For contestants
Your Christmas Service Project, your looks, and the campaign day by day. Everything happens online, on winter break.
Your Christmas Service Project
One real act of service over the break, done between being accepted and Friday, December 11. It doesn’t have to be big. It has to be real. It becomes your Day 1 video.
Snacks, toiletries, a gift card for a meal and a handwritten note for students staying on campus over break. Ask your school's dean of students or campus pantry who needs them.
Run a small drive and fill the shelves before the dining halls close. Ask the pantry what they're out of first.
Pens, highlighters, snacks and a note of encouragement for students in your residence hall or your old high school's seniors.
Collect warm things for a shelter or a family in need. Call first and ask what sizes they need.
Volunteer with an Angel Tree, a church toy drive or a children's charity in your hometown.
Write cards for a hospital, a nursing home or students in a college access program, and deliver them together.
One act of service that helps someone stay in school or makes the season lighter for someone. Ask the place you'll serve what they actually need.
Invite a few friends, family or chapter members. No one available? You can serve on your own.
Ask the shelter, pantry, school or church before you come, and ask whether you may take photos and video.
A purple top with black pants or a skirt (Miss), or a purple shirt with black pants (Mister).
Photos of you serving. Never photograph a child's face without a parent's permission, and never photograph someone who didn't agree.
Under two minutes: what you did, who it served, and why it matters. Do it between being accepted and Friday, December 11.
Saturday, December 12: post your service video in your Service Look, with your voting link. Never collect cash for your project.
The looks
The campaign is virtual. There's nowhere to travel and no stage to stand on: from Saturday, December 12 to Tuesday, December 22, you post from wherever you are on winter break, on your own Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, one theme a day, and your people vote for you on this website.
A purple top (any shade) with black pants or a black skirt.
Video 1: your Christmas Service Project. What you did, who it served, and why it matters. Under two minutes. Film it before December 12.
A formal gown or dress that honors God. Purple, white, silver or Christmas red are all welcome.
Video 2: your Royal Introduction. Who you are, your school, your platform and why you are called to this crown. Under two minutes. Film it before December 12.
Your best Christmas sweater, pajamas or holiday outfit. Fun, festive, still classy.
A short, fun video: your Christmas traditions, with family or friends if they'll join you, and one more ask for votes.
Formal again: a gown or dress that honors God, camera-ready from the waist up.
Live and virtual at 7 PM Eastern. Join on camera from a quiet, well-lit place, with your people beside you if you can.
The campaign
Eleven days, one Christmas theme a day. Every vote funds an EFF Emergency Grant that helps a student stay in college, so every day you are campaigning for someone's Christmas wish. Post each day on its day, on your own accounts, with your voting link. Tag @estherfundsfoundation.
Post your Christmas Service Project video in your Service Look, with your voting link. Voting opens at 8 AM Eastern.
Post your introduction video in your Royal Look: who you are, your school, and why you're called to this crown.
All I want for Christmas is my degree. Share your degree, your major and the date you plan to walk across that stage.
Round 1 push: ask your people directly to put you on the nice list. You need 100 votes by 11:59 PM Eastern to advance.
Your story: the moment you almost didn't make it back, or the people you're finishing for. Then tell them every vote funds an EFF Emergency Grant that brings a student back in January.
Your faith: Esther 4:14 and why you believe you're here for such a time as this.
Round 2 push: every vote helps grant a student's Christmas wish to stay in college. You need 400 votes in all by 11:59 PM Eastern.
Your Christmas traditions in your Christmas Cozy Look, with family or friends if they'll join you.
Thank the people voting for you by name. They're the gift. Then invite one more.
A countdown post: where you stand, and what the crown would mean to you.
Your last ask: all I want for Christmas is your vote. Voting closes at 11:59 PM Eastern.
7 PM Eastern, live and virtual, in your Coronation Look.
Have it ready
Your Service Look, worn in your Day 1 service video.
A gown or dress (Miss), or a suit and tie (Mister), for your Royal Introduction and the coronation.
A sweater, pajamas or holiday outfit for Day 8.
For your Christmas Service Project. Start asking now, but don't announce that you applied.
For two short videos filmed before December 12, and the live coronation on camera.
The crown
Paid straight to the winner's school account, for tuition, fees or a balance that stands in the way.
For an official royal photoshoot, so the new queen and king are pictured the way the title deserves.
Miss Esther Funds National 2027 and Mister Esther Funds National 2027, worn for the year of the reign.
Crowned live before the whole EFFamily on December 23 and celebrated across EFF.
Second place, for Miss and for Mister: A $500 scholarship, paid straight to the school account, and the University title: Miss or Mister Esther Funds University 2027.
Apply now“And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14Chosen not for looks, but for leadership. Not for applause, but for impact.
A scholarship pageant of Esther Funds Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 93-4917509) working to keep college students enrolled.