Private schools should consider now whether they need a plan to plug a potential cash shortage. Could starting a COVID-19 Hardship Fundraise Appeal help support the pupils, the parents and ultimately secure the school’s future?
Marketing Advisers (MA) offer 10 advice tips for fundraisers – see below but Contact Us NOW if you need support help to coordinate a marketing plan to fundraise.
Our previous MA News and Advice has talked about the COVID-19 challenges for schools, the digital journey transformation, paying private school fees and how schools and parents can respond now. Published reports, comment by the Independent Schools Association & Independent Schools Council, outline the very serious situation that some private schools could face the risk of closure.
Unprecedented times calls for unprecedented appeal plans
Private/independent schools may now be finding themselves in financial hardship with some parents physically not able to support the on-going fees. These are unprecedented times which call for the need to rapidly adjust and also to be creative to overcome the challenges in the short and longer term. Quite simply, for some private schools, particularly those with overseas students, it could mean survival. Therefore the fundraise should be treated as an unprecedented appeal for help.
Launching and running a Hardship Appeal campaign against a strong wind
One of the key challenges of fundraising appeals is getting the call-to-action to convert to a positive outcome (a donation). With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting everybody in some form, mostly financially, this is undoubtedly going to create a strong wind of resistance to donate at this uncertain time. Fundraisers need to be mindful of this donor self-preservation factor and seek to empathise and use creativity to overcome.
Bespoke creative communication plan
In past MA News and Advice we have commented on the persona of the target audience and the journey that they need to be taken on. For example, past pupils (Alumni) need a bespoke creative communication plan, to be taken from engagement through to a donation conversion.
Reach out to Alumni: Don’t expect one plan to work for all
There will be those pupils that have just left the school, right the way through to the senior Alumni that left 50+ years ago and all those in between. Just like targeting prospects, and reviewing ‘people personas’, these past pupils will have differing priorities, interests, disposable income and varying level of loyalty to the school.
MA Tip: ‘Personas‘, understand them – use the MA Guide to help identify and detail your target personas.
MA Advice: For a COVID-19 Hardship fundraise, get the parents, governors, teachers, Senior Leadership Team fully engaged. Also, fully involve and communicate with the Parent Teacher Association at every stage. You’ll often find that there’s a member of the school PTA who’s either trained or just naturally adept at fundraising.
Here are 10 key points to consider for getting your fundraising campaign out, read and acted on. Some of these points are blindingly obvious but surprisingly can, at times, be over looked:
COVID-19 Fundraise – 10 TIPS GUIDE (PDF) – DOWNLOAD HERE
- Set the funding goal – use the S.M.A.R.T.* framework when developing objectives (see the end of the article for details on a SMART approach).
- Segment your funding groups by criteria – parents, Alumni (by age), local community/business for example.
- Establish your marketing strategy (plan) – then align the best channels to use (like Email, Social Media… even direct mail and by phone could be an option to reach some senior Alumni).
- Engage your target audience realistically – set out to achieve a realistic donation amount from your segments.
- Creative/artwork – a crucial stage… should consider a range of informative and hard-hitting tactics. Develop the creative with your segments/personas in mind.
- The Copy & Call-to-action (CTA) – needs to empathise and be clear with use of real-life reality for emotion to ‘act now’. Take them on a campaign journey from Awareness > Consideration > Convert. Make great use of video clips. Anchor the online campaign with the use of a relevant and memorable hashtag# name.
- Frequency and Sequencing – Consider the marketing funnel, each mailing (or communication) building on the last. Use a content calendar and scheduler to plan out the campaign.
- Create online and offline donation options – use an Appeal landing page on the school website to coordinate the online activity. Link in a Just Giving donation page. Explain the need for the fundraise and make it as simple as possible for the user to donate.
- Use ‘trusted voice’ – use the headmaster or a well-known ‘influencer’ to the school community to explain why donations are seriously needed.
- Give some loyalty in return for a donation – give recognition now and for the future (for example, a roll of honour, wall plaque of the people who saved the school against COVID-19).
Top donors could make all the difference together with blue sky thinking…
Identify your known top or known ‘supporters’ for a personal one-to-one plan (by the Head/school leaders), consider what loyalty and recognition could be provided for a significant special donation?
A radical idea might be to offer ‘school bonds’ in return for funds? Make a donation of X amount to receive a specific payback reward. Which could be off-set against future fees, sponsorship of an event, guest of honour at a school event, re-name a class room in the family’s name… Or even off-set against future fees when the children’s children go to the school – a family could invest in their beloved school! Go blue sky and make it happen!
If you need marketing or creative support for a Hardship Fundraise Appeal, then Reach out and Contact us NOW to discuss how we can help.
Please do talk to us… the Marketing Advisers, now or at some point in the future to see how we can help with advice and marketing guidance for your school.
COVID-19 Fundraise – 10 TIPS GUIDE (PDF) – DOWNLOAD HERE
* Apply the S.M.A.R.T. framework when developing objectives:
- Specific – to an audience and/or activity.
- Measurable – so performance can be monitored and controlled.
- Achievable – the organisation has the resources available.
- Relevant – they are appropriate in relation to market conditions and audit findings.
- Time bound – there is a period of time within which they should be achieved (which further supports measurability).
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