Many independent and international boards think that fund raising success starts and succeeds with the advancement (development) office. International schools with no or little history of funding raising often assume that a new development hire can somehow miraculously jump start a culture of charitable giving. Due to the makeup of international school boards, these board members almost never see a major role in that effort for themselves. However, the initiative for fund raising should come from the Board and Head.

Even in the US, boards often assume that someone somehow will raise the money, not the board. Where successful capital campaigns have occurred in the US, usually 40% of the funds come from the board, the board’s extended family or corporate and foundation connections that relate back to a board member. This is not often the case in the international school realm.

Certainly, in some schools a long-term advancement officer, who is often an alum, can in fact cultivate a donor and make the call with the support of the head. More often, well-connected board members open the door to major donor prospects to enable the head and/or advancement officer or a board member to call on a major donor prospect.

If a school is just starting fund raising, the easiest initial effort is event fund raising or “friend raising”: a gala, an auction, a fair, etc. which offer fun and food and celebration to raise some money. A few of these events can raise up to $3 million a year but most net less than $300,000per year.

The second level of fund raising is the annual fund which is crucial to lay the groundwork for major donor cultivation and appeal and ultimately to a capital and endowment campaign. The annual fund, if organized properly, can raise millions each year, certainly in the US. This Consultant has worked with, and seen independent schools quickly raise annually from $300,000 a year from 40% of their families to $2.5– $3.5 million or more from 90% of the parent body.Except for boarding schools, alumni giving and participation usually stall out at about 10% to 15%.

Building a powerful team of annual giving ambassadors/advocates can generate huge outcomes if you have enough of them organized by grade levels under an overall cabinet.

The cabinet for annual giving has sections for these funds: parents, alumni, past parents,grandparents, corporates, and foundations.

The goals of annual giving initially should be to fund the development of spaces and/or programs that the school budget could not afford otherwise. There should be about five areas of funding which the parents all believe will benefit their own children in the short term, i.e. within the next 18 months. The head of school is critical because that person needs to outline the goals and sell them powerfully to the stakeholder groups. Success here creates a culture of charitable giving.

Once a culture of charitable giving exists, raising money for buildings is usually next. We are often contacted by heads and board members from international schools who want to know how to raise $50MM USD for building purposes, but the school has either no or a weak annual fund. These schools figure they can fund the building through savings and reserves, loans, a specialannual building fee and maybe some fund raising. Without a history of charitable giving from constituents, the fundraising component of a building campaign is unlikely to yield any results.

This Consultant believes that building a culture of charitable giving is possible in any country,state, province, or region and yes, even in France! People often mention that it is a particularly tough sell in French communities but in this Consultant’s opinion, that is an incorrect assumption.

The most challenging fund raising is for endowment. Most major donors feel they can make more with their own money than the school can make with their gift, and they are probably right. Endowments are mostly missing from international schools, but many US independent schools do have a sizeable endowment. What is the largest endowment of an American independent school? For Kamehameha in Hawaii, it is about $14.6 billion USD and for Milton Hersey Schoolin Pennsylvania, it is over $17 billion USD.  The last Hawaiian Queen bequeathed land to Kamehameha, and the Founder of the Hersey Chocolate Company in turn founded a School which was later named after him.

Endowment giving often comes from wills, charitable remainder trusts and the gifts of stock of someone selling their company. It also comes from foundation gifts where the foundation is connected to a school family.

To be an effective powerhouse fund raising school, these elements are needed:

1. A head who believes firmly in the goal, and is an astute fund raiser or has charisma and the capacity to become one
2. The board has major donors and “big hitters” who can jump start a major giving campaign.
3. There is first a substantial annual fund with a multiyear track record of increased giving and a growing culture of charitable giving.
4. An advancement office and an advancement director who have organizational skillscombined with the sales ability to cultivate and ultimately help solicit both major and more modest gifts
5. There is a powerful effort to turn parents from passive consumers into passionate advocates
6. A board that recognizes fund raising IS a part of its major responsibility as part of overall fiscal oversight including: budget approval, borrowing, building new spaces, setting tuition, developing profit centers, and helping management form partnerships with corporations, cultural institutions, government entities and universities