Frequently Asked Questions
With answers by Stamford Dollars for Scholars
founder Tony D'Amelio (TD) and Past President Jim McClafferty (JM)
Q: What prompted the formation of SD4S in 2011?
Tony D'Amelio (TD)- I have always been a big supporter of scholarship efforts. If it wasn't for the scholarship I received when I graduated high school, I would never have been able to afford college. My parents told me in my junior year that there was no money to send me to school, so I would have to pay for it on my own. Fortunately I was able to get half-tuition covered by a local company. I was grateful to the point of sending the company who gave me the award my grades at the end of the first semester. I never forgot what that meant to me and the path that my life has taken as a result.
When I moved to Stamford in 2005, my wife and I gave scholarships for three years. We were surprised at the lack of follow through - no one approached us the next year and asked if we wanted to give again. And one time, in trying to write a check in December for a June scholarship, I was told that payment couldn't be made until the scholarship was awarded, which was after the close of the tax year, so it wasn't a big help to me. It struck us that it was a bad strategy to turn money away when it was being offered. I wound up committing to the scholarship anyway and when it came time to pay, I found that the check needed to go to the student's college and as a result, the amount was not tax deductible. We thought there had to be a better way to do this.
We were also surprised that there was no organization in town that was dedicated solely to the issue of raising money for local scholarships. We have supported a volunteer scholarship organization in my hometown of Wethersfield, CT for almost 15 years and have seen firsthand the impact of a focused scholarship effort. Wethersfield does a great job providing scholarships for students in town. They are a local chapter of the national Dollars for Scholars organization. I contacted the national office and learned how to create a chapter in Stamford. Wethersfield is a fifth of the size of Stamford -- I just imagined the possibilities. Stamford Dollars for Scholars was born.
Q: Do you have a vision for Stamford Dollars for Scholars?
JM- Our vision is simple, but broad. We want Stamford Dollars for Scholars to be an integral part of the college application process for students in Stamford and the link between the community and college bound students. We want to be an item on every high school student's checklist and the first place that donors turn to when they think of giving. We want to mobilize and energize the community around helping these students beyond High School, just like Dr. Irving Fradkin did in Fall River, MA in 1958.
JM- Our vision is simple, but broad. We want Stamford Dollars for Scholars to be an integral part of the college application process for students in Stamford and the link between the community and college bound students. We want to be an item on every high school student's checklist and the first place that donors turn to when they think of giving. We want to mobilize and energize the community around helping these students beyond High School, just like Dr. Irving Fradkin did in Fall River, MA in 1958.
Q: Aren't there other organizations in the city that provide scholarships?
TD- There are, yes. There are lots of great organizations in Stamford that provide scholarships but it's not their primary mission. As a result, there's no appeal made to the community at large about this very important issue. Stamford Dollars for Scholars wants to be the organization dedicated solely to providing scholarships in Stamford.
Q: What information can you share about the increasing costs of college today and its impact?
TD-There are multiple sources of information available on this via the College Board and other online resources, including Scholarship America. Here is a snapshot of information related to the costs and impact of college.
Q: What remains your biggest challenge?
TD-Awareness remains our biggest challenge. Engaging the community to let them know we are here. People are generally quite eager to support education and local students, but they need to first know we are here.
Our biggest challenge of building awareness differs from most other organizations in that each year, we have to build awareness with a brand new audience of graduating students and their parents.
More volunteers to help in this effort are always welcome. We are working closely with the Stamford Public Schools, the parents' organizations at each school, and the local media to help us spread the word. We've established a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/StamfordD4S), and are encouraging people to become fans and tell their friends and colleagues about us. We also have established a list of local contacts who receive periodic updates on our progress. We are counting on them to share these messages and encourage others to sign up for our emails by clicking on the envelope icon on our webpage at http://www.sd4s.org.
Q: What kind of people has joined the Board and serves as volunteers?
Jim McClafferty (JM)-Today the Board consists of twelve active members- people with varying backgrounds and experience including parents, a former dean of students at a local college, guidance professionals, marketing, communications and technology professionals. We also have an incredible group of volunteers including business professionals, parents and educators. It's a great mix of committed people who have a passionate belief that education is the key to a better life.
Q: How is SD4S different from other scholarships in Stamford?
JM-There are nearly 500 colleges and universities who are partners with Dollars for Scholars. Those schools have agreed to not reduce the financial assistance to students who also happen to receive a Stamford Dollars for Scholars award. Often if a student receives $10,000 from the college that accepted him/her, and also $2,000 from another organization, the college will reduce its support to $8,000. That doesn't happen with a Dollars for Scholars award and these partner schools.
As an added bonus, over 100 of our colleges/university partners will actually match a Dollars for Scholars award - doubling the impact of our scholarships. The partnership is particularly beneficial to Stamford because seven of the top ten schools that Stamford students apply to are Dollars for Scholars Collegiate Partners.
Q: So Dollars for Scholars is a national organization?
JM- Yes. Dollars for Scholars was founded in Fall River, MA in 1958 by optometrist Dr. Irving Fradkin.
Q: Tell me about the scholarships you're giving?
JM- There are two categories of scholarships we offer: Sponsored Scholarships, and General Scholarships. Sponsored Scholarships are defined and funded by a person, or organization in the name of a friend, loved one, company or cause. They are often one-year awards, and have a minimum value of $1,000. The donor determines the award criteria and Stamford Dollars for Scholars administers the process and selects the award recipient according to that criteria. One example of a Sponsored Scholarship might be a family foundation that wants to give an award to a Westhill High School student who is planning to study music and has a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
General Scholarships are defined and administered entirely by Stamford Dollars for Scholars. We raise funds for these scholarships via fundraisers and community outreach. Criteria for choosing award recipients will include academic achievement, service, and financial need. Our awards are multi-year awards at amounts that provide meaningful impact on the students' college costs. The amount and the number of awards we provide is directly related to the money that we raise. The more financial resources we have, the more students we can help. There is one criterion that all of our General Scholarships share, and that is the requirement that applicants either live in Stamford or attend one of the six high schools in Stamford.
Q: I understand you're supporting vocational training, too?
TD- Yes. If a student wants to pursue education in engine repair, landscape design, hairdressing, or other vocational or technical training at a certified school, we want to be there to help them.
Q: Do you have a vision for Stamford Dollars for Scholars?
JM- Our vision is simple, but broad. We want Stamford Dollars for Scholars to be an integral part of the college application process for students in Stamford and the link between the community and college bound students. We want to be an item on every high school student's checklist and the first place that donors turn to when they think of giving. We want to mobilize and energize the community around helping these students beyond High School, just like Dr. Irving Fradkin did in Fall River, MA in 1958.
Q: How does the application process work?
JM- My oldest son graduated from High School in 2011 so I can speak first hand about the college application process. It is a very stressful and confusing time for students and their families. Two of the biggest obstacles in the traditional scholarship process are finding the scholarships, and completing the applications since each award usually has its own application. It can literally be a full time job to find and apply for all of the scholarships for which a student might be eligible. And many of these scholarships are for $250 or less and non-renewable after the first year. It's no wonder that many scholarships actually go un-awarded due to lack of applicants. S
tamford Dollars for Scholars takes a different approach. We have a single, online application that a student completes. Based on the student's responses, the system will automatically highlight any of the Sponsored or General Scholarships that he or she is eligible for. Some scholarships may require additional information, while others will require nothing more than the online application.
And here's where the national organization provides a significant additional benefit - the same application used for our local scholarships is also used to determine if the student is eligible for any scholarships offered by the national Scholarship America organization, or any of the 1,100 plus local chapters.
Q: How do you guard the privacy of the applicants?
JM- The online application system is built and managed by the national Scholarship America organization. All financial information is reviewed and scored by the system without any data being visible to Stamford Dollars for Scholars volunteers. The final, confidential review of applications (excluding financial data) is conducted by the Stamford Dollars for Scholars Awards committee and no information is shared outside of that group.
