Scaling Scholarship Operations to Transform CX for a Leading Non-Profit, Supporting $2B+ in Educational Aid

Industry: Public Sector & Education | Services: Digital Operations, Digital CX, Intelligent Automation

Client Overview

A Florida-based, mission-driven nonprofit organization has long been a pillar of educational access – awarding over 1 million scholarships across seven distinct programs since its founding more than two decades ago. Today, the organization facilitates tuition payments to over 2,300 private schools through its extensive network , processes reimbursements for educational services, and operates an online marketplace for education-related goods and services.

The Challenge

Legacy Operations Couldn’t Keep Up With Surging Scholarship Demand

Recent legislative changes in Florida triggered an exponential rise in demand for scholarship programs—putting immense pressure on the client’s existing systems, processes, and teams. The organization found itself overwhelmed by:

• Severe seasonal spikes in application volumes
• Complex, time-intensive reimbursement cycles with processing delays
• Insufficient technology and staffing to handle the increased demand
• High risk of fraud and errors due to limited process visibility
• Rising operational costs and negative impacts on customer satisfaction

The client urgently needed a modern, scalable, and customer-friendly operating model to continue its mission and prepare for expansion into other states.

Sutherland Solution

The Turning Point: A Scalable, Tech-Driven Operating Model

To sustain its mission and prepare for expansion into additional U.S. states, the nonprofit urgently needed a modern, scalable, and customer-centric transformation. That’s when it partnered with Sutherland to reimagine its operations—leveraging automation, digital workflows, and real-time visibility to:

Key transformation elements included:

1. Scalable Operating Platform: Established a robust, standardized foundation across people, processes and technology—built to handle growth across multiple states.
2. Customer Experience Transformation: Redesigned key application and reimbursement processes to simplify the user journey for families and reduce friction for internal teams.
3. Fraud and Risk Mitigation: Introduced enhanced operational controls and visibility across key workflows to reduce error propensity and mitigate fraud.
4. Cost-Efficient Growth Enablement: Enabled non-linear growth, where service volume could expand without proportional increases in cost—optimizing SG&A and non-plan expenses.

The Outcome

Scalable Growth, Enhanced Integrity and Superior Customer Experience

The engagement enabled scalable growth, enhanced integrity, and a superior customer experience for the client. With Sutherland’s support, the client confidently managed over $2 billion in scholarship disbursements, which included $39 million in reimbursements to more than 1,800 service providers and $81 million in educational marketplace transactions, encompassing 347,729 processed orders. At peak periods, the client could process up to 29,000 weekly reimbursement requests . Sutherland’s transformative approach helped the client maintain its reputation for service excellence and established a strong foundation for expansion across multiple U.S. states—achieving greater operational visibility, reduced risk, and improved efficiency.

That’s digital outcomes delivered!
With the successful deployment of a modern operating model, the client is now positioned for sustainable growth, improved stakeholder trust, and superior service to families—at scale.