Is DoSomething.org Legit? Its Scholarships Explained

Is dosomething legit is one of the most common questions students ask about free scholarship sites, and based on the verifiable public record, the answer is yes: DoSomething is a real, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that has publicly documented its scholarship program, its winners, and its rules. It was co-founded in 1993 by actor Andrew Shue and Michael Sanchez, and it is headquartered in New York. That is a three-decade paper trail, not a pop-up website.

The reason people keep asking is dosomething legit is that the offer sounds too easy. You sign up for a volunteer campaign, take an action, upload a photo showing you did it, and you are entered for a scholarship drawing. No essay. No GPA cutoff. No recommendation letters. That pattern looks exactly like the setup a scam would use, so the skepticism is healthy — it is just pointed at the wrong target here.

What follows is the honest version. We will cover who runs the organization, how a free service pays for itself, what students publicly report, and the part that actually costs people money: imposters who borrow the DoSomething name in texts and emails. Nothing in this article accuses the real nonprofit of wrongdoing, because the public record does not support that.

Is DoSomething Legit? What the Organization Actually Is

DoSomething is an international nonprofit that runs online and offline campaigns encouraging young people to take civic and social action. Its legal form is a 501(c)(3) organization. Leadership has changed over the years — Nancy Lublin served as CEO from 2003 to 2015, and the organization is currently led by CEO DeNora Getachew — which is normal for an established nonprofit and another sign you are dealing with a real institution.

When you ask is dosomething legit, the underlying question is whether a real entity stands behind the offer. Here, it does. There is a named leadership team, a physical organization, a help center, and published rules you can read before you enter anything.

The scholarship side is called “It Pays To Do Good.” According to DoSomething’s own published materials, the organization has awarded more than $1.7 million in scholarships over roughly the past decade to more than 700 winners, and awards over $300,000 in scholarship funding each year. Those are the organization’s own figures, published on its site.

Is DoSomething Legit About How the Scholarships Work?

Yes — and the mechanics are published, which is exactly what you want to see. Per DoSomething’s own help center and program pages, here is the process:

• You sign up for a scholarship-eligible campaign.
• You complete the campaign’s action steps.
• You “report back” by uploading a photo or describing the impact you made.
• Completing verification enters you in the drawing for that campaign.

Winners are selected through a random drawing of participants, not by judging your merit. DoSomething states winners are typically announced about three to four weeks after a campaign closes, and notified by text or email. Eligibility, per the organization, is ages 13 to 25 and living in the U.S. or being a U.S. citizen living abroad.

One detail matters more than any other when you are weighing is dosomething legit: the money does not come to you. DoSomething states that scholarship funds are sent directly to the school you choose and can only be applied to costs on your itemized tuition bill from a post-high-school program — community college, university, or trade school. If you have not enrolled yet, the organization says it holds the funds, and winners have through age 25 to redeem the award.

That “paid to the school” structure is a strong legitimacy marker. Scams want money flowing toward them or cash flowing to a person they can chase. A nonprofit paying a bursar’s office directly does not fit a scam’s incentives.

How a Free Service Makes Money (And Why That Matters)

A fair follow-up to is dosomething legit is: who pays for this? Free things make people nervous, and they should. The answer here is corporate and foundation funding. DoSomething built its sustainability model around cause marketing — during Lublin’s tenure the organization reported drawing the large majority of its funding from corporate partners, and it has also received foundation grants, including from the MacArthur Foundation. Public filings have reported revenue in the eight-figure range in recent years.

In plain terms: brands and funders pay to sponsor campaigns that reach young people. Some of that sponsorship money becomes scholarship money. You are not the product being sold to a debt collector; you are the audience a sponsor wanted to reach for a volunteer campaign.

You should still read the privacy policy before signing up, the same way you would for any platform that collects your email, phone number, and age. That is ordinary caution, not an accusation.

Is DoSomething Legit According to Students and Public Records?

The organization publishes a scholarship winners page naming recipients, and third-party scholarship databases — CollegeXpress, Fastweb, and verification-focused directories among them — list DoSomething’s monthly scholarships as real opportunities. Independent listing on established aggregators is meaningful, because those directories are the places scam offers typically cannot get into.

Student commentary online is mixed in tone but not in substance. The common complaint is about odds, not honesty: because winners are drawn randomly and campaigns attract large numbers of entrants, most people who enter will not win. That is a math problem, not a legitimacy problem, and DoSomething describes the drawing structure openly.

We could not verify any regulator action, FTC enforcement, or major-news finding of wrongdoing against DoSomething. If you see a claim like that, treat it as unverified until you find the actual filing or article. When people ask is dosomething legit and get a scary answer, that answer is usually about an imposter, which is the next section.

How Imposter Scams Abuse the DoSomething Name

This is where real money gets lost. Scammers pick well-known scholarship brands precisely because those brands are trusted. A message saying “you won a DoSomething scholarship” carries weight, and that borrowed weight is the whole trick.

The FTC and the FCC have both documented the pattern in back-to-school and scholarship scam warnings. Fake scholarship contacts typically:

• Announce you won something you never entered.
• Demand a fee to “release,” “process,” “disburse,” or “redeem” the award.
• Ask for your Social Security number, bank account, or card number.
• Push urgency — reply today, the award expires tonight.
• Send you to a link on a lookalike domain instead of the real site.
• Guarantee an award, which no real sponsor can do.

The FTC’s guidance is blunt on the money point: legitimate scholarships do not charge you fees to apply or to collect. If a message using the DoSomething name asks for payment, that message is not DoSomething. Report suspicious texts by forwarding them to 7726 (SPAM) and filing at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Real vs. Fake: Telling the Genuine Offer From the Imposter

Note that scholarship funds can have tax implications depending on how they are used; amounts applied to qualified tuition and required fees are generally treated differently from amounts used for other expenses. IRS.gov publishes the current rules, and your school’s financial aid office can tell you how an outside award affects your specific aid package — that varies by school and by program, so do not assume a friend’s experience matches yours.

Is DoSomething Legit? Verify It Yourself in Five Minutes

Do not take this article’s word for it, or anyone else’s. Here is a fast check you can run on DoSomething or any scholarship offer:

1. Type the domain manually. Go to dosomething.org yourself instead of clicking a link in a text or email. Confirm the campaign exists on the real site.
2. Read the official rules. Find the scholarship rules and eligibility page. Real programs publish them; imposters cannot.
3. Check the nonprofit registration. Look up the organization’s 501(c)(3) status through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search on IRS.gov, and cross-check on charity ratings sites.
4. Test the fee rule. If any step asks for money or a card number, stop. Per FTC guidance, that alone is disqualifying.
5. Ask a human. Bring the offer to your high school counselor or your college financial aid office. They see these year-round.

Run those five steps and the question of whether is dosomething legit stops being a matter of opinion. You will have checked the primary sources yourself, which is a skill worth far more than any single scholarship.

Entering does not mean you will win — winners are drawn at random and no one can promise you an award. What you can control is entering real programs, completing the verification steps, and never paying a cent to do it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is DoSomething legit, or is it a scam?

Based on the public record, DoSomething is a legitimate 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1993 with published scholarship rules and a named winners list. The scams that use its name are separate imposters, not the organization itself.

Does DoSomething ever charge a fee to apply or collect a scholarship?

No. Its program is free to enter. The FTC states that legitimate scholarships do not charge application, processing, or disbursement fees, so any fee request using this name is a red flag.

How much money does DoSomething actually award?

The organization reports awarding over $300,000 in scholarship funding each year, and more than $1.7 million to over 700 winners over roughly the past decade. Those figures come from DoSomething’s own published materials.

Can I get the scholarship money as cash?

No. DoSomething states that funds are sent directly to your chosen school and applied to costs on your itemized tuition bill. Anyone offering to send you cash in DoSomething’s name is not the real organization.

Find Money Where You Live

Scholarship and grant programs change from state to state, and many of the biggest awards come from your own state’s aid programs. Pick your state to see the scholarships that apply where you live.

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Sources & How to Verify

The facts on this page are drawn from official government and primary sources. Rules, figures, and program details change, so always confirm the current details with the official agency, your school’s financial aid office, or the program’s own published rules.

• Federal Student Aid: studentaid.gov — the official source for FAFSA, grants, work-study, and aid rules
• FTC Consumer Advice: consumer.ftc.gov — scholarship and financial aid scam guidance
• IRS: irs.gov — how scholarships and fellowships are treated for taxes
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: bls.gov/ooh — official wage and job-outlook data for every career
• Your school’s financial aid office: aid rules vary by school — for your specific situation, their answer is the one that counts

Content last reviewed August 2026. If you notice outdated information, please contact us.

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• College Survival Guide
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Informational only — not legal, tax, financial, or academic advice. Spot Scholarships is an independent educational resource. Financial aid rules, scholarship terms, school policies, and licensing requirements vary by school, program, and state and change over time, so always verify the current details with your school’s financial aid office, the official agency, or the program’s published rules before acting. Nothing on this page guarantees admission, aid, or an award.