What are Private Scholarships?
A Private Scholarship is an adjustment that reduces (or fully waives) what one member owes — without anyone else on the team finding out. The same tool covers every kind of per-family price change:
- Scholarships or financial aid: Reduce or waive fees for families who need help
- Sibling discounts: Take a percentage off for families with multiple members on the team
- Volunteer credits: Reward parents who help coach, drive, or fundraise
- Early bird discounts: Reduce fees for early registration
- Corrections: Fix a wrong amount or adjust for returned equipment
Example:
A member owes $500 for the season fee. You apply a $100 scholarship. Their new balance is $400. Only you see that a scholarship was applied.
Private Scholarships are not a Pro feature — they’re included on the Free plan.
How to apply a Private Scholarship
Open the member from your team dashboard
Click the member who needs a scholarship, discount, or waiver.
Click “Adjust”
You’ll see it next to their dues balance.
Choose a dollar amount or a percentage
Under Amount type, pick Dollar amount or Percent of share. Enter $100 to knock $100 off, or set Percent off to 50 to halve what they owe. GetDues shows you the resulting dollar amount before you save. To waive the due entirely, choose the waiver option.
Add an internal note — and, optionally, a message for the family
The Internal note (only you see this) field (e.g. “Scholarship — approved by board 8/12”) is for your records only. Nobody else ever sees it. If you also want the family to see a short line on their portal (e.g. “Sibling discount applied”), type it in Message shown to the family (optional). Leave it blank and they simply see a lower amount.
Apply to every current due, if you want
Tick Apply to every current due for this player to cover the season fee, tournament fee, and uniform fee in one go. A percentage is calculated per due; a waiver waives each due.
Save
The balance updates immediately. Reminders automatically skip anyone whose dues are fully waived.
Who sees what
Privacy is the whole point. Financial aid should be visible to the person who approved it and no one else.
You (the team owner)
See everything: who has an adjustment, the type and amount, your internal note, and the season aid summary.
Co-managers
See only the resulting status — Paid, Partial, or Waived — so they don’t chase anyone. No “Adjusted” badge, no amount, no note, and no Adjust button. The adjustment columns in any CSV they export come back blank.
The family
Sees only their adjusted amount in their portal — plus your optional message, if you wrote one. They never see your internal note. A fully waived due shows as “Waived”; a discount or credit isn’t labeled at all unless you added a message.
Other families
See nothing. Each family’s portal shows only their own dues.
What the family’s portal shows:
Season Fee: $400
Sibling discount applied (only if you added a message)
Partial, percentage, and full waivers
Adjustments can be a flat amount, a percentage, or a full waiver. Common scenarios:
50% scholarship
Member owes $600. Set Amount type to Percent of share and enter 50 in Percent off. GetDues calculates $300 off. New balance: $300.
$50 early bird discount
Member owes $500. Enter $50. New balance: $450.
100% waiver across the season
Member owes a $500 season fee, a $120 tournament fee, and a $60 uniform fee. Choose waiver, tick Apply to every current due for this player, and save once. New balance: $0. Reminders stop for them automatically.
Percentages are converted to a dollar amount at the moment you save, based on the member’s share of each due. If you change the due amount later, edit the adjustment to recalculate.
The aid summary and reports
Your team page shows an owner-only Private scholarships card with the total you’ve given this season and how many families it covers — for example, “$1,250 across 4 families.” Use it to budget next season’s aid fund or report totals to your board without naming anyone.
- Only the team owner sees the aid summary
- CSV exports include adjustment type, amount, and internal note only when the owner runs them
- Collection rates are calculated on adjusted balances, so a waived family doesn’t drag your rate down
Editing or removing a scholarship
If you applied an adjustment by mistake or the family’s situation changes:
- Open the member and click Adjust to see what’s applied
- Change the amount, percentage, note, or family message and click Update
- Click Remove to delete it entirely
The member’s balance updates immediately.
Note:
Removing an adjustment doesn’t notify the family. If they’ve already seen the reduced balance, a quick personal message avoids a surprise.
Setting up an aid policy
The tool is the easy part. Deciding who qualifies, how families apply, and how you fund it takes a little more thought. Two guides on the GetDues blog cover it:
- How to Handle Financial Aid and Scholarship Players — writing a policy, keeping applications simple, and budgeting for aid
- How to Offer Private Scholarships Without Anyone Knowing — the privacy playbook, step by step
Looking for overpayment credits?
When a parent overpays a due, the excess becomes credit on their account. See Player Credits to learn how it works.
Questions about Private Scholarships?
Need help setting up a scholarship, discount, or waiver? We’re here to help.
Contact Support