School Development Blog: News on Education, Fundraising, Relationships

What’s in a Name, asks CASE?

Recently CASE President, Sue Cunningham, wrote a bulletin to all members identifying the challenges of the profession being able to use a universally accepted name for the work undertaken by an institutional Development Office. These days, CASE prefers the word ‘Advancement’ which is widely used in the USA, but has...

Does your Principal ‘feel’ Development?

It was a great pleasure in recent years, to team up with a new Headmaster, in his first headship, with him looking to me as a Development Director of some experience, to guide him in the part which he should play in Development. I was delighted that he was so...

Telephone Fundraising Campaigns Under Threat

20/07/2015
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By Ian McLean
In Development office, Fundraising, Marketing

The forthcoming summit being undertaken by the FRSB and Institute of Fundraising, investigating the sometimes aggressive practice of telephone fundraising, will have a direct impact on the campaigns run by schools and universities. It will highlight the importance of efficient data management, the need for greater compliance and confirm that taking...

Finding the School’s Unique Factor

Watching the 2015 Open Championship from St Andrews reminds me of the challenges I faced in 2001/2002 at Loretto School in Edinburgh. The small but historic boarding school needed to identify its strengths and use those in its consistent marketing messages. As Director of Development & Marketing, my establishment of the...

Having an impact on the quality of the profession

Over the past 2 years, through my involvement with schools, advising and helping recruit and appoint key Development staff, it has been rewarding to see a change in the calibre of those entering the profession. As schools began to start Development, there was a level of uncertainty about the role, the expectations...

Development: helping to reshaping school identity

It is interesting to see how schools constantly need to evolve or reshape their identity and how development must work in conjunction with the often changing direction. Over the years I have been directly involved with numerous examples of schools being aware of, and having to redefine themselves: –...

Taking Fundraising to the Next Level – Think in terms of the donor!

In some schools, the level of engagement and support from alumni, whether or not the alumni society is behind that support, is a good indication of the success or growth of a fundraising culture in the school. To take this to another level by engaging parent support for fundraising is...

The Fundraising Feasibility Study

Currently in the middle of a resource study for a school in the UK, to determine whether or not it should confidently embark on a major fundraising campaign. The study hopes to determine whether there is sufficient interest in the priority project, whether there is likely to be sufficient financial...

The Development Committee

Working with a prominent school in the South-East of England that has a development committee that has been finding its feet, although its most recent meeting saw it come to the realisation that its makeup and purpose must be clearly defined. Without appreciating the variety and mix of its members, almost...

Swiss Schools Seminar

My first visit to Geneva since my time with LAS in 2009/10: a full day facilitating a workshop/seminar for Swiss schools on Development & Alumni Relations – on the shores of beautiful Lake Leman! We combined brief presentations on fundraising best practice and most significantly ‘what works in International schools...

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