In addition to offering philanthropic services and competitive grant programs, the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation also manages a robust scholarship program. Generously established by donors who are passionate about the power of education, our scholarship funds open doors to life-changing opportunities for local students to pursue higher education. In 2025, we disbursed over $500,000 in scholarships, empowering students statewide to continue their academic endeavors, including two-year, four-year and graduate degree programs.
Our volunteer community - composed of individuals like you who generously share their time - forms the backbone of this program. Your involvement in evaluating scholarship applications truly makes a lasting impact on the lives of these students.
About this Volunteer Opportunity:
The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation offers over 70 competitive scholarships to current high school seniors, college students and nontraditional students. Volunteers for this opportunity will be reading the submitted scholarship applications and scoring three sections of each application using established rubrics/scoring guides: Character, Involvement and Essay. Volunteers can complete their evaluations from anywhere with an internet connection at at any time once applications have been assigned through the SmarterSelect platform. The time commitment is minimal, and our user-friendly online platform ensures the flexibility to evaluate applications at your convenience. We do ask that volunteers complete their assigned evaluations within one week of receiving an email notification of the assignment.
Important Information for Interested Volunteers:
- We are seeking volunteers who are residents of the Sioux Falls area.
- The scholarship application window closes on March 15.
- Evaluation assignments will be sent on or before March 20.
- Volunteers will be given a deadline to complete their evaluation.
- This is a remote opportunity! The evaluation of scholarship applications is completed on a third party website called SmarterSelect. An account will be created for you if you are approved as a volunteer. Since evaluations are completed online, you will be able to access the evaluator's dashboard at any time, 7 days a week.
- Information will be provided outlining how to use the SmarterSelect platform to evaluate scholarship applications. Additionally, we offer an orientation session prior to the evaluation period.
REGISTER AS A VOLUNTEER:
Please register as a scholarship evaluation volunteer using this link.
Following registration, you will receive an email from Jamie Weyh with additional information.
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Jamie Weyh at jweyh@sfacf.org.
