Janet Stump, MA, CFRE, Director of Development and Public Relations, ACSI
There has never been a more crucial time for your school to cultivate friends and funds that will provide financial, volunteer, and prayer support for its Christ-centered mission. In our global and highly technological world, change rapidly follows change. Thus, school leaders must proactively plan to sustain and strengthen their school’s support base to effectively prepare future generations of Christlike thinkers in this vortex of change.
There has never been a better opportunity to fund your program through the faithful support of lifelong friends. Giving USA, an annual yearbook on philanthropy, reported that U.S. charities received over $260 billion in 2005. (Blum 2005). There are abundant resources to support your school’s vital mission. However, you must strategically develop these resources because it is increasingly difficult to fund schools through tuition revenue alone. At the core of any highly effective program is a qualified and tenured faculty, which requires a steadily growing revenue stream.
Current philanthropic trends demonstrate that twentyfirst-century donors desire a reciprocal relationship with the organizations they support. They want to invest their time and expertise along with their contribution. They also require accountability and look for the return on their investment. While such donor involvement may seem intrusive, if it is balanced and constrained within your mission objectives, your school can gain immeasurable strength as a result.
In the beginning of a fund development program, you will most likely find support for your mission from your current school families, their extended families, recent alumni parents, and eventually the alumni themselves. Grateful recipients of effective Christian schooling are the ones who lead the way in joy-filled giving. As you retain school families from year to year and as students who reflect your intended outcomes graduate, generous support will flow from their gratitude. Thus, recruiting and retaining mission-appropriate students and families is almost a prerequisite to attaining sustainable charitable support. Relationships nurtured through a mature admissions process will form the foundation for a sustainable and growing resource base.
Generally, it is counterproductive to think that foundations, corporations, churches, and community leaders will support our programs when those who are directly experiencing the impact of the school’s mission are not contributing. In time, local foundations and community leaders will fund programs that bring strategic value to the community, but gifts usually follow demonstrated internal support. Strategic fund development begins by identifying and cultivating key internal relationships: past and present school families, students, grandparents, faculty, staff members, and board members. And those relationships will reflect the health and effectiveness of the school.
A growing cadre of engaged donors gain motivation by a visionary mission, not by perpetual need. You must value and protect your mission distinctives. Our meaning-rich communities provide ballast in a culture bereft of meaning. When Christian educators articulate the importance of their mission and the potential for service to our world and to God’s kingdom, gathering friends and funds is a natural by-product.
To fulfill your mission, you start with God’s vision for your students and the programs you offer and move your students to that end. Relationship building should not wait until your service delivery is “perfect.” However, you must actively address weaknesses and build on strengths so that student retention remains strong and relationships with your school are healthy. Fund development works synergistically with mission-driven systems and programs.
There has never been a better time to realistically assess the challenges and opportunities and to confidently seek friends and funds to establish your school as a vital resource for a rapidly changing world.
Blum, Debra E. 2005, Giving Ticks Upward: Donations to Charities Rose by 2.3% in 2004, Chronicle of Philanthropy
Friends & Funds—Strengthen Your School