Leading Change: Interim Development Support at Clifton College
“Work with Philanthropy Company helped to ensure that our new Director of Development could make rapid progress when she joined us because much of the preparatory work for a new way of working had already been undertaken.”
Melvyn Roffe, Chief Executive Officer, Clifton College.
Challenge
Clifton College in Bristol is one of the leading independent boarding schools in the country, welcoming boys and girls from 3-18. Clifton approached us to provide interim support to their development team which had been without a Director for a number of months.
We were tasked with finding a talented interim leader from our consultant team who could support the team, make some operational improvements and ensure that Clifton could achieve its fundraising potential, while Clifton set about recruiting a permanent Director.
Our Response
We placed a senior education consultant to lead the team 2 days per week with the ongoing support of the wider Philanthropy Company team.
Clifton had a complex structure made up of the School, a Development Trust, the Old Cliftonian Society, an Endowment Fund and the Redgrave Theatre. We quickly identified that increasing joint ways of working and a shared vision and sense of community was key to securing and retaining donors. Our team developed a pathway which ensured clarity and simplicity in a complex scenario while ensuring all entities felt heard and bought-in to the changes.
We also identified that taking a data led approach to assessing Clifton’s potential would be vital in helping decide how ambitious they could be, where to invest in fundraising for best returns and to manage expectations of the senior team and Board. We supported the team to interrogate their data and made recommendations enabling them to progress with greater clarity, efficacy and impact.
Impact
We provided calm, clear support and advice to the Clifton College development team during a period of leadership transition. Our role focused on maintaining stability, improving operations, and laying the groundwork for long-term success.
We advised on recruitment and team structure, helping to define the Development Director role, crafting interview questions, participating in the appointment panel, and recommending an effective future team set-up. This ensured the new Director could make rapid progress on arrival.
Taking a data-led approach, we assessed Clifton’s fundraising potential, developed a pipeline of the top 50 prospects, advised on a new privacy policy and shared data agreements, and worked with Prospecting for Gold to run a wealth screening. Our expert analysis provided strategic insights to guide fundraising investment.
We introduced new donor journey systems to improve moves management and stewardship, alongside developing clear information-sharing frameworks to support a unified ‘One Clifton’ goal across the school’s separate entities.
To strengthen fundraising operations further, we delivered a benchmarking analysis to manage expectations around growth potential, reviewed events to focus on outcomes and RoI, and assessed CRM systems to improve connectivity, effectiveness, and privacy. Finally, we crafted donor-ready cases for support to articulate Clifton’s fundraising goals and broader vision clearly and compellingly.
