The benefits of involving students in the business of philanthropy

The benefits of involving students

in the business of philanthropy

Lara Pickering

Director of Philanthropy and Stakeholder Engagement When I share that our students at St Margaret’s actively engage in helping to fundraise for their school, I’m often met with a look of surprise. It is very typical within the university sector that the beneficiaries of philanthropy play a role in the management of donor relationships throughout the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship stages; however, in schools we tend to encourage our students to direct their efforts in fundraising to societal causes. Our students are the reason that donors invest in our school, whether that be in bursaries for girls to access or continue their St Margaret’s education despite their financial circumstances or in bricks and mortar to create an educational environment that supports a high-quality teaching and learning SUNATA 49

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experience for all. To deliver an authentic experience for our donors where they feel truly connected to the cause, engaging our students in the process makes sense. But what about from a student perspective? It has been said that our students do not view themselves or their school as a worthy cause. They have traditionally focused on fundraising for community non-profit organisations that too will make a significant difference in the lives of those they assist. And this should continue. However, it need not be one or the other. Also providing the opportunity for our students to engage with our donors lays the groundwork for them to pay their wonderful educational experience forward. It allows them to view their education and institution through the lens of a donor. While the reasons that donors give to our school are varied, common motivation can be found in that they are giving to an organisation that meets needs, not that has needs. They are investing in the next generations of young women who will go on to make a positive contribution to broader society. Their giving will have a ripple effect. Seeing their institution through the eyes of a donor helps us to build and strengthen our culture of philanthropy. A wonderful example of this in action has been having our students who are being supported by a donor-funded bursary meet with the donor and hear from them as to why supporting girls’ education is important to them on a personal level. Our students’ role here in donor stewardship not only helps to foster the culture of philanthropy at the student level but also creates an experience for the donor that encourages them to continue or extend their support as they are seeing firsthand the impact they are having. This can also be achieved by having our students participate in other stewardship activities such as writing thank you notes or a letter of gratitude to those supporting their school. On Giving Day, our students are also involved in making phone calls to Old Girls, parents, and other members of the St Margaret’s community to promote awareness of the school’s philanthropic activities and to ask for and encourage participation in giving. This is a valuable exercise in developing some of the soft skills for our senior students who volunteer. It creates a scenario where they are developing specific communication skills. Communicating verbally over the phone with a person, one to one, that they do not know personally requires them to build rapport, to actively listen, and to read verbal cues in language and tone, while always remaining polite and courteous representing their school. Some calls may also require some thinking on their feet and problem solving. Participating in these activities also teaches teamwork and helps to develop self-confidence. According to Apex Leadership Co. (2020), ‘Interestingly, self-confidence can also be built by hearing that dreaded word “no.” Especially for younger children that may be used to getting their way, hearing the word no and moving past it to receive more “yeses” can help encourage children to keep going … and that helps improve self-esteem. Many other parts of fundraising help build self-esteem, including hard work, goal setting and achievement. As students push themselves through challenges and achieve their goals, their self-confidence will grow.’ While it is exciting for them to receive a ‘yes’ and to secure a donation in this scenario, equally of value are the calls where they hang up and have engaged in a very positive conversation with a past student who is keen to hear about their St Margaret’s experience and the school now. These points of connection are extremely valuable for us in engaging our Old Girls in the life of the school in the present day. Engaging our students in philanthropy also helps to bolster their school pride. Knowing that someone who is no longer a student at the school is passionate enough to donate and invest in the school now is extremely powerful. It wasn’t just the senior students that took valuable lessons away from Giving Day. Our Pre-Prep students made a group decision to donate their gold coins on the day to the Scholarship Fund for bursaries, in their words, ‘to help girls learn’. Here, they made a decision based on the impact they wanted their collective dollar to have at their school – future philanthropists in the making!

References

Apex Leadership 2020, What Children Learn from Fundraising, Apex Leadership Co, viewed 3 June 2022, https://apexleadershipco.com/ blog/what-children-learn-from-fundraising