How do I know if I won a Niche Scholarship?
- Niche’s User Support team will contact winners by the 15th of the month through the email attached to the winner’s Niche account. Make sure to keep an eye on your spam/promotions folders!
How are winners selected?
- Winners are randomly selected from the pool of eligible applicants
How do Scholarship winners receive their money?
- The money is awarded directly to the winner after the confirmation process and paperwork have been completed. The award is either directly deposited into your bank account or a check will be mailed to your address.
What happens after I win a Niche Scholarship?
- After you have been selected as a winner our team will reach out through email. The email will contain a link and a confirmation code. You will click the link and complete the form. If you are under the age of 18, you will need to provide the email and name of a parent or guardian.
- After you have completed the form, one of our team members will email you directly within three business days. Please check your spam/promotions folders. Sometimes our outreach emails are filtered out of the general inbox.
- Our team member will send along information on the paperwork that needs to be completed. All paperwork will be sent via DocuSign.
How do I know this is a legitimate offer?
- It is always important to research a company before sharing any personal data. Niche awarded over $300,000 in scholarships in 2024. You can view previous winners of Niche scholarships by visiting our Scholarship Winners page and a clip of a previous winner talking with Niche’s CEO. We also encourage you to check out our About page. You can always reach out to our team with any additional questions by emailing support@niche.com.
What kind of documentation do I need to complete?
- All paperwork will be shared with you via DocuSign
- All winners will need to complete an affidavit
- All winners will complete a questionnaire form
- All winners will need to provide proof of US citizenship (state-issued ID, birth certificate, passport, etc) or a copy of your valid US-Visa
- Winners receiving $600 or more will need to complete a W-9
- Cash winners (not gift card winners) will complete a direct deposit form
- If you won more than $5,000- You might be required to provide proof of attending a four-year school listed on Niche (transcript, acceptance letter, signed letter from a school official, etc)
Why do I have to fill out a W-9 for prizes of $600 or more?
- We are required by the IRS to send out annual 1099’s for all disbursements made to individuals that are greater than $600, which is why we require that information to be complete before we can award your scholarship. Here is a link from the federal government's website for more information on that subject: Internal Revenue Service - 1099 Form Info. We are unable to release the award until we have all our paperwork completed in accordance with our annual reporting obligations to the IRS.
I won a gift card- how will I receive it?
- Our team will have you complete paperwork via DocuSign. The gift card will then be sent digitally to your email through Postal.io.
I won less than $5,000- What does the scholarship delivery timeline look like?
- Winners are contacted by the 15th of the month
- You will be prompted to fill out an intake form which includes a confirmation code
- If you are under 18, you will be asked to share the contact information of a parent or guardian
- Within the next few days, our team will respond by email. Please keep an eye on your spam/promotions folders for our outreach emails. Once our team has connected with you, they will send you a document packet via DocuSign. You will have a few days to complete the documentation.
- If you are under 18- documents will also be sent to your parent or guardian for their approval and signature
- Once the documentation has been completed, our team will send a confirmation email
- Your funds will be directly deposited within 8-10 weeks after all documentation has been completed
- You will also receive an email from Postal.io requesting your address and t-shirt size
I won $5,000 or more- What does the scholarship delivery timeline look like?
- Winners are contacted by the 15th of the month
- You will be prompted to fill out an intake form which includes a confirmation code
- If you are under 18, you will be asked to share the contact information of a parent or guardian
- Within the next few days, our team will respond by email. Please keep an eye on your spam/promotions folders for our outreach emails. Once our team has connected with you, they will send you a document packet via DocuSign. You will have a few days to complete the documentation.
- If you are under 18, you will be asked to share the contact information of a parent or guardian
- Within the next few days, our team will send you a document packet via DocuSign. You will have a few days to complete the documentation.
- If you are under 18- documents will also be sent to your parent or guardian for their approval and signature
- Once the documentation has been completed, our team will send you a confirmation email
- We will then submit paperwork to the state for approval. It typically takes the state anywhere from 3-8 months to finalize paperwork.
- Our team will keep you up-to-date on any relevant information and will always be around to answer questions
- Your funds will be directly deposited within 8-10 weeks after all documentation (this includes documentation on the state’s side) has been completed
- You will also receive an email from Postal.io requesting your address and t-shirt size