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As counterintuitive as it may seem, successful fundraising doesn’t begin with mastering the “ask.” Acknowledging the work of Simon Sinek, at the nucleus of any successful program is the school’s “why.” Donors are certain of one incontrovertible fact; they need to believe in your purpose. They’re not sharing their resources with any entity that is at cross-purposes with their core beliefs. So, before you begin to think about increasing your school’s philanthropic income stream, ask these simple questions. Why does your school exist? What is the driving purpose of your school? Then, if you walked out of your office and asked the first ten parents, faculty or staff to tell you the school’s why, how many different answers would you get? Further, if you asked the Board and Leadership Team to list the three things you’re working on this year, the three big things that cement and advance the purpose, could they do it? Step one in a better fundraising program is the unity of your why, your purpose, and your high-level goals.
After you’ve built your why into something solid, something universally known, and have three concrete ways to improve it during the year, you’re ready to begin to attack the how of better fundraising. Does every piece of your messaging stand the test that it strongly supports your why? All emails, your website, your blogs, your speeches, teacher’s lesson; do they all shout that they’re in line with your why? Are you fundraising informational software integrated with your student information system? Is your ability to reach your constituents kept up to date weekly? Is your Development staff properly trained and totally in sync with the school? Are all of your campaigns, within the overall annual fund campaign, calendarized? That is, do you know when you’ll go after donations from present parents, past parents, Board members, grandparents, past Board members and friends? Are the many thank you processes ready to go when gifts arrive? Finally, are you ready to collect items for your Annual Report as the year occurs? It’s so infinitely important that you send a virtual Annual Report out as the school year ends to assure your donors that their gifts were widely used and the stage is set for next year’s campaign.
A final note. We’re in an unprecedented time now. In the next few months, you need to prepare to explode your philanthropic efforts to cover the upcoming rise in financial aid grants that will come your way. The private school sector cannot merely let families go away due to financial crises without a fight. The children are too important for that to happen. Be prepared to care for some families like never before with better fundraising.
