Cherry Blossoms

Scholarships & Fellowships

Page last reviewed on 3/1/2024. Pages are reviewed annually.

Private support from donors for scholarships, fellowships, and awards ensures that students have access to the world-class education we offer at UW's College of Arts & Sciences. To show donors the impact their gifts make on the lives of students, each year programs and departments collect thank you letters from scholarship and fellowship recipients and share those letters with donors and other stewardees.

The CAS Advancement team is here to help with this process. Below is an explanation of tools, best practices, and resources available to help you through the process.

Unit Responsibilities

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  • Communicate with recipients of scholarships and fellowships: When awarding scholarships and fellowships that have been supported by private philanthropy, let the recipients know that they will be invited to thank those donors by writing letters to be shared with them.
  • Collect thank you letters from recipients and share those letters with donors and stewardees. The Beneficiary Portal tool can help you collect those letters!
  • Mail printed copies of the letters collected to the fund's donors and stewardees.
  • File a contact report in the Tandem database to document that interaction with the donor.

Process and Timeline

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Each department within the College of Arts & Sciences has its own calendar for both awarding student support funding and collecting thank you letters from students to donors.

Some departments collect all letters at the same time each year in order to streamline the process and make efficient use of staff time. Others collect undergraduate letters at one point during the year, and graduate letters at another. Others time their scholarship/fellowship stewardship process to coincide with a scholarship luncheon or other special event.

If you need help determining the best timing for your department, Lindsay Bailey-Weaver in CAS Advancement Services is happy to consult with you.

Resources

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Best Practices

Beneficiary Portal

Student Letter Examples

 

Please contact the Advancement Services team anytime at casadser@uw.edu with questions or for more information.