Development

A tale of two bodies

Some independent schools have set up separate foundations to act as a conduit for charitable donations to the school. This can sometimes create unforeseen conflicts. Tim Edge outlines the pitfalls and advantages

Fundraising foundations are unique charities in their own right, with their own memorandum of articles and a board of trustees that is independent from the school’s governing body.

Where problems have occurred with independent foundations, it is often because there is a lack of synchronisation between the trustees of the foundation and the governing body of the school. Care must be taken to ensure that the fundraising priorities of the foundation dovetail neatly with the school’s strategic objectives to minimise the potential for conflict and misunderstanding.

Get it together
One way to promote this synergy is to appoint two or three members of the school governing body to sit as foundation trustees, thus ensuring an essential overlap between the working of the foundation and the institutional policy-making of the school. It is also important to appoint a foundation chairman who can navigate a diplomatic path between the wishes of the school and those foundation trustees who might occasionally wish to exert a measure of active independence!

The establishment of a separate foundation also creates a separate governance group to be managed and motivated by the head and development director, and paradoxically can act as a disincentive to potential donors.
As a prospective donor once said to me: “Why should I give money to a separate organisation if there was the possibility, however remote, that my gift would not be passed on to the school?”.

Split personalities
Conversely, a number of donors will view this separation as beneficial. One donor to a London independent school told me that he was delighted not to be giving directly to the school because of the unpopularity of the headteacher! Other potential donors appreciate the commitment of foundations to ensuring that gifts meet the purpose for which they are intended, rather than the potential for their being swallowed up within the school’s operational budget.
Also, many development directors value the establishment of a foundation that can act as a buffer for the development office from internal and external forces. Trustees of the foundation usually understand
instinctively the value and scope of development work and can act as powerful advocates for the development programme. Unlike main board governors with their plethora of responsibilities, foundation trustees have a more tightly focused and singular remit – the generation of funds for the school.

The decision whether or not to establish a separate foundation usually boils down to questions of structural coherence and control. Does a separate foundation sit easily within the existing governance structure of the school and is the governing body willing to delegate responsibility for the stewardship of fundraising to an independent body?

Tim Edge is development director at Charterhouse.

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