📝 Overview
Scholarships provide a flexible way to offer financial assistance to customers by assigning a set amount or percentage of credit that can be applied toward eligible programs, activities, or products. Once created, scholarships can be allocated to individual customers or entire families and redeemed either online or during in-person checkout.
You control how scholarships behave by defining the total funds available, setting allocation limits, selecting which products are eligible for redemption, and determining when the scholarship is active. This allows you to support financial assistance programs while maintaining clear tracking and reporting through assigned GL codes.
Scholarships can be applied at the time of purchase or added later to existing invoices, making them useful for both planned assistance and retroactive adjustments. Depending on the scholarship type, customers may see and apply their available funds automatically during online checkout or have them applied by staff in Dash.
🔑 Authorizations
Click the arrow to learn which permissions are required to manage scholarships
Click the arrow to learn which permissions are required to manage scholarships
To create or edit scholarships, a user must have the Scholarship Management authorization assigned to their role.
Users without this authorization can view scholarship usage on customer accounts but cannot create, edit, or allocate scholarships.
📍 Where to Access Scholarships
Click the arrow to learn where you can find the Scholarships page
Click the arrow to learn where you can find the Scholarships page
You can access Scholarships in two ways:
🔍 Global Search
Click the global search field.
Type Scholarships.
Select Scholarships from the search results.
💳 Cash Register Menu
Open the Cash Register menu.
Select Scholarships from the dropdown list.
Both options take you to the same Scholarships management page.
🎯 Creating a Scholarship
Click the arrow to learn how to create and configure a scholarship
Click the arrow to learn how to create and configure a scholarship
Navigate to the Scholarships page.
Click + Create.
Fill out the following details:
Name: What you would like to call the scholarship.
GL Code: The GL code that you would like to track this scholarship with.
Type: This can be percentage or dollar amount. A dollar amount means that the admin has to specify the amount used each time the scholarship is redeemed. The percentage means the customer can use this scholarship anytime as a percentage discount.
*Please note:
Description: Add a brief description about the scholarship
Funds: This is the total amount the scholarship fund has available to disperse.
Fund Allocation Maximum: This allows you flexibility on going over the specified amount in the Funds attribute.
Date Range: You can choose if you want the scholarship only to apply within a specific range.
Enforce date range: For a Program registration, the season dates must fall within the scholarship date range in order for it to work.
Global: If you have multiple locations in Dash, you can decide whether a customer can use this scholarship at any of the locations or just where the scholarship was created.
Minimum Payment Type: Only displays for "Dollar type". This allows you to chose a minimum amount each customer has to pay for the product.
Click Create
⚠️ Only percentage type scholarships can be used by customers when registering online.
🧩 Assigning Redeemable Products
Click the arrow to learn how to control what scholarships can be used for
Click the arrow to learn how to control what scholarships can be used for
Open an existing scholarship.
Locate the Redeemable Products section.
Search for products, programs, or categories.
Select the items eligible for scholarship use.
Changes will automatically save.
✍️ Scholarships can only be redeemed for products added to this list.
👨👩👧 Allocating Scholarships to Customers
Click the arrow to learn how scholarship allocations work
Click the arrow to learn how scholarship allocations work
🧑💻 How It Works
You can allocate scholarships from two locations:
From the Scholarship Page
Open the scholarship.
Add a customer or parent record.
Enter an allocation amount.
Click Add.
💡 Allocating to a parent automatically includes all linked children.
From the Customer Profile
Open the customer record.
Select View/Scholarships.
Review allocated, used, and remaining amounts.
Edit or remove allocations as needed.
🧾 Using Scholarships at Checkout
Scholarships can be applied during checkout in Dash by staff or used by customers in the customer portal. How scholarships behave depends on where the checkout occurs and the scholarship type.
🧑💻 Using Scholarships on the Admin Side
Click the arrow to learn how staff apply scholarships
Click the arrow to learn how staff apply scholarships
🧭 How It Works
You can apply scholarships during checkout or after an invoice has already been created.
During Checkout
Add eligible items to the cart.
Click Apply Scholarship (unless it is set to "automatically apply").
Select the scholarship.
Apply funds to one or more line items.
Complete the transaction.
On Existing Invoices
Open the customer’s invoice.
Click Apply Scholarship.
Select the scholarship.
Apply funds to eligible line items.
Click Save.
Scholarship amount will be added to the invoice.
🌐 Using Scholarships in the Customer Portal
Click the arrow to learn how customers use scholarships online
Click the arrow to learn how customers use scholarships online
🧭 Customer View
Customer adds eligible items to their cart.
On the payment screen, they select Apply Scholarship.
Available scholarship funds appear automatically.
Customer completes checkout.
🎥 Video Demo
📊 Reporting on Scholarship Usage
Click the arrow to learn how scholarship activity is tracked
Click the arrow to learn how scholarship activity is tracked
Scholarship usage is tracked using the GL Code assigned to the scholarship.
Run a General Ledger report and filter by that code to view totals and reconciliation data.
📣 Need to review scholarship impact at the customer level?
These customer reports can help you understand how scholarships affect individual accounts and balances.
Scholarship Customers
Shows customers who have been allocated a scholarship, including allocation and remaining amounts.
Scholarship Usage
Shows how scholarships have been applied, including usage activity across eligible purchases and invoices.
💡 Pro Tips
🧠 Allocate at the parent level - Assign scholarships to parents when funds should be shared across multiple children.
📅 Double-check date ranges - Scholarships will not apply outside their active dates, even if funds remain.
🧾 Use invoices for retroactive awards - Applying scholarships to existing invoices helps handle approvals made after registration.
🔍 Confirm product eligibility first - If a scholarship does not appear at checkout, verify the product is marked as redeemable.
📊 Pair with reports regularly - Use Scholarship Customers and Scholarship Usage reports to monitor distribution and usage trends.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Find answers to common questions or additional details that may not be covered in the main instructions.
Click the arrow to view frequently asked questions
Click the arrow to view frequently asked questions
Can scholarships be edited after they are used?
Click the arrow to see the answer
Click the arrow to see the answer
Yes. Scholarship settings and allocations can be updated at any time. Past usage is not changed.
Can scholarships be limited to one location?
Click the arrow to see the answer
Click the arrow to see the answer
Yes. Disable the Global option to restrict the scholarship to a specific location.
Why does my scholarship not appear in the customer portal?
Click the arrow to see the answer
Click the arrow to see the answer
Only percentage-based scholarships can be used online. Dollar-based scholarships must be applied by staff.
Can scholarships be split across multiple items?
Click the arrow to see the answer
Click the arrow to see the answer
Yes. Scholarships can be applied across multiple eligible line items in the same transaction or invoice.