Building a Case for Support: Advancing Legal Education at Queen Mary University of London

“It has been a pleasure working with, learning from, and discussing these matters with the Philanthropy Company team. Their insights, foundational research and case for support will provide the perfect platform on which we can successfully build.”

Ian Waldman, Professor of Information and Communications Law,
Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London

Challenge

The Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has a global reputation for providing excellent postgraduate education, and for its extensive connections to the real world of international commercial law, particularly in legal London. Legal knowledge and experience acquired at CCLS are deployed in complex situations by some 25,000 alumni worldwide every day.

CCLS approached us to prepare a case for support for two new professorships. We were tasked with reviewing the existing documentation relating to fundraising at CCLS and QMUL, interviewing key internal and external stakeholders about the plans for the new professorships, coming up with a case for support for these new posts, and identifying opportunities and challenges ahead.

Our response
We assembled a team of three experts to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of CCLS and QMUL, position them within the wider higher education sector, and suggest how they could capitalise on their successes with a major fundraising campaign.

We interviewed 14 internal and external stakeholders (including staff, alumni, donors and subject-matter experts) to understand how CCLS and QMUL are perceived, and how a fundraising campaign for these new professorships could succeed.

Impact

We provided a clear case for support, focusing on the two new professorships. The document explained the compelling rationale for both posts in these troubling times of war, tariffs and uncertainty. It also explained why CCLS is best placed to support such new initiatives, and how they would capitalise on its previous and pioneering successes.

We developed insights from the interviews to show the strengths of, and challenges facing, CCLS and QMUL. This included preparing case studies of alumni and senior lawyers working in various jurisdictions across the world, and summarising their support for CCLS and QMUL. We shared helpful and frank responses to contribute to a future fundraising strategy for these new professorships, and suggested a road-map of recommendations to assist other fundraising activities.