Reimagining College Scholarship Fundraising

A Demonstration of Education Leadership: The USC Scholarship Initiative
From 2020–2021, Allison Basile—now Proffer Grant Consulting’s Chief Engagement Officer & Principal Consultant—Co-chaired the University of Southern California (USC) Scholarship Council, a role she earned through her collaborative work as a USC Scholarship Task Force member beginning in 2019. The task force identified and addressed challenges in scholarship fundraising across USC’s 23 schools and units, making key recommendations to University Advancement leadership.

Allison approached this work with a student-focused perspective, recognizing the essential role of leadership accountability in increasing scholarship fundraising. As an active and vocal task force member, leading to her appointment as Co-chair of the subsequent Council, she worked closely with leaders in Advancement, Communications, the Office of Financial Aid, and academic schools.

Under her co-leadership, the USC Scholarship Council implemented several crucial recommendations from the task force, including:

• Establishing a clear university-wide scholarship fundraising goal, publicly announced by USC’s President

• Improving data and technology systems to capture scholarship fundraising progress

• Enhancing scholarship fundraising marketing and communications strategies, including the development and launch of University Advancement’s scholarships and student support website

Following the launch of the USC Scholarships & Student Support website, it received the 2021 CASE Circle of Excellence Silver Award for Digital Communications. This accolade, along with USC leadership’s adoption of task force recommendations, underscored the success and effectiveness of the USC Scholarship Task Force and Council’s work in enhancing scholarship fundraising operations across the university.