Share these talks and lectures with your colleagues
Invite colleaguesCase study
Fundraising during a pandemic: The University of Manchester’s Student Hardship Appeal
Journal of Education Advancement & Marketing,
7
(1),
86-95
(2022)
Abstract
This case study examines how The University of Manchester set about planning, launching and delivering a fundraising appeal during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to support students facing hardship. The Student Hardship Appeal mobilised teams from across the Division of Development and Alumni Relations as well as professional services and academic colleagues throughout the university. The appeal tested and embedded a number of new approaches to traditional higher education appeals, including creating a broad and inclusive project team, developing a crossinstitution communications strategy, using a campaign approach that explicitly involved major donors, putting retainable acquisition at the heart of the appeal strategy, and implementing tailored digital stewardship, in part driven by the wider lockdown landscape. The appeal was a success, raising over £1.6m, one of the highest sums of any UK university. Many of the new approaches tested during the Student Hardship Appeal have now been embedded in the division’s day-to-day fundraising activity.
Keywords: campaign; fundraising; direct mail; major gifts
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Dale Cooper is Interim Director of Development at The University of Manchester, UK. Dale has worked in higher education and education-related organisations for 15 years, holding positions with King’s College London, Queen Rania Foundation and The University of Manchester. A Master’s degree in philanthropic studies from the University of Kent has added an academic understanding to his professional experience. Dale has written on higher education fundraising for a number of publications and websites and has acted as an industry expert on various media channels and fora.
Jemma Gurr is Head of Regular Giving at The University of Manchester, UK, leading on mail, phone and digital fundraising from one of the UK’s largest alumni communities. Prior to joining the Manchester team, Jemma spent six years at the University of Sheffield where she transformed the regular giving programme through data-driven decision making and compelling multi-channel appeals. She has been co-chair of the CASE Regular Giving Conference for two years and was named in Fundraising Magazine’s ‘25 under 35’ in 2020. Outside of higher education, Jemma has held fundraising roles in the arts, the charity sector and the NHS.
