“How do we reach new supporters, and how do we keep them once they say yes?”
That question led to our GetTogether #15, held on Sep 18, 2026, when ASSET-H&C school members came together to explore it.
While government funding for education has declined worldwide, financial assistance from private donors has become more important (UNESCO, 2021). This funding situation asks member schools to be more attentive to business partners and diversify their strategy in approaching and maintaining relationships with donors. Useful insights from our two speakers, Alex Dekker (Founder of Alex Makes Meals) and Graciane Albin (Director of Fundraising & Communications at Bayon) helps member schools make critical adjustments to their partnership and resource mobilization plan.
In his sharing, Alex addressed the common motivations for fundraising from a donor’s perspective (one of which is the joy of ‘creating something new’) and his experiences in researching and partnering high net-worth individuals. He summed up 3 reasons to fundraise:
On “who gives?,” Alex pointed to a group we can easily overlook: our own volunteers, alumni, and past participants, who already know us and often feel grateful. Beyond them are governments, the general public, philanthropic organizations, and high net-worth individuals. Each is approached differently, so for teams with limited capacity, his advice was to pick one or two and get really good at them.
“You can never really convince someone to donate money.”
People donate when they know us, trust us, understand the need, and feel motivated to act. In Alex’s experience, trust is rarely the problem, because experienced people build it gradually over time. The harder part is to get more people through the door and show them clearly what we need. What works better is being the organization donors already know and trust when they feel like giving (around birthdays, Christmas, Easter, or the end of the financial year). Being specific about the outcome of such donations helps too.
Alex encouraged smaller NGOs to be more confident with paid advertising, especially Meta ads, which he has found to give the best return. The two tools he shared were The Meta Ad Library and Meta Ad Manager.
His rule for each ad is simple: on one-off donations alone, it must bring in at least 20% more than it costs. For schools just starting, he suggested setting aside around $500 a month for three to four months, testing many versions of an ad, and scaling up only once the results are clear. Google Ads Grant has not worked well for his team, since Google tends to deprioritize grant-funded ads.
Everything that happens after a donor says yes is the focus of Graciane’s sharing. Keeping a good donor costs far less than finding a new one, and that the best way to build trust is honesty. If a project cannot go as pitched, tell the donor early, explain what you have learned, and propose a way forward. A donor who hears it from you can stay with you. A donor who finds out six months later in a report may not be convinced.
Graciane organizes donor care around 4 steps:
Schools should always ask: “If the person responsible for fundraising left tomorrow, could a colleague understand your five most important donor relationships in ten minutes?” A donor’s trust may begin with one fundraiser, but it needs to be carried by the whole organization.
“Donor care is not more communication, it’s intentional communication.”
Each donor (individual donor, institutional funder, corporate partner) gets a plan, though not the same one; therefore, organizations need to keep track of their needs (use a tracking plan, for example) and cater to them when necessary.
Beyond a single line from a talk, this reflects how ASSET-H&C member schools are thinking about funding: as a long-term relationship built on honesty, patience, and care.
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The GetTogether series is an initiative by ASSET-H&C to foster peer learning and exchange among its members. It creates spaces where school staff can share experiences, challenges, and innovative practices across borders.
Join the Movement:
If this recap sparks your interest, or if you seek to integrate similar practices in your institution, don’t hesitate to reach out or join our future GetTogethers. Together, we can achieve more and pave the way for a sustainable future.
Contact for further details or resources: coordination@assethc.org
“Together, we go further!”
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