Kaleidoscope

It’s National Taco Day 🌮 AND we’re thrilled to celebrate the launch of the 2025 Live Más Scholarship for Taco Bell Employees with some amazing Taco Bell swag, courtesy of the Taco Bell Foundation! 🎉 Huge thanks to Andrew German and Bryan Pauquette from the Foundation for their generosity, and a shoutout to our customer success team—Lauren, CeCe, and Emily—for building relationships that make partnerships like this possible.

In today’s online landscape, ensuring the integrity of scholarship applications is more crucial than ever. In the past year, we've seen a surge in fraudulent and misleading applications, ranging from falsified academic records to dishonest behaviors. Our latest blog post explores the most effective strategies you can use to detect fraud and protect the future of deserving students. 🔍 From identifying red flags to implementing robust background checks, we share valuable insights to help organizations maintain fairness and integrity in their scholarship programs. 📖 Read the full article to equip your team with the knowledge needed to combat fraud effectively and ensure opportunities reach the right hands. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gae-Riez

Yesterday, our team spent the morning volunteering at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum - Horticultural Research Center as part of their Annual Pumpkin, Squash, and Gourd Harvest. 🎃 This place is home to the Honeycrisp apple 🍎, and each year, they sell a variety of seasonal produce (such as pumpkins, gourds, and squash) to help support the Apple House. It was awesome to contribute and help them kickstart their fall season! 🍁

🎓 Trying to create a standout scholarship application? Here are 3 tips to help attract the right candidates: 1️⃣ Focus on your unique value – Highlight what sets your scholarship apart, from mentorship to career opportunities. 2️⃣ Simplify the process – A streamlined, accessible application means more quality candidates. 3️⃣ Be clear from the start – Communicate expectations, guidelines, and deadlines early to avoid confusion. Follow these steps from our Senior Customer Success Manager, Brooke, to help build a scholarship that stands out!

We had a fantastic office media day, and it was even more special as we captured all the new faces added to the team these last two months! 📸 Excited to have this team on board as we continue to grow and innovate together.

Looking for ways to make your scholarship program more inclusive? Here are some top ways to create an affirmative and inclusive space in your application. 1️⃣ Rethink gender identification options. It’s a small change to your application, but utilizing open text for self-identification as a choice can make everyone feel seen and included in your application process! 2️⃣ Prioritize essential information. No one likes being overloaded with questions. Consider being transparent on which information will be used or not in the selection process and placing demographic questions further down in the application. This can help applicants feel more comfortable and valued throughout the application. 3️⃣ Include opportunities to share financial situations. Unique circumstances create unique applicants. When you request FASFA information, it is essential to give applicants an opportunity to elaborate on their financial situation. Financial need may not be reflected appropriately if some applicants face obstacles in completing the FAFSA and the Student Aid Index might not solely capture the financial challenges of applicants. One of our Customer Success Managers, Megan, provides insight into how these changes can create an inclusive space for your applicants!

New Paint. 🎨 New Space. 🏢 New opportunities. 🤝 Last week we started in our new space. Yesterday we made it official with a fresh paint job. Swing by and check it out next time you are in the North Loop!

It's officially been one week in our new North Loop space and it's been incredible so far! The new space is more than just an office – it's the start of a new beginning for the our team that will provide us the opportunity to grow even bigger, and help us create an environment that inspires and fosters collaboration. Here's to the next chapter! 🎉 🎉 🎉

We are growing at Kaleidoscope! There are several new open positions on the Sales, Marketing and Account Management teams that will all play a critical role in driving continued growth and shaping the culture of our team. Open Roles: ⭐ Business Development Rep ⭐ Account Executive ⭐ Marketing Manager ⭐ Enterprise Account Manager If you or someone you know would be a good fit for any of the roles and wants to dig in at a mid-stage start up company, please feel free to shoot me a DM, or check out a link to all of the job postings in the comments below ⤵

An amazing way to wrap up #PrideMonth in our Kaleidoscope office! We had the pleasure of hearing from Aaron Zimmerman, MA, CFRE the Executive Director at PFund Foundation on the importance of LGBTQ+ inclusivity in scholarship. One of the key takeaways for our team is the importance of an unbiased, diverse review board and selection committee. We'll share more takeaways soon in an effort to help all scholarship providers ensure they are not simply being "non-exclusive" but are making a real effort to be actively "inclusive". Thank you Aaron for all of the knowledge today! We're better off because of you and your work.