The holiday season invites us to pause, reflect, and uplift the community we call home. With Giving Tuesday approaching on December 2nd, it’s the perfect opportunity to support local organizations that are creating real, lasting impact right here in Santa Barbara County.
At Noozhawk, we believe that generosity—no matter the size—has the power to change lives. Our Giving Guide connects you with nonprofits dedicated to education, advocacy, wellness, and more. By donating, volunteering, or simply spreading the word, you can help strengthen the programs that make our community thrive.
As part of our Good for Santa Barbara Nonprofit Section, we’re spotlighting organizations working tirelessly to expand opportunity for local residents.
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Tim Dougherty, Chief Communications Officer at Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara to learn more about their mission to support, guide, and empower students in our community.
Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara
Question: What is the name of your nonprofit, and what is its mission?
Answer: The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara inspires, encourages, and supports Santa Barbara County students to and through college, graduate, and vocational school by providing information, advising, and scholarships.
Q: How long has your organization been serving the community, and who founded it?
A: A group of concerned area residents formed the Scholarship Foundation in 1962 to help local students attend college or vocational school. True to its founding impulse, the Scholarship Foundations remains committed to serving students and families in our community, providing vital tuition assistance and financial aid advisory services countywide.
Q: What motivated the creation of your nonprofit?
A: Our founders understood the value of postsecondary education, and they worried that a lack of financial resources would effectively bar local students of limited means from attending college or vocational school. We share this outlook. The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara believes that students need and deserve education beyond high school, and that a lack of money should not be an obstacle to a student striving to achieve his or her goals.
Q: How is your nonprofit primarily funded, and what are its biggest needs right now?
A: Community members contribute the vast majority of our funding. In fact, the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara has become the nation’s largest community-based provider of college scholarships! Despite our continuing success – this year alone we awarded more than $7.7 million in scholarships! – we need more community support.
Each year, funding shortfalls force us to turn away deserving local students. We invite our friends and neighbors countywide to join us in this important work by donating to the Scholarship Foundation.
Q: How can people get involved with your nonprofit or volunteer?
A: We invite community members to donate to the Scholarship Foundation. Increased Foundation funding will result in more local students receiving invaluable financial assistance and help securing additional college financial aid.
Q: What sets your nonprofit apart from similar organizations?
A: The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara does not charge fees to manage the funds entrusted to us by our community partners. Each dollar donated for scholarships benefits local students!
Q: Can you share a fun fact or little-known detail about your nonprofit that would surprise people?
A: Many Scholarship Foundation recipients return to local communities after completing their studies. In fact, our former awardees include numerous prominent local doctors, attorneys, entrepreneurs, and other community leaders. When we invest to increase local students’ access to postsecondary education, we are in effect investing in our community’s future prosperity. Also, many people are surprised to learn that we support vocational and graduate studies in addition to undergraduate degrees.
Q: Could you share a story or two about individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by your organization?
A: Students and parents routinely tell us that our work has transformed lives, and our impact extends beyond the awarding of scholarships. One local woman, whose daughter aspired to become the first in their family to attend college, recently confided that the financial aid application process was so bewildering they feared her daughter’s educational dreams were all but doomed before she could attend her first class. “Without the Scholarship Foundation’s advisors, we would have been lost,” she said.
Students and parents invariably become emotional when sharing such stories with us, which is a testament to our deep connection with those we serve. We are literally changing the trajectory of people’s lives in our community, and not surprisingly they often respond with expressions of profound gratitude. We hear stories like this every day, and it always provides us with a boost!
Q: How do you share your nonprofit’s impact and updates with the public?
A: The Foundation’s community outreach efforts are robust. We produce and widely distribute an annual report each year, and the organization is active online and on social media. Local media outlets routinely provide coverage of our program and its impact in the community. In addition, the organization has long prided itself on personalized communications with its many supporters.
Q: What makes your organization trustworthy for donors, and are there other ways people can support your cause beyond donations?
A: The Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara is consistently rated among the nation’s very best nonprofit organizations in the areas of transparency and efficiency.
The Scholarship Foundation has received 13 consecutive four-star ratings from nonprofit evaluator Charity Navigator and has now received 22 four-star ratings in 23 years. The rating – Charity Navigator’s highest – indicates superior financial efficiency and transparency in Scholarship Foundation operations.
The Foundation also recently received its seventh consecutive Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid (formerly GuideStar), a leading nonprofit information service. The Platinum Seal is Candid’s highest level of recognition, signifying exceptional openness in reporting institutional finances and performance.
Click here to support the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara as they work to break financial barriers, guide families through the financial aid process, and empower local students to pursue their dreams through higher education.
Check out Noozhawk’s Guide to Giving for a full list of nonprofits to donate to this giving season.
If you would like to include your nonprofit in our Good for Santa Barbara section and Giving Guide click HERE.