IDPE 2022 Celebration of Giving

In November, the Institute of Development Professionals in Education (IDPE) held their annual awards ceremony, the IDPE 2022 Celebration of Giving, for schools to come together and celebrate the generosity of their communities. This week-long event celebrated excellence in fundraising and engagement, and showcased the positive impact of philanthropy and engagement on the lives of young people. At the end of the Celebration of Giving week, IDPE announced the winners for their four development awards. ToucanTech is delighted to celebrate with the nine ToucanTech customers that were nominated, and a special shoutout to the two nominees that went on to win!  

Huge congratulations to The Abbey School for winning Schools’ Engagement Campaign of the Year (5 years or less) with their Reading Festival of Sport campaign, and to Bristol Grammar School for winning Schools’ Fundraising Campaign of the Year (5 years or less) with The 500 Campaign! 

The Abbey School: Reading Festival of Sport @ The Abbey

The inaugural Reading Festival of Sport @ the Abbey was designed as a community response to help young women find belonging in sport. More than 30 community sports clubs, elite local athletes and alumnae led a range of sporting events - these included taster-sessions in sports such as diving, rugby 7s, volleyball and weightlifting, masterclasses with athletes, and motivational talks for more than 1,000 young people who took part. The Abbey also hosted public viewings of an exhibition (on loan from the Saatchi gallery) which featured globally-renowned female athletes over the last 50 years, which had more than 2,500 visitors. Additionally, the school launched a talk series to further explore belonging in sport, which included alumnae stories of how sport remains as an important part of their adult lives.

Bristol Grammar School: The 500 Campaign

Since its founding in 1532, Bristol Grammar School has maintained a proud tradition of philanthropy to provide children with talent and promise from all backgrounds with life-changing opportunities through BGS’s bursary fund. In 2021 therefore, the school launched The 500 Campaign, with the aim of providing at least a 50% bursary for one in four pupils by 2032 to mark the 500th anniversary of the school. BGS set out an initial long-term fundraising target of £12m. But, within the first year of launching, the school raised over £1,000,000 - five times more than the expected amount, enabling 14 sixth-form students to be fully funded from 2023! Following this year's great success with The 500 Campaign, BGS will run their next big giving day in November 2023, and plan to target 50 major donor prospects.

Well done to the seven other nominees from the ToucanTech community: Chipping Campden School, St Catherine's British School, Colyton Grammar School, Rugby, The Portsmouth Grammar School, Churchers College and The Duke of York's Royal Military School

ToucanTech is an all-in-one software to manage school communitues, combining a database, website and communications system to manage fundraising, alumni, careers and marketing activities. To find out more about the system's full suite of donation tools, including Giving Day websites, get in touch with the ToucanTech team.