P.E.O. EDUCATIONAL LOAN FUND | ELF
Does this sound familiar? Your new project committee has formed and is raring to go. But now, where to find potential Educational Loan Fund (ELF) applicants? This topic was one discussed during the ELF live booth sessions at the Convention of International Chapter, and what ensued was a brainstorming of wonderful ideas. Read on to learn how many chapters have successfully found and sponsored women for an ELF loan. Let’s Go Find the ELF Applicants by Ann Lambert, Chair, P.E.O. Educational Loan Fund Board of Trustees
I D E A 1 Network in your community
I D E A 2 Work with a local community college, university or junior college Meet with the financial aid officer. Explain the criteria for an ELF applicant and ask that they consider recommending goal-oriented women. Leave some flyers and ask if you may hang them on bulletin boards in the office. If the college has women’s groups on campus, such as an honor society or sorority, ask if you may drop off flyers or even give a presentation to the group. I D E A 3 Work with other local chapters in your state/province/district (s/p/d) Contact your s/p/d ELF project chair and ask her to send you information about self-referrals from the P.E.O. International website. Remember that you may conduct your interviews via telephone and virtual conference, so it is not necessary that you be in the same town as the potential applicant. Ask your s/p/d ELF project chair to help you make a connection with a local chapter that has consistently sponsored ELF applicants. Your s/p/d sisters from that chapter will be able to give you tips and tricks that they have learned through experience. Some local chapters have pooled
I D E A 4 Spread the word at your local chapter events Distribute ELF flyers at your chapter fundraisers to which you invite community members. When your chapter holds a social event to which non-members are invited, make available ELF information.
Ask the principal at your local school to see if you may post an ELF flyer (available in the ELF section of the P.E.O. International member website) in the teachers’ lounge. This might help you connect with teachers who are working on an advanced Reach out to an area assisted living or skilled nursing facility and your local hospitals. Many ELF applicants are women pursuing education in the area of health care. Oftentimes, CNAs are attending school to attain the LPN or RN degree. Speak with the guidance department head of your area high school to see if they know of any recent graduates who would now be in their last two years of undergraduate work. Remember that an ELF loan can be used toward a certificate, so if you have a local vocational school, reach out to see if there are women who will be pursuing an advanced degree or teaching assistants pursuing further education. certificate or licensure program after their high school graduation. Share ELF information with neighbors, co-workers and house of worship members with daughters pursuing their education. Consider chapter members as well as their daughters and granddaughters. Reach out to women your chapter previously sponsored for another P.E.O. grant or scholarship. Oftentimes these women still need additional funding to complete their degrees.
I D E A 5 Learn more about ELF
Use the programs available on the ELF website at your local chapter meetings. This will help chapter members to identify women who might qualify for an ELF loan. Use your chapter sisters to help you “role play” how to talk about ELF to prospective candidates.
their resources and bought advertising space in a local community magazine. Use the P.E.O. press release materials (available on the P.E.O. International member website) to write a press release to send to your local newspaper.
It is evident that P.E.O. sisters are a fantastic resource for ideas! We hope that sharing this rich list of ideas will provide a spark for your local chapter, and we would love to hear more ideas about how chapters have successfully found and sponsored applicants. Together, “let’s go find the ELF applicants!”
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THE P.E.O. RECORD | January–February 2022
Women helping women reach for the stars
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