Income generation
Community
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Don’t have time for fundraising? Frustrated by unsuccessful bid attempts? Looking for practical ways to make income generation work in practice?
Community engagement can help you unlock additional funding. In the roundtable podcast episode Win-Win: Fundraising relationships for lasting impact, four sector leaders shared their lessons learned. We’ve drawn out 17 nuggets of advice to make the process easier in five steps:
- Focus your priorities
- Be clear about benefits and motivations
- Use tech to save time
- Build relationships
- Get started!
With thanks to contributors Justin Smith, Vicki Newsome, Matthew Smith MBE and Richard Manville.
1. Focus your priorities
Time is one of the biggest barriers to fundraising efforts, so identify your priority and stick with it.
- Use your time wisely. Only invest time and effort in projects for which you’ve got strong support and strong evidence.
- Focus on one thing. If you’ve got a major fundraising project underway, then base everything – grant applications, PTFA activities and the school production – around that. Don’t dilute your efforts.
- Make sure pupils and staff are on board. Pupil voice is key to successful grant applications, and if everybody that works for the school knows about the project you’re working on, they can spread the word and support with the fundraising.
2. Be clear about benefits and motivations
Projects are more likely to be successful when they are shaped around the beneficiaries. What’s the impact of this project? Who is it helping, and why is it needed? Why should people get involved and donate?
- Shape projects around the beneficiaries. Demonstrate how your beneficiaries (i.e. pupils) have helped configure the project and been involved from the outset. Who are the other stakeholders in their project? What do they need from it? How are they inputting into plans?
- Fine tune your argument. Why would someone support you? What would they give their time, their money or their expertise for? How can you motivate them? What are you going to give in return?
- Focus on outcomes and the impact rather than just on the money. Make your fundraising causal: focus on the benefits for the children and what you’re trying to buy, rather than just general fundraising.
3. Use tech to save time
Technology can be your friend and complete some of the legwork for you.
- Use AI to save time. Don’t use AI to write grant applications; people can see an AI written application form a mile off. Instead, input the grant-making criteria, your Ofsted report, your recent SEF and school improvement plan. Ask AI: what are the key themes or strands from this that we should focus on to have the best chance of success?
- Make friends with Canva. You can use Canva to create visuals that bring your project to life: posters, images, even videos. Get the children involved in creating media assets to show what you’re trying to achieve. Check out one of Vicki Newsome’s press releases and a video created through Canva.
- Collate your data. For more experienced income generators, look at things like NotebookLM through the Google platform to see how you can bring your data sources together, to help create more targeted campaigns for support.
4. Build relationships
As with many things in life, effective fundraising is really about building relationships with people.
- Say thank you. Create a nice thank you card – maybe the children can design it – as a means of thanking those who give to your school. Invite donors to activities and show your appreciation.
- Stay in touch. Tell donors about successes and share progress on the project. It could be through newsletters, emails, information boards in school or invites to events. Staying in touch with stakeholders makes it easier to go back for support on the next project!
- Community days are a great way to bring people into the schools. You could invite them to do specific jobs: fix a fence, clear an area or do some painting. Give them a bacon butty and cup of tea! Talk to them about the projects you’re got going on. It’s a win-win: get things done and build better relationships.
5. Get started!
You don’t have to start out with a major project. Identify quick wins to build your confidence and grow from there.
- Start small and start quickly. For example, there are platforms that give money back on e-commerce transitions; they are simple to set up and can be rolled out en masse to families and to children. Some have linked search engines, so you can earn pennies from clicks. That can start to bring in a sustainable £30-60 per week in income, which over 52 weeks of the year, has an impact.
- Think local. Is there a local supermarket in your town or village? For example, Tescos give money back through their community grants. Got a Moto Service Station within 25 miles? You can apply for a grant.
- Set up a lottery. Parents could pay £5 a month and 30% of the pot is given away as prize money every month. It’s another way to bring in regular, sustainable donations.
- Colourful fun: colour runs are easy to put on and provide a fun event that the community can get involved in. Check out Event Colour for practical support.
Lastly, be prepared to be resilient and flexible. Rejections and knock-backs will come, but it’s about how you pick yourself up, learn and move on.
What next?
Listen to the full podcast episode (41 minutes).
About the contributors
With 20 years’ experience in the education sector, Justin Smith provides specialist marketing, income generation and bid writing services through his company, Chameleon Consultancy and Training. He has secured over £7 million in additional income for schools.
Vicki Newsome is School Business Manager at Burscough Village Primary School and Nursery in Lancashire. Vicki has generated over £300,000 additional income over the last two years, for a new nursery building and community sports zone, as well as securing funding for a counsellor to work across the local schools.
A seasoned fundraiser and community champion, Matthew Smith MBE is School Business Manager at Sheringham Woodfields School in Norfolk, for pupils with complex learning and health needs. The school’s specialised therapy centre is one of his most recent fundraising achievements.
Richard Manville is Co-founder and Managing Director of Community Inspired, a social enterprise dedicated to communities, fundraising and volunteering. Through FundEd and PTA+ Richard helps schools access grants, run successful events, build recurring income and develop partnerships.
