State School fundraiser position

[wildfellhall]

When we give money to a state school on a regular basis is there any way we can see what percentage of that gift goes towards the salaried position of the fundraiser and what is actually spent on supplementing school income where it increasingly falls short?

Or is that the wrong question?

I understand the need to raise money as schools do not have enough but equally I am wondering where that money I might give actually goes.

Maybe there is a confidential element? I'm just a bit confused about what might be a legitimate question.

I’ve never heard of a state school with a salaried in house fundraiser; is it usual?

My first thought was that if this was a charity, for example if the fundraiser was employed by a PTA set up as a separate charity in aid of the school, then you can look up the accounts.

Not sure otherwise.

I've never heard of a paid fundraiser at a school. Surely they must be raising hundreds of thousands? In which case it will be obvious where the money is spent.

Is this post liked to the PTA? Or school Foundation? Are there meetings you can attend to ask? Or ask the Burser or Finance Manager. Your question is very legitimate.

Doesnt sound like any state school I've heard of, ours did specific fundraisers to specific charities Children in Need, Save the Children, Comic Relief.

Easter Fayre profits went to pay for Summer term trips
Christmas Fayre profits went to the library for new books and play ground for new play equipment.
Summer fayre profits went to the child run school council to be spent on items with their input.

@wildfellhall sounds like you need to get involved as a Parent Governor or on the PTA to find out what you want.

I’d agree with Pp this information will be available through pta/ ppg. They don’t tend to fundraise for specific things in our school. Just build up a balance which is then spent on a number of things through the year.

Just adding the the voices of people who haven't heard of a fundraiser position for a state school!

You could do an FOI to seek that information if the school isn't providing it?

Or is the fundraiser employed by a charity supporting the school? If so you could look up the charity accounts.

Why would they be raising hundreds of thousands?

To justify their salary? A FT fundraiser would be at least £35k a year. Could be much more. They may not be FT obviously, but it’s a skilled job and costs accordingly.

Ah I see what you mean

Years ago our DDs state grammar employed a fund raiser for a necessary rebuild of part of the school. He was very slimes, came on too strong and put us all off from donating.

There's probably some helpful information here too @wildfellhall https://www.fundraisingregulator.org.uk/code

I think it comes under 'development' I've just messaged a friend who understands it and she's going to break it down for me!

@wildfellhall what sort of state school are you asking about? Is it ...
a) An Academy or
b) an LA Maintained school or
c) a voluntary aided faith school?
d) a foundation school?
or something else?

It's partially relevant because, for example, academy financial statements are published online (though probably not to the level of detail you want) and voluntary aided schools are obliged to contribute 10% towards capital maintenance costs.

Also, is it academically selective (i.e. a grammar school) or not? In my experience grammar schools seem to have higher expectations of donations than non-selective schools.

What is the job title of the "fundraiser" you refer to? If it is something like 'Business Manager' it is likely that their only involvement in fundraising is accepting the money from the PTA when offered, or administering the school fund, and they will do an awful lot more besides that, including line managing the admin staff.

If the job title is "business development" it probably includes raising money through administering lettings of school premises.

I'm a governor of an academy that has a voluntary school fund and a PTA. None of those funds go towards anybody's salary or cover anything that the school is obliged to provide. They only go on "nice to have" extras like supplementing school trips, buying playground equipment, or extra sport or music equipment, or books for the library. It would be a very unwise governing body that allowed fickle voluntary donations to cover anything more than that (though I do know of at least one grammar school head who came unstuck for supplementing staff salaries with voluntary funds a few years ago).

I am another who has never come across a salaried fundraiser at a state school.

I am a full-time salaried fundraiser at a small charity. I’m expected to raise four to five times my salary every year. The vast majority of the income I raise is restricted to specific projects benefiting the charity’s service users. Donors can specify what they want their donation to be put towards (or not put towards!).

It's an academy, non selective and the role is called development and is part time

When you say "the role is called development", that sounds like a strange title for a role. Do you perhaps mean the job title is something like
"Development Officer"
"Development Manager"
"Business Development Coordinator"
"School Business Development Manager"

In our academy school we have a "School Business Manager (SBM)" which is a common title for someone who manages all the admin and finance functions. It's a senior role.

A quick google suggests "Development Manager" is a fundraising role in some private schools, so perhaps it has migrated into some academies too.