Photos by Toby Philips Photography
SECURING
BRIGHT FUTURES
Hugo Middlemas describes the successful bursary fundraising campaign run by Christ’s Hospital in a time of unprecedented disruption and considers what school development teams can learn from challenges of the past.
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s your school exploring how its bursary programme can be funded in the face of today’s many financial pressures ave you seen levels of hardship emerge within your school community unknown for many years s it your ambition to start or extend a bursary programme in order to help Do you want to increase your school’s charitable impact and drive social mobility hether you have a evelopment function or rely on volunteer led fundraising, you will have many considerations. hat are the merits of redirecting existing fundraising activity to bursaries ow do you fit a bursary fundraising message within your existing communications ho will be most li ely to respond This article shares the experience of managing a new bursary fundraising campaign, launched four months before the pandemic but cognisant of the already worsening conditions for children from socially and economically challenging bac grounds. t the time of writing the campaign is exceeding income and participation expectations.
Challenging times – new opportunities?
While independent schools respond to the huge financial and logistical challenges brought by the pandemic, many have simultaneously needed to support families facing hardship. rom increased outreach 32 | schoolmanagementplus.com | Winter 2021
activity to hardship appeals and the provision of e uipment for home learning, schools responded swiftly and admirably in the early stages of the crisis. ome have also needed to reassess means tested bursary levels in families’ changing circumstances. t Christ’s ospital, the average means tested bursary has been increased from 83% to 86% – a significant financial impact given the bursaries in place this year. s many schools experienced with their hardship appeals in , challenging times can lead to a rallying of support from parents, alumni and others. Channelling people’s response to a threat to an institution and the children it is there to support, while avoiding panic, is familiar territory for those involved in fundraising. The s ill comes in maintaining the uplift in interest. There is no doubt that the pandemic has increased awareness and empathy for those most affected – whether families now struggling to get by or those already facing significant vulnerability. This is a time when parents, alumni and other sta eholders may appreciate the value of establishing, maintaining or extending a bursary programme. urther, the experience of home based learning will have awa ened a new level of interest amongst parents and alumni in teaching and learning and an appreciation
