set up a trust in her will that gave scholarships to anyone attending BYU from one of 3 specific wards. All the guys in the ward got it every year. Finding the hyperlocal deep cuts is hugely satisfying and valuable.
As for school-based academic scholarships, I don't know much about that. Following. It def. seems like if your son is far enough above the median academic recruit for the school, he should be able to extract something. At the very top schools it is all needs based because they already get the top students, so they really have to focus on extracting money from them.