Raising Funds for your Schools

Raising Funds for Your School: a comprehensive guide by Nick Ryan, is as its subtitle suggests, is a fully comprehensive manual designed to help all schools, no matter what level of fundraising they are engaged in or how much past experience they may have, to raise their game and maximise their fundraising returns from the resources available to them. 

Directed mainly at head teachers, school business managers and other staff, as well as volunteers wishing to raise significant support, the guide begins with the preliminary, essential, requirements for establishing a successful fundraising programme - assessment of the available resources, establishment of a fundraising ‘culture’ and an agreement on priority needs – before turning to an overview of the different options for raising support. Different sources of funding are analysed in detail, with guidance given on how to access them, and how, when and by whom approaches should be made to funders. 

Central to the book is a ‘how to’ compendium of 15 different fundraising opportunities and methods – from major donor, trust and statutory and company fundraising, through sponsorship, recycling and text giving to legacies and cause related marketing, each of which is described clearly and practically. Some users will treat this central section as a stand-alone treasure chest of ideas.           

While readily accessible, Raising Funds for Your School is informed by advanced fundraising theory and such topics as donor motivations, the art of persuasion, and the management of fundraising when things don’t go quite to plan are all clearly described. Establishing and communicating a clear Case for Support and nurturing and cultivating donors and supporters over the long term are seen as absolute essentials, no matter how small or large the financial need. The book is completed by a Resources section signposting useful websites and literature. 

Raising Funds for Your School shows that well-planned fundraising can offer many benefits to the school other than the purely financial. The chance for staff and pupils alike to develop a plethora of new skills and an increased level of engagement, and the opportunity to integrate the school more closely with its community, are all added bonuses. 

Above all, at a time when the vast majority of schools are having to make cuts because their funding situation is ‘critical’ or ‘very serious’, this book will provide teachers, governors, parents and other school supporters with a practical toolkit to develop and expand an additional income stream and harness wide-ranging support. 

We'd love some RSA Fellows to review the book before it is launched officially. To access a review copy, please contact Robert Pike: [email protected] 

About the Author

Nick Ryan is a development professional with a broad range of fundraising experience in both the charity and education sectors, having raised tens of millions of pounds of non-statutory funds and hundreds of millions of pounds of statutory income for good causes.  

The founder and director of organisational development consultancy Vantage Fundraising, Nick was also instrumental in founding Schools Funding Network which enables educational establishments to fundraise for any project, large or small, and to interact with major donors, charitable trusts, foundations, parents and other potential funders. The service, which Nick still runs on behalf of the charity The Funding Exchange, presently involves hundreds of schools and major donors across England and Wales.