Chemeketa Community College Chemeketa Community College Foundation Boosts Scholarship Growth with Integrated Tech.
Higher Education Institutions
“The ultimate goal is to build a future where college affordability is no longer a barrier, and with Blackbaud Award Management and Raiser’s Edge NXT we’re better positioned to achieve this goal.”
Chemeketa Community College is a public institution serving Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley with affordable pathways to degrees, workforce credentials, and career training. The college supports a diverse student population, many of whom face financial and personal barriers to completing their education. The Chemeketa Community College Foundation provides essential scholarships that help these students access, persist in, and complete their credentials.
Chemeketa Community College Foundation Achieves 74% Growth in Scholarships
Located in Salem, Oregon, the Chemeketa Community College Foundation supports a diverse student body, many facing significant financial barriers to access higher education. As demand for scholarships increased, the Foundation shifted its strategy to ensure that each award makes a meaningful difference by raising average scholarship amounts—helping recipients cover a greater share of their financial needs from enrollment through completion.
By intentionally increasing award sizes and aligning donor intent with student need, the Foundation positioned scholarships as a strategic lever to support student recruitment, enrollment, and retention. Larger, more timely awards helped students commit to enrollment, persist through unexpected financial disruptions, and stay on track to complete their degree or credential.
To strengthen both student access and donor relationships, the Foundation adopted Blackbaud Award Management and Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT. Together, these solutions help the Foundation translate donor intent into timely, higher impact awards that support student success from enrollment through credential completion and prepare graduates to enter Oregon’s workforce.
“The platform’s user-friendly interface was critical in our ability to scale, ensuring that no student or donor was overlooked as demand increased.”
Streamlining Scholarship Access for Students
To reshape its scholarship strategy, the Foundation prioritized simplifying and strengthening the student experience. With Blackbaud Award Management, students now complete a single application and are automatically matched to more than 140 scholarships. The simplified experience provides clear status visibility, replaces a previously fragmented, multi page process, and ensures equitable, consistent evaluation across all applications. Supporting this student experience, dashboards and real-time data help staff quickly identify students who may need additional assistance, while digitized reviews promote equitable evaluation. This operational efficiency enables the Foundation to respond faster during critical moments that could otherwise disrupt enrollment or persistence.
Blackbaud Award Management provides a single, intuitive platform that automates processes, tracks key metrics, and supports communication. “The platform’s user-friendly interface was critical in our ability to scale, ensuring that no student or donor was overlooked as demand increased,” Marie Hulett,
vice president of institutional advancement and executive director said. “It’s no exaggeration to say that Blackbaud Award Management has helped us change lives faster and more equitably.”
74%
growth in scholarship funding
Strengthening Donor Engagement and Impact
“We worked harder to bring donors in so they could see the real impact,” said Jamie Wenigmann, director of development. “Showing them that a larger award truly changes students’ lives went a long way toward increasing each scholarship amount.”
Greater transparency has strengthened donor trust and expanded support. “We’re able to tailor scholarships to align with specific donor intent, like support for students who have been in foster care,” said Hulett. “This level of customization has been critical in making sure that donor dollars have a purpose-driven impact on students who need it the most.”
“Having a single, user-friendly platform not only helps donors see the student need right away, but it also helps us finalize awards faster and more accurately—especially for new funds or sudden donor contributions,” Wenigmann noted. This immediacy has inspired donors, including one who contributed immediately after reviewing real-time student stories.
Donor profiles help staff understand the intent behind gifts, particularly memorial funds, so awards can be more thoughtfully aligned with students whose backgrounds reflect the donor’s purpose. Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT also enhances donor stewardship by enabling real-time tracking of donor activity and aligning contributions with specific scholarship funds. “With Raiser’s Edge NXT, we’re able to track donor activity in real time and match those interactions with specific scholarship funds,” said Hulett. “This level of alignment ensures we honor donor intent while delivering scholarships to align with current student needs, fostering a stronger connection between both parties.”
With Raiser’s Edge NXT, we’re able to track donor activity in real time and match those interactions with specific scholarship funds.”
Leveraging Real Time Data to Enhance Outcomes
Data from Blackbaud Award Management and Raiser’s Edge NXT has helped the Foundation better understand the impact of increasing award sizes.
These insights reinforced the Foundation’s belief that scholarships are most effective when they help students stay enrolled and persist through completion, not just gain initial access. The data also showed that students receiving scholarships of $1,200 or more were 30% more likely to achieve their academic goals, underscoring the value of prioritizing larger awards.
The team also uses insights to monitor donor activity, align scholarship criteria, and support first-generation and nontraditional students whose financial needs extend beyond tuition.
With efficiencies gained from Blackbaud’s software, scholarship awards grew 74% over four years to $841,600, and average awards doubled from $1,200 to $2,400—helping each scholarship cover a greater portion of student expenses.
100%
increase in average award size
Expanding Community Impact
The Foundation is building on its success by expanding midyear application windows and leveraging real-time metrics to guide outreach, respond quickly to new funds, and meet urgent student needs. With a goal of surpassing $1 million in annual scholarship awards, the team is focused on increasing award sizes, easing financial burdens, and helping students stay on track toward credential completion and meaningful careers.
By aligning scholarship strategy, donor engagement, and real-time data, the Foundation created a model that supports students from enrollment through graduation—while giving advancement teams the insight needed to scale impact.
“The ultimate goal is to build a future where college affordability is no longer a barrier, but a bridge to prosperity for every Chemeketa student,” said Hulett. “And with Blackbaud Award Management and Raiser’s Edge NXT, we’re better positioned to achieve this goal.”
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Blackbaud Award Management has helped us change lives faster and more equitably.”
Ready to power your passion?
Request a customized demo to see how Blackbaud is made for your unique challenges and needs.
All fields required