How Edison High School Used Parchment to Fund Student Scholarships

Learn how Edison High School uses Parchment to generate revenue that funds over $10,000 in student scholarships while alleviating stress in the Counseling Office.

Legacy Records Present

Edison High School had been collecting funds for their alumni transcript and verification requests for some time, but the process never went as smoothly as they wanted. Collecting payments was always a challenge and tracking how much revenue they generated was equally as difficult. For Dr. Diane Braungard-Galayda, Supervisor of Guidance, it was a problem they needed to solve. “We needed a solution to quickly and efficiently collect fees for our transcript and verification requests. We would take a money order, checks or cash and that always made things a little uncomfortable. To track it, I used to keep an Excel spreadsheet to document how much money we were generating. It was extremely tedious”, Dr. Braungard-Galayda said.

In addition to collecting funds, fulfilling the transcript and verification requests was time-consuming. Dr. Braungard-Galayda explained, “For verifications, we were inundated with phone calls and faxes from third-party companies. They were calling us like bill collectors. For alumni transcript requests, we were processing them in 3-5 business days via the mail. That’s too slow for a lot of our alumni.” The ideal solution was one where they could collect fees, track revenue and fulfill requests in a timely, transparent manner.

Reaping the Benefits

It didn’t take long for Edison High School to realize that Parchment was the solution they were looking for. They completely eliminated the pestering from companies looking for verifications. In fact, they even began to generate more funds than before. Dr. Braungard-Galayda described the impact of utilizing Parchment, “For verifications, I have totally stopped taking phone calls and faxes. If they do call, we tell them to go to Parchment and they have no problem with it. I charge $25 per verification, which feels substantial, but the companies have never complained. All they care about is speed and we are getting them what they need through Parchment much faster.”

And Edison High School alums are happier too. Whether it’s during the summer when Edison is short staffed or whether the alum is living abroad, they can efficiently process a transcript request and provide the alum the answer they’re looking for. “Now, I don’t need to worry about what time of year it is or where the student or alumni is,” Dr. Braungard-Galayda explained, “We processed a request from an alum living across the world. When we’re short staffed in the summer, it’s not an additional burden. It’s more efficient for them and it’s more efficient for us.”

A Student-Centric Solution

It was important for Edison High School to find a solution that didn’t cost them any additional funds. After all, the solution they were looking for was supposed to help them generate revenue, not add an additional line item to their budget. As Dr. Braungard-Galayda stated, Parchment was a match made in heaven, “Parchment is free for us to use for our alumni and verification requests, they help us collect the money we charge and it’s the most efficient tool out there. It’s a win-win-win.”

The most compelling aspect of the initiative to move to a digital solution was that it ultimately benefited current Edison High School students. The money they generated from alumni and verification requests went right back into the hands of students. Dr. Braungard-Galayda described the purpose and impact on generating revenue via Parchment, “We don’t just collect the money for office expenses, we turn it right back to the students. This year alone, we gave out $10,000 in scholarships to students through the money we’ve collected through Parchment. To be able to put those dollars back into the hands of students is incredible.”

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