School Fundraising Is Becoming a Vocation. So Should the Way We Build It.

This article was written by Belinda Mears, Director of Marketing and Advancement, St Peter’s Girls’ School

Fundraising used to be something an educational institution did when it needed a new building. Increasingly, it’s something a school does because it understands what sustains it. That’s the real shift underway: from a function you activate to raise money, to one you build to keep the organisation strong for the long term.

That change, from occasional Fundraising to an emerging profession, is one of the more significant shifts in school leadership over the past decade, and one of the least talked about. Australia doesn’t yet have the clear career pathway into Advancement that more mature markets have established, and there is no established training pipeline. The work of educate+ in helping to shape this framework has been significant for the independent school sector.

From Ask to Expertise

A generation ago, “development” in schools often meant a part-time role: usually reactive, tied to a capital campaign and staffed by whoever was willing and available. Increasingly, it looks like a genuine profession. Fundraising practitioners are building real expertise in donor relationships, Alumni engagement, data and stewardship, and they understand that philanthropy in a school runs on trust and relationships long before it runs on an ask.

That professionalisation matters. Fundraising done well isn’t simply about securing gifts. It’s about staying close to the people who’ve shaped the school: Alumni, past parents and staff who gave decades of service, so that when the moment for generosity arrives, it feels like a continuation of the relationship, not a solicitation.

Why This is a Sector Issue, Not a Back-Office One

Schools that resource Fundraising like any other senior function build something sustainable: a culture of giving that outlasts any single campaign. Too many schools across the sector still treat it as a task bolted onto someone’s existing role, and keep rediscovering, campaign after campaign, that relationships can’t be built at speed.

With intergenerational wealth transfer in Australia set to reshape philanthropic giving over the next two decades, the schools that build the function now will be the ones ready when that shift arrives.

Three things this asks of us as leaders:

• Invest in the profession, not just the project. Skilled Fundraising leaders build relationships and pipelines years before a campaign needs them.
• Tell the story continuously. Alumni and past families stay connected to a school that keeps them informed, not just invoiced.
• Measure relationships, not only revenue. The health of a Fundraising program shows up in engagement long before it shows up in a gift.

The schools getting this right aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest asks. They’re the ones building the relationships, capability and culture that will sustain their institutions for the long term, and setting a standard the rest of the sector is still catching up to.

Belinda Mears
Director of Marketing and Advancement
St Peter’s Girls’ School