About Azim Premji Foundation
The Azim Premji Foundation is a not-for-profit organization with a vision to contribute towards a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. Their work is focused on India aiming on providing quality education to all, through the country’s vast network of government schools.
Scholarship Program: In alignment with its vision of a just and equitable society, the Azim Premji Foundation has launched a Scholarship program to provide financial support to girl students seeking to continue their education after Class 12.
Challenges
The scholarships initiative required a robust and scalable solution to manage the entire scholarship lifecycle, from application submission and review to fund disbursement and renewal processing. Key challenges included:
- High Volume: The Foundation anticipated a massive influx of applications, especially given the program’s target demographic and the potential for expansion to multiple states.
- Accessibility: Many applicants would reside in rural areas with limited internet access and varying levels of digital literacy.
- Efficiency: The application review and fund disbursement process needed to be streamlined and efficient to ensure timely support for students.
- Scalability: The platform needed to seamlessly accommodate future growth and expansion of the program to new regions.
Solutions
The Azim Premji Foundation partnered with Cloud Odyssey to develop a comprehensive solution to manage the scholarship program lifecycle. The solution focused on creating a streamlined and accessible process for applicants and members, addressing the challenges of high volume, diverse levels of digital literacy, and the need for efficient processing. Key elements of the solution included:
- Centralized Application Management: Cloud Odyssey leveraged Salesforce Sales Cloud as the back-end solution to manage all application data in a secure and organized manner. The solution provides a single source of truth for all program information, from application submission to fund disbursement.
- Accessible Application Portal: A user-friendly portal with a mobile first design was built on Experience Cloud, to allow applicants to easily submit their applications and supporting documents. Recognizing the potential for limited internet access, the solution also incorporated mechanisms to ensure that all applicants, regardless of their online access, could receive critical updates about their application status via sms.
- Efficient Review Process: A structured process was established for application review and document verification by Foundation members on Sales Cloud. This process ensured consistent evaluation of all applications based on established eligibility criteria.
- Renewal Process: The solution also facilitates the process for students to apply for scholarship renewals in subsequent academic years, simplifying the process for returning students.
