Professional development home
 
 

Webinars

Our webinars offer information relevant to schools' development such as trends or changes impacting the sector, the latest tools available to support schools' fundraising, and practical tips to improve your school's fundraising performance. These one-hour sessions provide expert training with minimal time commitment required and are open to members and non-members. IDPE members can watch recordings of all our previous webinars in the IDPE members' resource library.

Embedding development into the whole school strategy

How can development become more widely accepted as an important whole school initiative? How can you establish a direct line to the key decision makers in your institution? And what are the key messages and data that you need to share?

 
  
 

Advocating for staff investment

When budgets are tight and whole school resources are stretched, making the case to increase staff expenditure can be difficult. So, when, why and how can you secure investment to grow your team? And what are the challenges of recruitment in the current climate?

 
  
 

Successful fundraising needs active leadership (in partnership with HMC)

The latest benchmarking report demonstrates the importance of senior leaders to development success, but what does this look like in practice? How can heads lead effective fundraising and engagement programmes? And how should development professionals steward their senior leaders to ensure they add value?

  
 

Growing non-fee income: the integral role of development and enterprise

Growing non-fee income by taking a cohesive, school-wide approach to enterprise and development can provide relief to increasingly stretched school budgets. But where should you start? And what are the key factors for success?

  
 

Careers in fundraising: recruiting new talent and retaining experience 

How do we retain fundraising practitioners and encourage new talent into the sector? How can we further promote careers in fundraising? And how do we ensure that every fundraiser feels valued for the difference they make?

Launching a new campaign (in partnership with Philanthropy company)

Are you looking to launch a new campaign this year? Have you been focussing on engagement but now seek to move into active fundraising? explore the fundamentals of launching a new campaign.

 

Activating a cost-effective and time-effective legacy programme

Times are frenetic and it is easy to 'do legacies another day' – just like dieting! But the data shows that you could very possibly be losing out on significant funding. This webinar will focus on how you can invest little time or money but carry out a sustained campaign with ease.

 
 

PESTLE - Online forums

IDPE's new online forums are an opportunity for you to join a small group of advanced development practitioners for a live, online, facilitated discussion and exchange of ideas on a given topic. The aim of the leadership forum is to provide further support, training and networking opportunities for our advanced development practitioners.

IDPE's leadership forums will provide opportunities for advanced practitioners to:

  • explore the key issues impacting schools' development and the wider education and charitable sectors
  • discuss how these impact schools' philanthropy and community engagement
  • share ideas with peers on how to respond and adapt development strategies

Our PESTLE leadership forums will explore the external factors that are (or potentially will) influence schools in the coming 12-18 months, and the impact of these on schools' philanthropy and engagement. Following each forum, we will share key takeaways with the wider membership. These sessions will start with a presentation with a short Q&A followed by breakout rooms for further detailed discussion. Those attending will be required to take part in a facilitated discussion. Register now to attend one of our upcoming forums.   

Perplexed by Pledges


Everyone is very excited, because the person you've been speaking to for months has finally agreed to make a gift. Now you need to make sure that the gift actually arrives. How can you best manage this "pledge" to ensure it arrives, while stewarding the donor, minimising risk and keeping fundraising reports accurate? It's a tall task, but in this session we will discuss the best use of Pledges, Gift Agreements and Due Diligence reporting to assist you running a smooth process.

  
 

Helping your data spark joy


If you're a fan of keeping things, clean, simple, and organised (or would like to be), this is the sesson for you. Find out quick wins to make your data make more sense, and long-term solutions to make sure your data stays clean and tidy for your team and the teams of the future. 'Tomorrow's you' will thank 'present you' for the time you invested!


 

Forum for Heads/Directors of External Relations


Leading an external relations team which includes development, admissions, marketing and communications can create a more cohesive approach to your school's external relations strategy, but it demands an understanding of these different functions, managing colleagues with a variety of skills sets and overseeing complementary, but sometimes competing, priorities.

 
 



 
 


PESTLE: Political


With an election on the horizon, Labour have pledged educational reform that would reshape the independent schools' sector. What do we know about these proposed changes, and how will these potentially impact schools' development?

 

PESTLE: Economic


The cost-of-living crisis, funding gaps, potential recession, and the legacy of the COVID pandemic mean that many schools are already having to make difficult decisions about prioritisation within stretched budgets. Is philanthropy the answer?

PESTLE: Sociological


We have a commitment to working together to address the widening gap in educational attainment between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. What role can development play in ensuring our education system narrows this gap?

PESTLE: Legislative forum


 


Specialist peer group forums

In addition to the regional support network, IDPE also arranges a number of online 'peer group' forums – these include our state school forum, prep school forum, data forum, girls' school forum and our leadership forum. If you would like to find out more about a particular forum, please email info@idpe.org.uk.