National Scholarship Month Campaign 2023

As part of the company’s efforts to make higher education more accessible and affordable, Sallie Mae partners with Thurgood Marshall College Fund to offer three distinct scholarship programs. To date, Sallie Mae, through its charitable arm The Sallie Mae Fund, has awarded nearly $3 million in scholarships since 2021 through the three scholarship programs with plans to offer another $1 million in scholarships in 2024.

In 2022, Sallie Mae and CLYDE created the first National Scholarship Month Campaign to further promote the scholarship program and reinforce Sallie Mae as a leader in promoting access and affordability in higher education for students from diverse backgrounds.

Sallie Mae’s goals were to: officially announce the 2023 recipients of the Bridging the Dream Scholarship for High School Seniors and highlight their achievements; promote Sallie Mae’s role in helping more students from historically underserved communities reach the goal of college; create awareness and educate families on the importance of scholarships; and activate user-generated content through social media participation from recipients and their schools.

The campaign included owned and earned media, social media, user-generated content, and paid digital tactics. Sallie Mae and CLYDE generated a landing page highlighting all scholarship recipients and their achievements, and educating families about scholarships. They also conducted media outreach, including 54 customized pitches to target recipients’ hometowns and university media markets. On social media, Sallie Mae spotlighted all 27 recipients throughout National Scholarship Month, including campaign launch content and campaign closing content, using personalized social graphics to highlight each recipient’s story. Sallie Mae also sent surprise ‘Celebration in a Box’ gifts to all recipients, including branded Bridging the Dream Scholar swag. It also raised awareness about the scholarship program to policymakers and influencers, encouraging participation in congratulating scholarship recipients on their social media channels.