1J: Fundraising for School Leaders | HMC Autumn Conference 2023

Workshop synopsis:

The cost-of-living crisis, the legacy of the Covid pandemic and the current political uncertainty, mean that many schools are having to make difficult decisions about prioritisation with already stretched budgets. This discursive session will explore how meaningful community engagement can generate support and income to advance a school’s strategic objectives, and the integral role school leaders play in setting up and evolving effective fundraising and engagement programmes.

About Louise Bennett:

Lou is CEO of the Institute of Development Professionals in Education (IDPE), which supports schools to develop successful fundraising and engagement programmes, through providing training, guidance, support, benchmarking and partnership work across the schools’ sector.   

Lou has over 20 years’ experience of working across fundraising disciplines, and has previously held senior fundraising roles at The Stroke Association and Shelter Cymru. Lou has also volunteered for a number of organisations, from being Chair of Trustees for Cardiff Women’s Aid to being a Board member for the Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and more recently, supporting the PTA at her children’s primary school.   

Lou is passionate about fundraising, and as such has found herself hiking across Iceland, running a marathon and cycling from Cardiff to Dublin, to raise money for good causes.  

About Simon Jones:

Simon Jones is the Director of Development at The Manchester Grammar School (MGS). He was educated at MGS, Exeter, and Bordeaux Universities, before completing his MBA at the University of Leicester School of Management. 

After an academic career teaching geography, Simon has led the Development Office at MGS since 2010, overseeing the school’s quincenteenary celebrations in 2015 and the Next 500 and Bursary Now appeals. 2023 is the 25th anniversary of bursary fundraising at MGS. The school raised a bursary fund entirely from philanthropic support worth over £30 million and spent a further £30 million to provide means-tested bursaries to over 700 boys.  

Simon, who is a Trustee of IDPE and the Bursary Foundation, is a regular speaker at development and alumni relations conferences around the world.