Consultancy: How a Head took his first steps into fundraising

Nigel, a Headteacher, had been approached by an alumnus offering to fund a salaried position with a remit to increase access, as well as bursary places, to less well off families in the local community.

The issue was not only that there was no capacity within the senior leadership team to respond to the opportunity, develop the strategy and instigate the recruitment campaign, but that fundraising was uncharted territory for the school.

I helped Nigel understand what skills and expertise were critical for the appointment to be a success, and together we developed the recruitment process. I provided the recruitment material and played a hands-on role in the recruitment so that Nigel could spend time stewarding the potential donor.

As a result, the donor signed up to fund the new appointment for the first five years of this brand new partnerships and development initiative.

After the appointment was made, I provided coaching and mentoring to the new Partnerships and Development Officer, who had the right qualities and attributes but very little experience in fundraising.

My coaching and development programme meant that the new Partnerships and Development Officer:

• settled quickly into the role
• felt confident to apply tried and tested practice from the start
• made immediate positive strides in the fundraising and partnerships initiative.