The Annual Fund team raises unrestricted funds for LSE, in support of the changing needs of the School and projects that may not otherwise receive funding. Donations received through the Annual Fund help provide financial support to students, develop world-class facilities, transform the student experience, engage the wider world with outreach programmes, and enhance teaching and research.
The Annual Fund Chair, Virginia Beardshaw CBE (Diploma in Social Administration 1975), is a Governor and works closely with the team, acting as an ambassador to help raise alumni participation.
Audience
Our main audience is alumni of the School, but we also engage with School leaders including Governors and staff, and other friends of LSE. We segment and target these audiences using a range of messages from various ambassadors including academics, alumni, donors and beneficiaries.
Messages
We contact alumni and friends of the School to ask them to support the Annual Fund and to inform them about the impact the Fund has on campus through the different projects it supports.
In our stewardship communications we demonstrate to donors and the School community how annual giving helps to make LSE stronger today and in the future, highlihgting the impact gives have on every level of School life.
Methods of contact
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Direct mail – we run four direct mail appeals throughout the year. We segment our audience to concentrate on those with a higher propensity to give, which is possible thanks to the work of the Research team. We use a variety of signatories and cases for support depending on the segment we are contacting.
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Calling programme – acting as ambassadors of the School, our student callers reach a large number of alumni and friends over the phone during term time. As well as encouraging alumni and friends to give to the Annual Fund, callers enhance the work of the Alumni Relations team to engage alumni with the School.
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Email – to complement the direct mail and calling programme we send out a series of emails at the end of each term. These emails are used to collect data as well as to ask for support from those who we haven’t been able to reach through other appeals.
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Face-to-face – we conduct face-to-face meetings with high level donors or prospective donors to build closer relationships in order to match philanthropic interests with the needs of the School.