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A phone call to Carstins Subaru dealership helped bring lessons about aerodynamics to life


FundEd subscribers can read tried-and-tested advice from Howard on how to identify the best businesses to approach and what to ask for. Simply login to the website and head to funded.org.uk/partnerships.


than happy to do something with us. He brought two cars to the school – one a 4 x 4 and one a performance car – and the children were then able to examine both cars, list the key differences and understand what each car was best used for. Carstins was able to


Partnership success


Find more examples from schools of fruitful partnership schemes with local businesses


and other organisations at funded.org.uk.


display its cars to over 700 parents and staff and we were able to bring to life something that is quite difcult to understand.


Contact Pick up the phone! If you do get to speak to the right person then always follow it up with an email, conrming what you have discussed and, more importantly, what you have agreed. Set out what the next steps are and don’t forget to thank them for their time. If you do choose to just email


potential supporters then remember to include details from your research. Don’t be like everyone else who sends a standard email to every contact. The potential sponsor will know straight away and may just le it away with all the rest! Do your stakeholders need a


reminder of what you are trying to achieve? Give them regular updates and tell them when you reach key milestones. It’s all about building relationships, so get them involved.


If you haven’t done so already, contact your local Chamber of Commerce. It will know which businesses are active in the community and looking for projects. The Chamber has an education section called ‘Partners in Education’


and holds regular meetings involving both parties. There is a cost involved but I have saved


this many times over and would not have been able to achieve half of the things I have done without it.


Publicise Have you just completed a project successfully? Let everyone know! What marketing channels are you currently using and are you missing out on reaching potential support by not being on LinkedIn, for example? I use LinkedIn all the time – it’s


a great place to showcase what you have been doing and offers fantastic endorsement for your sponsors. They can put a link to the articles on their website or share the information with their networks. More and more companies are now


using Twitter too. Set up an account on your phone then use the simple app to let everyone know what you are doing. I have used this on various trips and the sponsors love it as, again, it can be easily shared. Make friends with your local


newspapers and radio station. Ask a reporter to visit your school and ask if your pupils can visit their ofces. Find out what stories they like to feature and what photographs they like to have. This will make their job easier; remember, they need to nd news to publish every week so you are doing them a favour! Online publications can have a


wide reach in the local community and can also publicise events such as galas or fairs, and, best of all, there is usually no charge. In summary: do your homework,


don’t reinvent the wheel, and don’t be put off if you only have a short amount of time. And the number one rule – expose yourself!


Coming next issue... In the spring issue of FundEd (out 25 January) Howard explains how to ‘sell’ the benefits of working with your school to local businesses.


Howard Rose is Director of Funding and Publicity at Balsall Common Primary School. He secures grants, sponsorship and support from businesses to enhance teaching and learning. In 2015 he won a Chambers of Commerce Education and Business Partnership Award.


FundEd AUTUMN 2017 39


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