FAFSA opening date change can HELP your organization help students!

We talked about this major change with the FAFSA (FREE Application for Federal Student Aid)  in a  previous post. As we have reported on this blog several months ago, the FAFSA opening day has changed from January 1st of a high school student's senior year to October 1st of that same high school student's senior year. That's 3 months earlier than in years past (and actually 6 months earlier than how families 20 years ago filled out the FAFSA)

The reason for this is so that new soon-to-be college students who are applying in the fall can almost immediately compare their options, especially if the final decision comes down to finances. Check our graphic at the bottom of this post so you can visualize how, in order to receive an official financial aid award, a student needs to have both an accepted college application as well as a processed FAFSA.

While this is perhaps a little confusing for many families right now, this is also a great opportunity for churches and nonprofits to provide leadership and resources to their community. By helping families fill out the FAFSA early, you and your organization may be able to provide them with thousands of dollars and financial aid without the organization itself needing to contribute towards that purpose. You also build trust in the community, and show one reason why you are a key community resource.

We see this as a great outreach because it's a very strong need for our families. Churches and nonprofits which are located near schools have an excellent opportunity for outreach and connecting with their local community. Churches can schedule a session right after their church service, and if possible, even provide lunch. Or, if it's possible , providing an afterschool or evening program with a light dinner, such as pizza, which can also be a huge benefit two families. Nonprofits as well can help their community and also their schools as well with an activity that helps families but let's the school clothes on time we be greatly appreciated by the local school.

Do-Gooder Consulting would like encourage you to start your plan this is possible. We understand it might be too late for you to start any event in October, but we encourage you to set up a session in November, December or even the first week of January (before current college students return to school) , and then plan for a FAFSA completion session in early October of 2017.

We have also written in the past about how financial aid deadlines are shrinking, and the importance of having the FAFSA completed as soon pas possible after that opening date.   However, we believe that missing October of 2016 (despite it being the opening date) will be just fine  because for this first year, a number of students will still be getting used to this new date and you may be able to do late by a month or so. For the future, however, we strongly suggest that you schedule a fast the completion session as close to October 1st as possible.


Do-Gooder Consulting is here to help you plan, advertise, or even run a FAFSA completion session. Please contact us by phone at 872-222-8008 or by email at FAFSA(at)do-gooder.us or call us at 872-222-8008 .

We look forward to serving you in the near future.


One final note: please encourage your current college students to renew their FAFSA as soon as possible. It's easy to forget, but with the renewal using the same information they just inputted 6 months ago, it's also easy to fill out, and could provide more money than last well. Simply text and/or e-mail them this secure website address = www.FAFSA.gov


In fact, we'd suggest contacting the following people to fill out the FAFSA as soon as pssible after October 1 (as it costs no money to fill out the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid):

1) Returning college students (see above)
2) High school seniors (as mentioned above)
3) Adults simply thinking about returning to college. Filling out the FAFSA does not obligate someone to go to college, but is one vital step in getting an official financial aid package.

The new deadline helps you receive the financial aid award faster than previous years.

Hold a FAFSA event after church this year -with help from us!

(See the end of this article for a FREE offer from Do-Gooder Consulting. Click here to go to Do-Gooder Consulting's website.)

This year, New Year’s day falls on a Sunday.  That may seem like a slow day at church, but we here at Do-Gooder Consulting want to challenge you to make it an outreach opportunity that can really benefit urban youth (and many others).

January 1^st is the first day to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (more popularly known as the FAFSA). The FAFSA is the primary application for college student aid from not only the federal government, but also state governments and other financial aid sources.

While everyone would like to go home on New Year’s Day (it’s a legal holiday!), it would actually be a perfect time to fill out the FAFSA.

You have to remember that financial aid is like pizza at a party – those who are there when the boxes open up get their choice of slices, and can return any extra food they don’t need. Those who wait while doing “important” things or think that their serving will be there for them when they need it will soon find out that they’ll be lucky if they get anchovies and crust.

And the pizza is getting taken earlier and earlier each year. For example, the state of Illinois has the MAP grant, which gives students up to $4,720 a year in grants.  Traditionally, the deadline has been in mid August, when many colleges begin classes.  But that has changed over the years, such that in 2011, the MAP grant ran out March 26, nearly a month before taxes were due.

Things are much different then when we might have filled out the FAFSA, back in the day.  It was all paper back then, and they recommended that you filled out your taxes first. But as we see with the MAP grant example, that’s not practical anymore.

But it’s also something not to worry about, as things have changed for the better through technology. The FAFSA on the web, available at www.FAFSA.gov (note: this is NOT a .com; be wary of any site that wants you to pay to fill out the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid) helps students get at the head of the line for financial aid (as long as they have already applied –and have been accepted) to colleges where they are seeking aid.

Families who fill out the estimated FAFSA on January 1^st will still have to update that information once they have completed 2011 taxes. But if the taxes were filed electronically (as they are in more and more homes through online programs, as well as services such as H&R Block), there is a new IRS Retrieval tool which will make updating the FAFSA much easier than in years past.

While the optimum candidate for filling out a FAFSA is of course a high school senior, there are two important groups of people to consider as well: returning college students, and adults who may only be considering going back to college.

With returning students, this should be a no-brainer. By filling out the FAFSA this early, they may find themselves eligible for grants and work study they missed out on last year because they waited to fill out the FAFSA or get accepted to college. And since they are home for Christmas break, you have no excuse to not wake them up by lunchtime and have them fill out the FAFSA.

With adults – they may not have considered going back to college. But by filling out the FAFSA, they open up an opportunity.  Even if they haven’t been accepted yet, this will be an opportunity to get information on colleges, and open up possibilities that may have been written off in the past.

At worst, the family will waste between ½ hour to 1 ½ hours of time. At best, the family qualifies for thousands of dollars in aid.

While you might want to enjoy a day off (whether that Sunday and/or the next Monday, when many businesses are closed and parents have time available), you can do an incredible amount of good and gain thousands of dollars in aid by making a small time sacrifice.

To help struggling Chicago area ministries and nonprofits, Do-Gooder Consulting will provide free facilitation for the FAFSA after church on January 1^st, as well as on Monday, January 2^nd. Contact us for details (such as what is needed to host the session, opportunities for other ministries to share with you).

Do-Gooder Consulting also provides an affordable year-long consulting service that includes 3 seminars (The Financial Aid Process – for families; The College Going Process – for youth workers; FAFSA workshop – for families).

Contact us at college@do-gooder.us or call us at 872-222-8008 for details on the free and paid services. We look forward to hearing from you. Find out more about us at www.do-gooder.us

And you can look forward to future blog posts in the near future on subjects such as “What is the FAFSA?”, “What’s the difference between grants and scholarships?” and other relevant college-going subjects. See you next time!

It might now be too late to run for Alderman!

Today is election day in Chicago for national, state and county offices. Next February (in 2011), alderman and a new mayor of Chicago will be elected.

The deadline for submitting petitions to run for office still isn't for another 3 weeks. The subsequent elections are Feb. 1.  However, you might be too late in running for office. What do I mean?

There are several things you need in order tohave a successful campaign

• Integrity. If you don't have this, then forget about this entire blog. If you do not have the character to run, then you shouldn't try. Even you have gifts, such as charm or a god speaking voice, it means nothing without the character to use them. Some signs that you aren't ready : you are willing to lie about your opponents, you have alliances with questionable people and are willing to deceive others about it, easily angry at people who criticize you, can't account for your personal financial accounts, happy to gossip about people you don't like.
• Neighborhood accomplishments.  It's easy to criticize about what other people are not doing.  But ultimately, if you wish to be a community leader, you need to be a servant leader first. How will people know you can lead a whole ward, if you haven't helped even your local neighborhood?
• A team.  Having willing bodies is good, but you need to have a team of people who have skills in different areasto help you accomplish
• A coalition.  Not everyone voting for you has the desire or ability to be a part of your team.  But many people in the community can not just vote for you, but also sign your petition so that a person could even vote for you. Building coalitions with community leaders can help spread the word about you and get you the support you need to win.
• Methods of communication. Even a basic web page can help people to know a little bt about you, what you stand for, and then how you  can help
• Campaign cash. While it might be wise to not have much until after the Nov. 2 election (where you may need to report large sums of donations, which are then made public), if you don't have much lined up you can't get the word out.

The 2011 Aldermanic Election in Chicago will be an exiciting one, with many opportunties for citizens as they city will also get a new mayor. But if you haven't already laid the groundwork, you may be far too behind by now to possibly win, or even place high enough for a runoff election.

Contact Do-Gooder Consulting to see how we can help you in your campaign. We can research prospective donors, targeted areas of support, sending text messages by e-mail, work with EarlyAnd Often.org , and provide other tools to help you reach your constituency.