The power of partnerships and building funding streams to provide opportunities - Q&A with Emily Clarke, Head of Fundraising and Partnerships

The transformative impact on children’s lives that the Harris Federation is so proud of are greatly aided by the support of external donors and partners who, collectively, play a key role in making our work possible. With the support of external partnerships and donors, our schools can go above and beyond, investing in technology, facilities, additional mental health resourcing and academic programmes that enrich the educational experience for students. 

We met with Emily Clarke, who joined us in July 2022 in the newly created position of Head of Fundraising and Partnerships to discuss the importance of fundraising, why people donate to Harris, and her experience of working here. 

 

 

What does your role involve?

My role is two-fold, with the core focuses being: 

• To raise income through philanthropic revenue streams, whether that be through private individuals, corporate bodies, or trusts and foundations
• To form partnerships with organisations that are interested in working with our schools, for example through providing work experience and career opportunities, or access to trips and visits.  

 

How did you get into fundraising?

I got into fundraising when a student, and was a telephone fundraiser at university. I found it was something that I was really good at and when I was deciding what to do as a career, someone encouraged me to make a career in fundraising – I didn’t even know this was an option! I worked at a fundraising consultancy for a couple of years and then joined an independent school in North London, raising over £10m in eight years. I moved to Harris for a new challenge because I wanted to do more work in the state sector.

 

What is the biggest difference between your previous school and working at Harris?

The biggest difference in terms of fundraising is that we don’t have a ready-made network – yet! Schools in the independent sector often have generations of alumni and very well-connected parents who are connected to the organisation and understand the work its doing. Because Harris is so new to the fundraising world, and because the context of our academies is so different, we’re in the early stages of building our network. We have some really supportive friends and contacts and I am so excited to see how this will continue to develop over coming years. 

One of the most exciting differences is the scale that Harris is working at: we educate 1 in 40 of London’s children. That is incredible! Because we cover such a wide geographic area across London, we’re a really exciting proposition supporters who really want to have a big impact on the education sector. This means that people who don’t have a personal relationship with Harris are still really interested in what we’re doing and that doesn’t happen when you’re just one school. 

 

Why is fundraising important?

For so many reasons! Fundraising supports all the exciting work we do, and helps it to happen more quickly. It’s about us being able to provide the level of education, experience, and opportunity that we know we want and need to deliver. The impact fundraising has is really wideranging – from really tangible things like providing a breakfast club at a primary school so children don’t start the day hungry, to really exciting research projects that Harris can be the pioneer of and can then be rolled out across the education sector. At Harris, we’ve got the people, the ideas, the motivations, the connections to be able to do the work we know we need to do and donor support allows us to do this more quickly, and on a bigger scale, and that’s what makes my job really exciting. 

 

I often liken fundraising to dating, it’s very much about building a relationship; you don’t usually marry someone after the first date!

 

Why do people make donations?

For me, this is the most interesting part of my job because it really intercepts with psychology and what will make someone part with their money that they could spend on something for themselves. 

In fundraising, we often talk about ‘right person, right time, right project’ as the key things that make fundraising successful. For example, I could go to a potential donor, and be talking to the right person who wants to make a donation but if the project doesn’t interest them then they’re not going to say yes. 

I often liken fundraising to dating, it’s very much about building a relationship; you don’t usually marry someone after the first date! It can take a while for the relationship to come together as it’s important that both sides get to know and trust each other.  

  

 

Why should someone donate to Harris?

Loads of reasons! We’ve proven time and time again that we’re really good at making things happen. So if you invest in Harris, we have a proven track record of using money wisely and achieving, or surpassing, our objectives. We’re very rigorous in how we measure things and structured in how we roll initiatives out. 

Another reason to donate is because of the reach we have. We currently have 52 schools across London that educate over 1 in 40 of London’s children. A third of those students are from disadvantaged backgrounds and some of those children are very hard to reach teenagers that could really benefit from interventions that an after-school club or community centre might want to offer them, but they don’t have the link to be able to reach them. Harris knows these young people, we know their families, and we’re well placed to be able to make the effective interventions that can be so transformative.  

Thanks to the generosity of donors, we’ve been able to do some really incredible things. Examples include will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas making robotics available in our secondary academies, to donors funding food provision for children during the pandemic, and philanthropists understanding the ability and potential of our students and giving a range opportunities so children from disadvantaged backgrounds could access the financial sector. We have amazing subject-specialist consultants, working to improve outcomes and experiences for students and staff across our academies, and many of these amazing roles are paid for by donor funding. There’s also music support, mental health support and many other exciting things!

 

What is it like being part of the Harris Federation?

It’s great, and I can say that straight away, it’s absolutely brilliant. Everyone here is highly talented, and everyone really cares. Everyone is really authentically motivated; no one is doing it for anything but the right reasons. People are really willing to help. I’m the first person who has done this role and everyone has been really keen to get on board with what I’m doing; especially teachers who may not have had anything to do with fundraising before. So many staff at all levels have been willing to give me their time and their expertise which has been invaluable. The role is really busy and challenging, and I never dread coming to work in the morning. 

 

It was incredible to see all the people involved in, and committed to helping children in Harris schools – it was quite mind-blowing. 

 

What’s been your favourite memory of working at Harris?

My favourite memory was the October staff conference. Everyone told me in advance that it was going to be incredible and awe-inspiring, and I thought… how awe-inspiring can a conference be? But then it actually was! Hearing keynote speeches from Sir Dan and Lord Harris, and seeing the scale of the operation that we’re a part of, was really impactful. It was incredible to see all the people involved in, and committed to helping children in Harris schools – it was quite mind-blowing. 

I was also part of the team involved in organising this conference, and it was brilliant to see people across departments and all levels of seniority pulling together to fill merchandise bags, making name labels, and working really hard to make it all happen. It just reminded me that Harris is such an amazing place where nobody is above pitching in when we need to get things done.

 

If you're able and interested in supporting Harris, get in touch with Emily to discuss how you can help and where your generosity will make the biggest difference.