10 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY

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CELEBRATING YOUR SCHOOL

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Whether this is your school’s 10th or 200th anniversary, getting a great result from

this important milestone should not be left to chance. Many schools enthusiastically

celebrate their anniversaries and, in doing so, attract funds from the community for key projects.

Detailed planning is crucial and must be conducted as soon as possible. The plan should

clarify the important aspects of the anniversary and identify the relevant stakeholders required for

a memorable and prosperous event. It should also consider characteristics such as the size of the

school, the number of former students, and the resources available to organise events.

AskRIGHT consultants have more than 200 years of collective

experience raising funds for non-profit organisations throughout

Australia & New Zealand, which includes

the guiding of hundreds of schools

towards fundraising success.

Here are our top 10 Tips for a

successful school anniversary.

THESE 10 TIPS WILL HELP THOSE

WHO HAVE LOST FACILITIES IN THE

DEVASTATING AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES.

You may have heard of the 6 P’s: Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance. In

other words, the earlier you start the better. Get the fundamentals right by using a checklist:

Which entity is having the anniversary? (Consider any amalgamations, changes of name or

campuses, etc.)

Is the anniversary important enough to celebrate?

Is the community keen to mark the anniversary?

Will events be confined to a brief period, a term, a semester? Or, will they flow

throughout the whole year?

Are the key leaders united in their support for what is proposed?

Is the purpose clear and the outcomes sought agreed upon?

Is there a fundraising component and, if so, is the project in keeping with the importance

of the anniversary?

Will proposed new events fit within the school diary?

Will the enhancement of regular events be supported by present stakeholders?

While completing the checklist, perhaps more questions arise than answers, but, through different

discussions and collaborations, the answers will come – this is normal. Be sure to:

Establish a decision-making group of key people within the school community

Choose an anniversary title and logo and use them consistently

Gain perspective on community perceptions of the school and suggestions for how the

school can be improved – focus groups can be an effective way to do this

The primary purpose of the anniversary is often to celebrate the school’s history, achievements,

and past and present custodians; fundraising is secondary, but, if fundraising through such an event

is an important objective for your school, ensure that it is discussed, planned, and budgeted for.

1. PLAN EARLY AND CLEARLY

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2. CREATE INTEREST Is your community eagerly awaiting the commemoration of this anniversary? Probably not.

You might have a few who are interested, and even a few who are keen to be involved, but it will

be better to presume nothing and to understand that the anniversary will be a reflection of your

school. What does your school’s image look like? What does your school’s energy feel like? Your

school should be worth celebrating.

You can’t plan at the pace of your community – you must be well ahead of it to plan,

arrange, and commit long before the public recognises the importance of your anniversary.

You need the support of the School Principal (or Board Chair, if the Principal is expected to

leave before the anniversary), a working committee, and, eventually, a staff person or persons to

co-ordinate the work of many others.

It is important to start early and build or enhance your database of contactable addresses,

so that as many people as possible can be involved in the celebrations.

REMEMBER This is a marathon, not a sprint

3. BUILD THE COMMITTEE, THE PLAN, AND THE BUDGET

Establish an Anniversary Committee with an Anniversary Committee Chair (ACC), who is

ideally a member of the school’s executive team appointed by the Principal and who has overall

responsibility for the anniversary celebrations. The ACC must have a clear line of communication

with the Principal at all times and with all members of the Anniversary Committee responsible for

the specific components of the anniversary.

Depending on the size of the school, the nature of the anniversary, and the workload of the

ACC, the ACC may decide to appoint an Anniversary Co-ordinator (AC) to undertake agreed

tasks on their behalf, including the coordination of events and their committees and to assist with

event management as required. The AC could be an internal individual with the necessary capacity

for the period of time required, or an external individual; some schools have involved skilled and

able volunteers while others have seen the need for a professional events manager. Both the ACC

and AC should be transparent, approachable, communicative, and model the energy the school

wants to exude.

The anniversary will cost money, so a budget – which considers expenses, such as events,

communications, and additional staffing resources – needs to be set.

If fundraising is an important objective of your school’s anniversary celebrations,

discussions with the development office must be carried out during the planning stage to ensure

that the advancement team are adequately resourced to carry out the tasks that will be required of

them. It may be necessary to enlist external help for a review of the development office to assess

readiness for an increase in fundraising activity.

If fundraising is to be conducted in conjunction with the anniversary, the fundraising

must be managed by a designated fundraising team. Further, the fundraising team must coordinate

with the team responsible for the anniversary to ensure all events are scheduled sensibly and work

together towards the overall good of the school.

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4. ESTABLISH A CLEAR AND CONCISE FUNDRAISING PLAN If your school already has fundraising capability through the development office,

consider early in the planning process what fundraising methodologies would be best suited to the

anniversary celebrations. The fundraising plan may include programs such as an Annual Appeal, a

Giving Day or Giving weekend, Gift in Wills, Major Gifts, and special events. It is important to

protect the integrity of fundraising programmes already established within the School, and therefore

not to add programs that will conflict, or confuse, established donors.

If your school does not have the desired fundraising capability, seek

support. AskRIGHT can provide an in-depth analysis of your school’s positioning to provide the

feedback necessary to determine the best fundraising strategy for your school.

If your school will be conducting fundraising in conjunction with the anniversary, there are

several options available to you; you could complete the fundraising and announce the success at

the anniversary’s main event, use the anniversary year for the quiet, high value stage of the campaign

to take advantage of increasing engagement during the special year, or develop another option.

There are many possibilities and most depend upon conditions specific to your school. The

key is to develop the fundraising campaign plan while planning the anniversary celebrations.

Consider any past successful fundraising events or programs, which you can brand for the

anniversary, and, if introducing new events or programs, ensure they are likely to raise sufficient

funds to justify the time and cost involved.

5. START FUNDRAISING Once the fundraising plan is endorsed, start fundraising. If your school hasn’t been active in

past fundraising efforts, start small. It is a great feeling to achieve the fundraising targets – even if

modest – and success can be a powerful encouragement as you focus on larger fundraising targets in

future.

Positive stories about the school, which remind the community of past achievements, can be

the catalyst for the school community to work together for the betterment of the school once

again.

If your school is well established, has plans to build a multi-million dollar facility, and decides

to use an anniversary celebration as a focus for the fundraising, a comprehensive fundraising

feasibility study is, as always, highly recommended. The anniversary can help galvanise the

community and the need for the new facility, with the fundraising events assisting in celebrating the

anniversary.

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services for not-for-profit organisations of all sizes

and sectors throughout Australia & New Zealand.

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6. FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP, TEAMWORK, AND PROCESS The leadership of the Principal, Senior, and Corporate Executive (and other leaders) is

paramount. For the anniversary to be a success, the Principal needs to enthusiastically affirm the

overall celebrations and all that combines to give it life. The ACC and AC, and all those leading

aspects of the arrangements, must similarly be committed to the overall success of the anniversary

celebrations.

The team approach is key. As the person responsible for fundraising (or anything else), you

will have your priorities and the outcomes you are responsible for – and your team of staff and/or

volunteers will be working to ensure success. If team members feel valued, respected, and listened

to, the power of the team is very strong. Further, if team members are having fun and feeling

energised, this feeling is contagious and will permeate throughout the fabric of the fundraising

efforts. The buzz that this creates is noticeable and flows into the success of the anniversary

celebrations.

Anniversaries are an opportunity to tell many people (groups) how valued they

are and that their service and efforts are very much appreciated. Do not overlook

groups such as your Founders (and their descendants), former School Captains, former Board

Members, and past staff. Often, you will find that these people treasured their time at

the school and it holds a very special place in their hearts. By bringing these groups together to

enlist their pride for the school and to acknowledge their contributions, the outcomes from such

encounters are always positive. Seeking their advice on the future of your school demonstrates that

you genuinely want their feedback and often, in doing so, you will receive some important

information.

If you don’t already have former staff activities, an anniversary is a good time to start. A

celebratory lunch for all former staff – or widows and children of – is a great idea. You might not

know where many are, but if you promote it early enough, word will get around. After the

anniversary, continue with a quarterly lunch and don’t forget to mention the school’s gifts-in-

will (bequests) promotion. A surprising number of former staff leave bequests to the school at

which they worked.

7. COMMUNICATION IS KEY The Principal, Director of Advancement (or equivalent), Head of Marketing and

Communications (or equivalent), the Anniversary Committee Chair, and the Anniversary

Coordinator need to be part of the team planning the communications strategy. This group need to

be comfortable with the strategy to be adopted and enacted. The plan should be in writing with

detailed information regarding who will do what and at what stage. When it comes to important

anniversaries and communications, there can be no assumptions. Detailed written

responsibilities for each person and action will ensure success. A key element to a

successful communication strategy is to give people plenty of notice of upcoming events. Save the

date messages can be important to achieve this, utilising a range of social media channels.

The Principal can help the anniversary celebrations be a success by ensuring early and careful

planning, that someone is responsible for the overall running of the anniversary, and by

communicating successfully to the whole community that the celebration of this anniversary is a

priority for them and the school. This communications task will involve using all available

communication channels and will require communications about the anniversary before, during, and

after the celebrations and all activities associated with them.

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8. BALANCE MATTERS

It is common to consider enhanced staffing to enable the successful running of a

comprehensive or capital fundraising campaign. If this is done, consider carefully the impact this has

on other staff in associated areas of work. Staff responsible for Marketing and Communications and

Alumni relations may feel they also need additional staff to cope with work linked to the anniversary

or campaign. Fundraising becomes more successful when properly resourced, but consider carefully

the ongoing workload of the whole team. Otherwise, burnout, frustration, and a feeling of

helplessness can result. Staff morale really matters. Long term philanthropy and fundraising success

depends on the overall resourcing of the whole advancement team – balance matters.

REMEMBER It’s not all about the money

9. CONSIDER THE LEGACY OF THE ANNIVERSARY YEAR What will be the enduring reminder of the anniversary? A Centenary Hall (or similar), a

scholarship endowment to widen access to the school, a philanthropic foundation to undertake

future fundraising, or a commitment to resourcing special needs education? Choose early the

legacy you want the anniversary to exemplify. This needs to be addressed in the planning stage.

Consider specific actions or initiatives that can be announced as part of the anniversary

celebrations that will make a difference to your school’s capacity and reputation. Keep this

question in mind: How can we link our school to more of the people that we want involved

with us, be it for their advice, profile, or financial support? There are numerous ways to

undertake this. For example, you could announce the setting up of an annual ‘visitors day’ when

chosen people are invited back to tour the school, meet with the Principal and Chair of Board of

Governors for a discussion on a matter of school strategy, be given a meal, a brief concert, and so

on. Another option could be setting up an annual award to honour a past student who has made a

real contribution to the wider society, or you might announce a special new scholarship to help

future students attend the school.

You might view the anniversary as a start to serious fundraising, for the relationships

developed during the celebrations can be developed as part of an ongoing major gifts program.

10. SAY THANK YOU AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN The stewardship of your supporters is imperative, so thank them whenever and wherever

there is opportunity to do so.

Celebrating an anniversary can be so many things: fun, hard work, a duty, a discovery, a

journey with unexpected twists and turns…Get creative in the ways you can thank all the people

involved in the success of the anniversary. If you wish to say thank you to your group of high-level

supporters, why not seek the help of your Board to pick up the phone and say thank you. If it is to

thank an elderly benefactor, why not make a personal visitation (and take some morning tea to

share over a cuppa).

While the fundraising effort continues with the highest possible standards of cultivation,

asking, and stewardship, some members of the school community will now view your school in a

different light. The anniversary will have helped them see your history and achievements in a new

and positive way. The better your school celebrates the anniversary, thanks supporters,

and undertakes caring, transparent, professional fundraising, the more the spirit of

philanthropy will come alive within your school – and that is an outcome worth

celebrating.

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AskRIGHT staff have worked on anniversary projects as

varied as Queensland University of Technology 10th

and Wells Cathedral School 1100th Anniversary.

For best results for your school anniversary,

contact us early.

AU 1300 758 812

NZ 0800 577 677