The need to generate funds effectively has become greater than ever, argues Adapta Consulting’s Mark Dendy

For decades, independent schools have needed fundraising teams doing ‘development’ work and have used computer-based tools to support this. Schools already use a wide range of digital communcication channels, including websites and email, to support fundraising efforts. Some employ these tools more effectively than others. However, if the systems are too disparate, then the school is unlikely to be getting the most from its investment in digital and data solutions. Digital transformation can provide modern fundraising platforms with significant benefits.

Data

Consolidating data from separate, unconnected systems allows schools to analyse and predict trends accurately. A significant change is this: while pupils have had smartphones for years, you can now expect that their parents do too. This fundamentally changes how they want to receive communications. Email, I’m afraid to say, is now only the channel of formality – replacing the dreaded ‘letter home’ with the equally dreaded ‘email of doom’. Beyond notifying parents that little Johnny has once again fallen short at exam time (or worse), email has increasingly become marginal.

General information is better delivered via websites, while standing or sensitive information can be made accessible through portals, ensuring it’s seen only by the intended audience. Sure, an email might still signpost parents to reports or pupil welfare updates, but it could just as easily be an SMS or WhatsApp message.

And then there’s the data still sitting in drawers – on actual pieces of paper. Yes, it’s still data, but it’s data you can’t use without a significant investment in manual effort (and salaries). Time is money. If changing something won’t save time or lead to better outcomes, why bother doing it? If it will, how soon do we start?

Technology

You’ve probably been using different technologies for various school business purposes for many years – even the clever tech in your classrooms counts. That’s not just a TV; it’s a wirelessly connected part of the school’s IT infrastructure. You know this because when it stops working, you end up calling the clever AV person from the IT department. The reality is, all hardware eventually fails, and similarly, all software applications are eventually replaced.

A quick reminder – a finance application used to have a usable life of about seven years from the mid-90s to the mid-2010s. That was from when you started using it, at great cost, to when you finally moved to something more modern and user-friendly. The same goes for all sorts of applications that you may have first met when they hid on MS-DOS in the 90s, then became visible through Windows, and then were hosted by someone on your behalf (what do you use that old server room for now?). Either way, today’s applications still serve the same function for the school but they live elsewhere and so does their data. This could be a reassurance or a headache depending on circumstances.

In future, all data will inevitably be up there in the Cloud, which will shift your school’s focus from installing and supporting software to choosing the right software and using information to its full potential. That’s a challenge you will need help to surmount but the benefits are massive.

By moving to Cloud (by which we generally mean the use of software-as-a-service or software applications which are managed and hosted by a third party and, generally, accessed via a web browser), and by using these new tools to consolidate data and improve data quality, you will have taken the first step on a digital transformation journey. The Cloud is reassuringly, almost boringly, reliable as a place to use technology and store data, and upgrades and updates are easier than ever to apply and roll out. So you don’t need to upgrade to new versions, pay for hardware or worry that the overnight backups haven’t been done since Mr Jones left two years ago.

Digital transformation gives insights

Adapta Consulting works with organisations that are rushing to adopt new technologies so they can predict their future based on past activity. For this the data has to be in one place and tended like an ornamental garden, rather than the rewilding project that might be great in your grounds but has no place in your offices. This data transformation often sounds more complex than it really is, as vendors make use of jargon and phrases like “data lake” and “data analytics”, but the reality is that you don’t need to understand what happens, just what becomes possible.

Think of a future where a pupil leaves, becomes an ambassador, morphs into a donor and returns as a parent, but only ever has one entity (record) within your systems. Imagine the ease with which your reunion for the leavers of 2024 will be put together, along with the messaging about that year’s theme and the good works you’re hoping to fund. The power of checking if someone is still interested in particular topics if you’re arranging a dinner for people you haven’t seen in years. All in one place. Gently fed and weeded over time by development staff. Nothing lost, many insights gained. Many schools’ data is probably more akin to coal than diamonds, yet fundraisers can do more with diamonds – digital transformation is the heat and pressure needed to make that change.

A word about people

This is all well and good, I hear you say. But the development team is doing very nicely with the technology already in place, so why change? In addition to the ideas above for better use of data, you will probably also face occasional changes of staff. If someone leaves or retires, the obvious place to look for a replacement is people already doing development/alumni work. And if you’re using old and inefficient technology you will not be able to persuade someone to take a role with you, especially if they’ve just spent years using something efficient and effective in helping them hit their targets. They may even have been through the upheaval of moving from old to new and don’t really want to do that again just now. In short, you have just reduced your talent pool at a time when a new hire should be giving you ideas and energy. It’s certainly worth adding to the list of considerations when contemplating whether to stick or change.

Artificial Intelligence will matter

Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept. It’s already embedded in daily operations and will only grow more influential. Taking control now ensures your school uses AI strategically and responsibly.

The days of considering machine learning (a subset of AI, using algorithms that learn from data to make predictions and imitate human behavour) as something you don’t need to worry about are long gone. Most people are already using it on a daily basis, knowingly or not, and AI is going to become more pervasive. So you need to grasp the nettle and take control of how it will help your school in the future. You could just shrug and accept the inevitable, of course, but this will make you and your school’s vast data repositories the proverbial hostage to fortune. Much better to adopt systems and technologies over which you hold control and implement your AI for strict purposes with regular reviews.

As we come closer to the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, please do consider the value of the information your school holds and what it could do for you if you organise it well and use it to the full. This is no longer simply about pushing messages to parents, staff and supporters, it’s about building valuable relationships that allow your school to continue delivering an excellent education. Your pupils get the best and your school should be operating at its best to maintain this.

A good place to start with digital transformation is to is to take stock and think about the vision for technology in your school. There are many ways of doing this, however external facilitation can bring new insights, ideas and opportunities quickly, and can help you to agree an approach that will catapult your organisation into the future.

Mark Dendy is a senior consultant at business management firm Adapta Consulting

Mark Dendy