Total school fundraising income dropped by nearly 20 per cent in 2020, with alumni-giving plunging by nearly half, a survey has found.
But fundraising income from those aged 60 to 70 was up by more than £1,000 per donor on 2019 and in 2020 the largest donations came from the over-70s who, on average, gave more than £8,000 per donor.
The study also revealed that the value of donations to single-sex boys’ schools is nearly four times greater than for all-girls’ schools: £226,000 compared with £61,000.
Kate Jillings, founder of software firm ToucanTech, which analysed its own database records to create the survey, said: ‘It’s telling that alumni in general felt unable to donate to their schools in the same way as previous years. Presumably many were concerned about job security and the general uncertainty that hit us all during the pandemic and lockdowns.’
As well as total fundraising income dropping by nearly 20 percent in 2020, compared with 2019, average fundraising income per donor dropped by 12 per cent.
Total fundraising income for the schools in the study was £6.5 million, with average fundraising for each school approximately £103,000.
The study is based on data from 997,244 database records for 100 independent and 24 state schools across the UK.