance has been invaluable, and I am truly grateful for your dedication to helping students like myself navigate these challenges,” said one of the students.

This digital collaboration extends to Edinburgh Napier University and Blackbaud’s work together. The student funding team has regular meetings with their dedicated Customer Success manager, but also takes advantage of and appreciates Blackbaud’s digital help services that include, for example, a call log and an online chat. “It’s great that I can raise a call log and get it answered really quickly,” Lindsay exclaimed.

Combined with the support and ongoing guidance from the Blackbaud Customer Success manager, these tools and strategic approaches help the student funding team continue towards the ultimate goal of only having one software in place to take Find-a-Fund and its social impact even further.