STEWARDSHIP SUPPORTING DONORS’ LIFE-LONG JOURNEY

Lara Firth from Bolton School and Erin Charles from The Perse School explain how they steward their respective school communities and share their top tips for conveying those two all-important words, thank you!

Celebrating the impact of philanthropy

November 2022 saw the launch of a new initiative for IDPE, the IDPE 2022 Celebration of Giving. The aim of this week was both to share and celebrate the impact of schools’ philanthropy and engagement on the lives of young people and to thank school communities for their generosity.

Bolton School

In response to the abolition of the assisted places scheme, Bolton’s bursary fund was formally established in 1997, enabling the school to replace the numbers of assisted place recipients during the past quartercentury in a manageable and sustainable way. £3 million is spent annually on bursaries, supporting one in five pupils across the two senior schools, which equates to around 350 pupils each year.

The Perse School

From 1945-1976, The Perse School was a direct grant school, offering free places to around one third of its pupils, and also participated in the assisted places scheme. Like Bolton, The Perse established a bursary fund following the end to this scheme. The bursary fund provides the opportunity for young people – who would not otherwise be able to attend the school – to realise their full potential. Over £1 million is spent annually on bursaries, with over 70 recipients this year.

In both schools, the majority of donations come from alumni, particularly former direct grant recipients who want to support bursaries, knowing first-hand the difference this can make.

Fundraising is not transactional

If someone has given you a donation of any value, it is important to say thank you. However, whilst every donation must be acknowledged, it is also important to recognise that fundraising is not transactional, it is about building relationships. A donor, or potential donor, will likely be an ‘alum’, a parent or a member of staff with a life-long connection to your school. It is therefore important to consider how you develop and foster a life-time relationship with them.

Not every member of your community will want to, or potentially be able to, give now. Therefore, consistently sharing the impact of your school’s philanthropy with your community – in the annual magazine, the monthly newsletter and at reunion events – and outlining how support may be given is in itself a form of stewardship, cultivating future donors.

Laura says:

‘In Bolton School, all our major donors are repeat donors. There are very few people whose first gift is their biggest gift. Many were regular donors for a long-time before they pledged a larger gift, or they may purely have given their time initially.

I could rush the ask of those who I know from my prospect research have the potential to give on a larger scale, but instead, I steward them as if they are a major donor, because I am certain that they will give to their absolute full capacity when the time is right.’

Motivation matters

Every donor is unique, and as such their reasons for giving will differ. These could range from the feelgood factor of doing something kind for someone else, to a wish to have their own contribution etched in the school’s history by establishing a bursary fund in their name or to commemorate a former teacher who made a difference to them. Understanding a donor’s motivation to give, their interests, their values, will not only inform what projects they are most likely to give to, but also how you steward them.

The personal touch

In the corporate sector, there has been a move towards more personalised marketing, from the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign featuring labels with first names, to the personalised adverts on Facebook featuring the exact products you were looking at earlier that day. In a world where we are inundated by e-mails, our social media is swamped by ads and day-today life is constantly interrupted by advertising, the personal touch is valued.