2019 NSW/ACT Chapter Conference

The 2019 Chapter Conference was a great chance to Explore, Discover, Grow and Engage! 

Over two splendidly sunny days in September, over 140 advancement professionals descended upon Pier One Sydney for a couple of days of enriching learning and professional networking. This year’s NSW/ACT Chapter Conference theme was EDGE: Explore, Discover, Grow and Engage, and the delegates did just that as they learned from experts in the advancement field. 

Topics as diverse as Capital Campaigns, Leadership Through the Lens of Shakespeare, and Getting Disruptive in the Not-for-profit Space were covered. Speakers included Leadership Mentor Mary Jo Capps, Fran Clayton of McCann Agency, and admissions expert Geordie Mitchell. 

We would like to congratulate the Award Winners for their fabulous contributions, and we invite you to watch out for Special Interest Group discussions led by Award Winners coming soon. 

Delegate feedback for the Conference included:

The conference energised me and gave me new ideas

Great speakers, entertaining, tons of knowledge exchanged, fantastic food 

Well organised, nice range of topics, beautiful location and venue

Fantastic speakers, really useful topics, beautifully organised and great location. They just keep getting better and better! 

Great speakers, great networking opportunities, great food, great venue!

This was my first conference and I come from a non-education background. I have learnt an amazing amount of information to assist and improve my day-to-day work 

Thank you to all of the delegates who attended!

Sincerely, 

The NSW/ACT Conference Committee 

We would like to thank the sponsors of the Conference for their generous support. 

President’s Report

A genuine privilege of being Chapter President is that you choose the recipient of the President’s Award – honouring the member or members who have made the most outstanding contribution to our Chapter over the last year or two.

I have been very fortunate to be supported by a great team of enthusiastic professionals on the Chapter and Conference Committees – any one of whom, would be worthy of this recognition.

The Educate Plus members I chose this time, have given sacrificially and selflessly to ensure each us has the edge we need to excel in this wonderful profession.

These two, with their quite unique yet equally effervescent personalities are passionate about their personal causes and of course educational advancement. They have my utmost respect, and the respect of everyone on the Committee – leading by example, getting things done behind the scenes without fuss, honouring the ideals we value in the independent schools’ sector.

Displaying extraordinary commitment – personal and professional sacrifice – including balancing wedding preparations, study, work and family commitments – to ensure the best possible professional development of the broader Educate Plus Chapter membership – through the amazing EDGE Sydney 2019 – Challenge Your Mind Conference.

It gave me a great deal of please to honour your Conference Co-Chairs, Lyn O’Neill and Julia Glass with this Award, as we celebrated the outstanding success of yet another memorable Chapter Conference.

David Osborne
NSW/ACT Chapter President

Thanks to our partners

The NSW / ACT Chapter of Educate Plus has once again been blessed with exceptional support from our industry partners.  The significant investment and support of these key and valued stakeholders have allowed our NSW/ACT Committee to develop and deliver another highly successful program of annual events to engage, inspire, connect and build our membership.  These events included our enriching and diverse Special Interest Group meetings, delivered in both city and regional locations, and of course our spectacular Chapter Conference on Sydney Harbour.   

As we navigate increasing disruption, dramatic technological developments, and increasing policy changes and demands, sector and industry leadership have never been more important.  Our partners continue to provide us with the counsel, services and the leadership we require to challenge, debate and define what advancement means in this exciting and new context.

Thank you to all of our partners for another terrific year of collaboration and success.  To our Conference Partners—Leonards Advertising and Digistorm—a special note of thanks from our Chapter Committee for your significant support and engagement this year.  We look forward to continuing to build on the important collaboration and connection with our partners in 2020.

Recognition in Advancement Award Winners

Congratulations to the following winners in the Recognition in Advancement Awards at the 2019 Chapter Conference. Thank you also to our Award’s Partner Sonic Sight.

Admissions

Winner – Di Lawrence from Brigidine for their “Welcome to Brigidine Video”.

Brigidine’s entry was a standout submission in this category. It had high impact for the institution with a clearly articulated purpose and successful directed outcomes. The project was developed to specifically meet the particular problem of retention of new students once a position has been offered. By engaging on an individual level through a personalised video directed at the prospective student and her parents, even before the student attended the Welcome Day, they were made to feel part of a bigger community, and a sense of excitement and anticipation was created.  Involving current Year 7 students in the development of the main video and speaking directly to the incoming student was a creative and innovative way to establish a bond and engagement from the outset leading to a confirmed commitment and thereby enhancing the financial stability of the College. 

With only a small team and limited budget this project was well developed and effectively executed to achieve defined results and excellent return on investment. Congratulations on an innovative idea implemented successfully.

Marketing and Communications

Winner – Ravenswood – Deanne O’Shea Kim Williams , Christina Barriere, Jacqueline Sherlock , Anna Hyde , Jane Donnelley, Jane Selig, Emily Waddington

Ravenswood entry was about an innovative marketing concept that has had a significant impact on the Ravenswood community. The Project included RAVO logo, merchandise and a sculpture.

A terrific team initiative that was well planned and executed.

Fundraising

Joint Winners – Ardern Anglican Advancement Team – under the leadership of Jo Hutchens and Central Coast Grammar School – Christine Hodgkinson, Joanne Marston, Melissa Crease.

There was a particularly high standard of entries and impressive accomplishments in this category. Submissions highlighted a breadth of strategies and employed both traditional and creative methods to advance their institutions. Due to the high standard of all entries the judges have awarded a joint outstanding award to Arden Anglican School and Central Coast Grammar School.

Both schools are relatively young in their establishment and their fundraising histories. These aspects made their accomplishments even more outstanding. Their campaigns were well conceived and well executed with excellent Returns on Investment which will have advanced their capital and future expectations. Impact extended beyond the fundraising into their community engagement. Implemented by small but effective teams the judges congratulate these entrants and institutions on their achievements.  

Alumni and Community Relations Award

Winner – Santa Sabina College – Yvette Graniero, Victoria Harper, Matthew Guy, Marisa Black

Entries to this category were impressive and divergent in their collateral. Clear goals and creative strategies were harnessed to engage the breadth of communities effectively. Some particularly engaging material was submitted across a range of budgets and media. The judges have awarded an outstanding achievement to Santa Sabina College for their Golden Thread Campaign which utilised their 125th Anniversary as the vehicle to achieve excellent engagement and to realise a breadth of goals for their institution. 

Alumni SIG

The Alumni Special Interest Group (SIG) was held on Thursday 13 June, and was hosted by Liz Pellinkhof, Alumni Manager Hills Grammar, and Deanne O’Shea, Director Marketing, Communications & Engagement Ravenswood.

The key takeaways from the event were:

Topic One – Engaging Alumni

• Engaging younger alumni is seen as the greatest challenge for most schools
• Several have found younger alumni to be quite interested and passionate about various causes and are happy to give back to the community in support of these causes eg. Men’s mental health (Riverview)
• Widespread tradition of most schools to hold 5-year reunions
• Higher success of engagement with under 25-year-olds through”
• Instagram platform with a dedicated page for alumni—archival and opportunistic posts to keep them engaged
• Closed alumni page on Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Sporting teams eg. Netball Association
• Networking events
• Career events
• Fundraising balls
• School rugby matches
• After work networking drinks
• Prefects return to speak with new prefects
• ‘Value of being an old girl/boy’ talk to Year 12
• ‘Share your wisdom’ talk to Year 12 one year out
• Come back to school to collect Yearbook, catch up with staff and school friends – opportunity for school to collect contact details
• Good to regularly review what strategies you are employing to entice young alumni to engage on social media

Topic Two – Mentoring Programs

• Examples of Mentoring formats
• Alumni to current students
• Alumni in the classroom
• Alumni return to school to share experiences one year out
• Career Expos
• Pairing older alumni with established careers with younger alumni just starting their careers – a ‘giving back’ arrangement
• ‘Food for Thought’ Lunch event – for senior students, involving an alumni guest speaker and alumni sitting amongst students at the lunch tables
• Empowering alumni through alumni
• Personal and professional development forums, providing alumni with broader life skills rather than just professional skills
• Engaging alumni and parents to be used as mentors for students as they learn about and choose their careers
• Alumni events in the CBD
• Resources
• Resourcing is a problem – suggestion of pooling resources eg. AIS running a mentoring program for schools

Topic Three – Alumni and Fundraising

• Challenges and questions
• Can you tap into your alumni for fundraising?
• Can you merge alumni with current parents for the purposes of fundraising?
• Notion of naming things in the school and linking them to a legacy (buildings, pavers, seats etc)—does this make it more meaningful?
• Push back challenge – ‘Stop asking us for money’
• Youthful cynicism creates a fear of ‘the ask’
• Findings and Practices
• A general feeling that alumni want to give to scholarships and causes and current parents want to give to buildings
• Alumni ambassadors for each year group for bursary programs
• Create a culture of giving while students are at school and extend it after students leave school
• Create the notion while students are at school that being part of the alumni Association, will have value and benefits
• Female alumni are often not asked to donate
• Promote the ‘joy of giving’, ‘I give because it makes me feel good’
• Consider bequests for the school
• Connect through a passion eg. giving an art collection
• A difference in genders of the expectations to give
• Continue to try
• Fundraising in girls’ schools is increasing, resulting in a culture change
• Apps that round-up money with the round-ups going to fundraising
• Search successful campaigns where the Alumni become heroes as well as the current school communities eg. the award winning campaigns in a school in Queensland and Victoria where Alumni gave dollar-for-dollar raised

Topic Four – Surveying Alumni

• Key Ingredients
• Keep samples even with girls and boys
• Use initial survey as a base for future surveys
• Survey topics – reunions, communications, mentoring, career opportunities, events. Keep to the topic/s you are researching
• Allow open-ended responses
• Keep surveys short, valid and concise
• Send surveys only to those on email
• Time is often a prohibitive factor – consider an external consultancy
• Provide the audience with the knowledge of how their data will be used
• Provide conclusions of surveys to Alumni
• Thank alumni for assisting with surveys
• Keeping data up to date is an ongoing challenge for all with the additional challenge with girls’ schools and female name changes

AGM and end of year event

The NSW/ACT AGM will be held as follows:

• 5:30pm
• Thursday 21 November
• Ascham School, Edgecliff

The AGM will be followed by dinner at Bibo Wine Bar, 7 Bay St, Double Bay.

This is always one of the highlights of the NSW/ACT Calendar, as you will have the opportunity to reflect on the Professional Development activities made available to you this year, and hear about the plans for 2020.

It’s also a great opportunity to network—it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of your professional realm and end up in a rut. By talking to others at Educate Plus, you can gain insights that only come from new perspectives and ideas, to help you in your role. Exchanging information on challenges, experiences and goals is a key benefit of Educate Plus, because it allows you to gain new insights that you may not have otherwise thought of. So don’t miss out!

Register now – https://www.educateplus.edu.au/event/nsw-act-agm/

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