Advancement for Independent Schools as PART of the community

In the last couple of days, in two of our classes, we have been looking at fundraising in independent schools. This topic is hugely important, in that the tuition charged in most independent schools does not cover the cost of one child's education. The gap is filled in with income from the school's endowment and the endowment spending policy set by the board (if they have one) and funds raised outside of tuition, like in an annual fund.

Development offices in schools, which are increasingly called advancement offices, exist to further and (at least) sustain the work of the school. What was revealed in our discussions is that my experience in which the development office is something apart from the rest of the school is more common than not. Often, teachers and even academic administrators are unaware and sometimes suspicious about the work that goes on in this area of the school.

I remember a moment when a member of the development office tried to communicate his work in a short presentation during a faculty meeting. Good idea, right? In theory, I think this sharing is good. But in this case, it was really poorly executed. The individual tried to leverage humor to help the faculty understand his work and said something about working to "relieve wealthy people of their wallets". That is all I remember from his talk and it left me feeling, as most teachers do, that development is a disingenuous-- if necessary --evil of the institution.

Our discussions over the last couple of days has allowed me to imagine this work in another way. People who do this work create opportunities for people to understand their ability to do great things with their wealth. Instead of the sense that wealthy people need to get tricked or unnecessarily flattered into giving, we can see this work as creating opportunities for people t make a difference with their money. This is a much more positive frame for me-- it is a shift from ugly to good.

The purpose of the advancement office is to fulfill the mission of the school. The purpose of the program (classes, sports, arts, etc. . .) is to fulfill the mission of the school. Parents are devoted to and committed to fulfilling the mission of the school (for their kids). As we move forward it is so important that we all continue to recognize the shared purpose.

(Image from www.nomad4ever.com)