How to... mind the funding gap

Ways to fund your project

We've created a handy toolkit that provides top tips on how you can fundraise for your school, enabling you to make simple changes to your learning environment which can make a huge difference to the way your students learn.

Request a copy of the Fundraising Toolkit here!

Keep an eye out for charitable grants

From building and refurbishment costs, to encouraging pupils to take up a specific subject or even raising levels of literacy and numeracy, charities have small, medium and large grants available throughout the year.

The Foyle Schools Library Programme can help you buy books and other related items for your library and if you're looking to do something a little bigger then Awards for All from the Big Lottery Fund has grants to fund projects that build stronger, healthier and more active communities.

Businesses are on hand to help

Whether you need a new and improved classroom or fresh musical instruments, businesses have a range of schemes available to help.

The annual Smarter Spaces Young Designers Competition offers pupils the opportunity to win design and decoration services to help transform their school according to their very own designs.

And if you want to bring your school to life with the sound of music then you're in luck because the EMI Music Sound Foundation offers grants for new musical instruments and training courses.

Try crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is not just a way to raise money, it also helps to raise awareness of the work you're undertaking amongst your local community. And it can be easy as three easy steps - creating a page, sharing it and getting others to pledge. From there, schools can launch their own fundraising campaign for school-based projects.

Say hello after saying goodbye

Why not keep a record of your alumni and keep them up to date with your development? Not only will this help to keep them engaged in your community, it will also provide donations. Recent research by Future First, a not-for-profit which supports schools to develop sustainable alumni communities, found that there is an untapped donation pot of at least £100 million each year from former pupils. Not bad when that equates to around £30,000 a year for every school in the country!

Explore benchmarking

Have you ever wondered how your spending compares to that of other schools? Use free benchmarking tools to compare spending patterns against other similar schools and investigate the potential reasons for variances. The Department for Education’s Consistent Financial Reporting Benchmarking and Academies Financial Benchmarking websites provide you with income and expenditure data for both maintained schools and academies.