I spoke to a woman whose job is selecting scholarship recipients for a foundation. She said the only regret she has with her job is that she rarely gets feedback from the students who benefit from their awards. If you are a student who has been given money for college from any benefactor or organization, please follow through with a thank you note a year or two later, or even when you graduate, so they know their money was well spent. This is especially true if you (or your child if you are a parent) is in any of the arts (music, theatre, fine arts). Let them know your accomplishments and your future plans in the field. Not only is this a thoughtful thing to do, they can learn where their money is best spent in the future with students who come after you.
This is very, very important. We have a wonderful couple who give 10 - 15 scholarships to students at our school every year. She mentioned to me that she also seldom hears from the students once they head off to college, except when it comes time for them to ask for their scholarship to be renewed the following year. How sad.
My middle daughter was given first place (a $1000 scholarship) for technical theater from the California Thespians. It was a super nice scholarship because they only gave out one of them for tech. theater (she had designed theater posters, programs and flyers for her entry). She did write a thank you note right afterwards. When she asked for the money the following year (they send it directly to the college) she told them what she was doing and thanked them again. I was happy about that. Even though it may have been considered a small scholarship, it was a prestigious one and she really appreciated it that year when she needed so many art supplies.
