Month: June 2026
Here’s What You Need to Know
Now is the ideal time for companies to partner with a scholarship administrator – here’s why and how to get started before the academic year begins.
Every year, thousands of students head into the fall semester unsure how they’ll pay for it. At the same time, companies across the country are sitting on unused charitable budgets, looking for meaningful ways to invest in their communities, support their employees’ families, and strengthen their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.
A scholarship program bridges both worlds, but many companies never launch one because they assume it’s too complicated, too costly, or too risky from a compliance standpoint.
It doesn’t have to be.
What Is a Corporate Scholarship Program?
A corporate scholarship is a tax-exempt charitable award paid directly to an accredited educational institution on behalf of a student selected through a competitive application process. Companies can design programs to support:
- Employee dependents pursuing higher education
- Community students in a specific region, field of study, or demographic
- Both combine internal and external applicant pools
Scholarship funds can cover tuition and enrollment fees at accredited colleges, universities, vocational schools, and other qualifying institutions. Unlike bonuses or tuition reimbursement programs, properly structured scholarships are tax-free to recipients and qualify as charitable expenditures for the sponsoring organization.
Why Act Now? The Fall Enrollment Window Is Opening
If your company is considering launching a scholarship program for the upcoming school year, the time to start is now.
Scholarship programs require a structured implementation process: policy design, application site buildout, promotion, application review, and award disbursement. That process takes time – and the academic calendar won’t wait.
Students applying for fall aid need decisions weeks before enrollment deadlines. If you want to make an impact for the 2025-2026 school year, planning needs to start today.
The Biggest Barrier: Administrative Complexity
Most companies that want to offer scholarships never get started because of the operational and compliance hurdles involved:
- IRS compliance – scholarship programs must meet specific requirements to qualify as tax-exempt awards
- Application management – building and managing a fair, documented selection process
- Disbursement – funds must be paid directly to institutions, not individuals
- Reporting – maintaining proper records for each program cycle
Getting any of these wrong exposes your organization to legal and reputational risk. Getting them right in-house requires significant time and expertise that most organizations don’t have on staff.
That’s where a fully managed scholarship partner comes in.
How America’s Charities Makes It Simple
America’s Charities provides end-to-end scholarship administration for companies and organizations, so your team can stay focused on your mission while experts handle the rest.
Here’s what a fully managed program looks like:
1. Policy Design
America’s Charities works with your team to draft scholarship criteria, eligibility rules, and award structure – all designed from the ground up to meet IRS requirements.
2. Application Site Buildout
A branded, secure application portal is built with your organization’s logo, colors, and program name. Language translation support is available for programs serving diverse applicant pools.
3. Promotion & Launch
A coordinated rollout targets your intended applicant pool, whether that’s employees’ families, students in a specific region, or applicants nationwide.
4. Competitive Review
Applications are evaluated using pre-determined, objective criteria. The number of approved applications is limited, ensuring the program meets the IRS standard for a genuine, competitive award process.
5. Award & Disbursement
Scholarship funds are paid directly to the recipient’s accredited educational institution (not to the individual) in full compliance with IRS best practices.
6. Reporting & Compliance
Every program cycle includes a summary usage report and full IRS-compliant documentation.
Who Can Sponsor a Scholarship?
Almost any organization can and should consider it. America’s Charities works with:
- Corporations looking to invest in their communities or support employee families
- Foundations seeking a managed disbursement partner
- Associations and nonprofits wanting to expand their educational impact
Programs can be structured as one-time or multi-year awards, with national, regional, or local applicant pools. Eligibility criteria are fully customizable – GPA, field of study, financial need, geography, extracurricular involvement, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we limit the scholarship to employees or their dependents?
Yes – with IRS guidelines in place. The program must remain open to outside applicants, and eligibility cannot be tied to an employee’s position or require continued employment as a condition of the award.
What can scholarship funds be used for?
Tuition and enrollment fees at accredited educational or vocational institutions. Funds cannot be used for room and board, books, travel, or optional equipment.
How long does it take to launch?
Timelines vary by program complexity. Your implementation team will establish a launch date, application deadline, and award date during an onboarding call.
Is this IRS compliant?
Every program America’s Charities administers is designed to meet IRS requirements for tax-exempt charitable scholarship awards, including competitive selection, direct disbursement to institutions, and compliant eligibility criteria.
Ready to Make an Impact This Fall?
If your organization has been considering launching a scholarship program, there’s no better time to take the first step. Students are preparing for the fall semester, and your investment in their futures can start with a single conversation.
Launch a Scholarship Program: Schedule a conversation with our team to discuss your organization’s goals, then learn more about our scholarship administration services and how we help create meaningful educational opportunities.
Originally published on 3M News Center.
The automotive industry is under pressure from every direction. Electrification, software-defined vehicle architecture, lightweighting, manufacturing transformation, repair and recycling are not isolated challenges. They are interconnected demands that automakers and suppliers are being asked to solve simultaneously, and faster than ever before.
3M’s new digital platform, “The Next Gear,” is designed to help. The interactive online experience brings together 3M science, technologies and materials in one place, allowing customers to explore how 3M supports the automotive industry as it works to build lighter, smarter, and more efficient vehicles.
Solving connected challenges across the vehicle lifecycle
“The automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation — one that touches every part of the mobility ecosystem, from manufacturers and suppliers to infrastructure,” said Wendy Bauer, group president of 3M Transportation and Electronics Business Group. “As electrification, lightweighting, software-defined vehicles, advanced manufacturing and next-generation in-cabin experiences reshape mobility, the need for material innovation has never been greater. 3M brings deep expertise across automotive, electronics, manufacturing and advanced materials to help customers solve complex challenges, accelerate development and bring next-generation mobility solutions to market faster. ‘The Next Gear’ provides a comprehensive look at 3M solutions across the mobility ecosystem and demonstrates how we help customers move faster toward what’s ahead.”
The platform highlights the critical role that 3M solutions can play at every stage of the automotive lifecycle, focusing on engineering and design, manufacturing, on-road performance, personalization, and repair and end-of-life applications.
A closer look at automotive innovation
“The Next Gear” features multiple 3M solutions for lighter-weight vehicle design, including materials that reduce weight while supporting durability and performance, as well as noise, vibration and harshness solutions that improve comfort and design flexibility.
Manufacturing efficiency, quality and ergonomics get equal attention. Among the spotlighted technologies is the 3M Finesse-it Robotic Paint Repair System, which automatically detects topcoat defects, recommends a precise repair strategy, and delivers the solution in real-time as the vehicle moves along the line — offering more consistent quality at a faster pace.
Supporting electric, connected and personalized vehicles
This interactive platform also showcases 3M technologies that support electric and connected vehicles, including thermal management and battery-related solutions, as well as products that help protect and enhance displays, camera sensors, driver monitoring systems and other user interfaces.
With growing consumer demand for automotive personalization and repair options, the platform highlights ways 3M supports vehicle appearance, maintenance, repair and resource recovery. These solutions span wrap films, paint protection, collision repair technologies and approaches that can help advance serviceability and recycling.
By bringing together solutions that span design, manufacturing, vehicle performance, personalization, repair and resource recovery, “The Next Gear” provides a holistic view of how 3M helps customers address the interconnected challenges shaping the future of mobility.
Explore “The Next Gear” experience here: https://nextgear.3m.com
FAQ
What is “The Next Gear”? “The Next Gear” is an online interactive platform that showcases how 3M technologies and materials can help address major automotive industry challenges.
Who is the platform for? It is designed to help a broad audience understand the diverse scope of 3M automotive solutions, including auto makers, industry suppliers and others interested in the future of mobility.
What topics does the platform cover? It highlights 3M technologies and solutions for automotive engineering and design, manufacturing, on-road technologies, fueling and charging, personalization, and repair and end-of-life solutions.
Does the platform include electric vehicle solutions? Yes. It highlights 3M technologies related to thermal management, battery materials and connected vehicle interfaces.
Where can I explore the experience? Readers can visit the platform at: https://nextgear.3m.com
Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2025 Global Stakeholder Impact Report
About Us
We’re a trusted partner for millions of entrepreneurs globally.
GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, helps millions of entrepreneurs globally start, grow, and scale their businesses. People come to GoDaddy to name their ideas, build a website and logo, sell their products and services, and accept payments. GoDaddy Airo®, the company’s AIpowered experience, makes growing a small business faster and easier by helping them get their ideas online in minutes, drive traffic and boost sales. GoDaddy’s expert guides are available 24/7 in most regions to provide assistance. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com.
OUR PURPOSE
Make opportunity more inclusive for all.
OUR PRODUCT AND SERVICES
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
In 2025, GoDaddy joined the World Economic Forum, an organization focused on improving the state of the world through multistakeholder collaboration. This engagement reflects a shared belief that global challenges require collective action and that bringing together leaders from business, government, and civil society can help scale solutions and drive meaningful impact.
Corporate Sustainability Approach
GoDaddy conducts periodic assessments to identify and prioritize the sustainability topics most relevant to our business, stakeholders, society, and the environment. Our most recent double materiality assessment (DMA) evaluated the potential impact that our operations might have on people and the planet, and how sustainability-related risks and opportunities might affect our business.
The results of the assessment inform our sustainability strategy, governance, and disclosures, including our approach to managing potential climate-related risks and opportunities across our value chain. The results also help focus our efforts on the topics that matter most and support informed decision-making that strengthens our long-term resilience and value creation.
Our four-pillar sustainability framework forms the foundation of GoDaddy’s corporate sustainability approach. Through the DMA, we identified 13 priority sustainability topics spanning these pillars.
CUSTOMERS & COMMUNITIES
- Community engagement
- Customer experience
- Inclusive entrepreneurship
PEOPLE & CULTURE
- People-centered strategy
- Employee attraction, retention, and development
- Employee wellbeing
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE & OPERATIONS
- Responsible AI
- Trust and safety
- Corporate governance
- Cybersecurity
- Data privacy
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
- Climate change
- Energy
We identified seven priority United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that guide our sustainability efforts and align with our corporate objectives. We disclose our progress annually in the Frameworks & Metrics section of this report. As signatories to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), we support the UNGC’s Ten Principles.
Learn more about GoDaddy’s 2025 Global Stakeholder Impact Report.
About this Report
The GoDaddy 2025 Global Stakeholder Impact Report details our progress toward our corporate sustainability goals, strategies, and initiatives in support of our overarching purpose and values. Unless otherwise noted, this report reflects our corporate sustainability performance across our global operations covering the fiscal year period from January 1 to December 31, 2025. To demonstrate our commitment to transparent communication regarding our sustainability progress, we routinely share updates through our website and our annual reporting. We welcome your questions, comments, and feedback on this report by contacting ESG@GoDaddy.com.
This report references the Global Reporting Initiative Standards, includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector, and the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures. We also disclose our contributions and progress toward priority UN SDGs. For additional information on how we align with these frameworks and key indicators demonstrating our sustainability performance, please refer to the Frameworks & Metrics section.
About GoDaddy
GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, helps millions of entrepreneurs globally start, grow, and scale their businesses. People come to GoDaddy to name their idea, build a website and logo, sell their products and services and accept payments. GoDaddy Airo®, the company’s AI-powered experience, makes growing a small business faster and easier by helping them to get their idea online in minutes, drive traffic and boost sales. GoDaddy’s expert guides are available 24/7 to provide assistance. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com.