A new school year, a new start.

Once the initial rush of the new school year settles down, we know that for many school business managers, administrators and head teachers, it signals the time to think about fundraising for the year ahead.

It’s always a good idea to set aside some time to think about or discuss with others what you want to achieve over the year. If you have a fundraising vision already, you should review it in light of any changes or developments that have occurred since you first set it.

Vision

The best place to start is to ask yourself: What’s your school’s vision?

This may be a version of your mission statement or a future state which you are working towards.

It could be something like:

‘To excel at sport’

‘To be a champion for the arts’

‘To transform community lives into healthy lives.’

Goals

Next: What do you want to achieve?

You need to break down your vision into goals. They describe the desired results of your efforts over the next year.

They will help you to begin to picture what success will look like.

If your vision is to transform community lives into healthy lives, your goals could include:

– Increasing the awareness of healthy eating among children and families

– Developing healthy cooking skills and meal budgeting for families in the community

– Developing regular physical activity habits outside of school for children.

Projects

What do you need to do to achieve your goals?

This includes the projects you need to put in place to achieve your goals and ultimately your vision.

They describe the ‘what, who, where, when, why and how’ of your efforts.

So, for a school wanting to develop regular physical activity habits for children outside of school, one of their projects may be to set up an after-school sports or play club.

Grants

How are you going to fund and support your projects?

Do you need additional income or grants to help you? If so, what costs do you need to cover? Equipment, staff time, training, volunteer costs, transport or event costs?

Answering these questions will guide your fundraising efforts. Will you apply for a grant? Will you ask for donations? Will you hold a fundraising event?

Milestones

Set yourself achievable milestones. They may be weekly, monthly or termly. Just whatever works for you and your fundraising team if you have one. This will help to keep you on track and ensure that you achieve your vision.

Good luck!