Project Breakdown
Custom Software is Powering Michigan's Community Scholarship Program
The Challenge
To manage their program and outreach over the years, the Kalamazoo Promise team initially built a Microsoft Access database to process and manage scholarship applications. They also relied heavily on paper forms and Excel spreadsheets to manage students and their scholarship status.
But as their team and program grew, these manual processes were delaying application approvals and made it difficult to manage 1-on-1 outreach and communication with thousands of eligible students. Because of our strong local ties, Kalamazoo Promise selected SPARK to build and upgrade their custom portal application.
PROJECT SIZE
- Medium
- Custom Software
Timeline
- 9 – 12 months
- Ongoing Partnership
size of team
- 1 Project Manage
- 1 Developer
- 1 Designer
kpiS
- Upgrade Microsoft Access system
- Automate manual processes
The Solution
After an initial discovery phase, SPARK built a new custom database system with three main portals:
- Staff Portal: Allows staff to communicate with students for targeted outreach and to track individual scholarship status.
- Student Portal: Automates the application process by allowing students to submit forms online and view updates for status and approval.
- School Portal: Allows partner schools to review and manage their student rosters and records of scholarship invoices.
From the digitization of application forms to targeted outreach, SPARK continues to help Kalamazoo Promise build out custom solutions focused on the unique needs of its staff and new programs.
Services provided
- Custom Software
- UX/UI Design
- Dashboards & Reporting
- Data Integration
Technology used
- MICROSOFT ACCESS
Client Review
Kalamazoo Promise
