The workshop, attended by 29 senior leaders, was held in collaboration with Graeme Byrne, a senior consultant from the United Kingdom.

David Marupen, Director of Fundraising at DAR, said: “The main objective of the workshop was to ensure that we provide senior leadership with the tools, skills and competencies to become experienced in attracting philanthropic income. There is a greater dependency on philanthropic donor income for different projects and we need to ensure that we build capacity among academic leaders and support staff to attract philanthropic funding. Starting with senior leadership, the goal was to impart some of the skills required for the art of asking. Fundraising is centred around people and having a well-developed narrative is key.

"We also carefully delineated the unique approaches and strategies involved in philanthropic fundraising, setting it apart from the realm of research grant applications."

Each session over the week-long programme was divided into two working blocks. The first focused on the sharing of different approaches to attract funding from donors such as corporates, individuals, trusts and foundations. The second consisted of a breakaway session where participants worked in groups of two to simulate a donor interaction meeting.

Furthermore, the sessions also delved into ways of framing the fundraising ask for different projects in the DAR shop window, in particular bursary support. It also focused on research projects and their need for support. The shop window is DAR's approach to group fundraising priorities into four thematic areas.

The need for student financial aid (bursary support) against the backdrop of the NSFAS caps on allocations, coupled with a volatile economic climate, was also highlighted and resulted in discussions on the deployment of different approaches to cover the shortfall students face.

"Participants found the sessions insightful as they were given the opportunity to openly engage and challenge the presenter and DAR colleagues on initiatives that could attract philanthropic support," said Marupen.

"This was a huge step in the right direction in ensuring that institution-wide we take responsibility to contribute to the financial sustainability of SU."

He said they plan to continue with the upskilling training programme in 2024.

"Our aim is to ensure that a broader range of colleagues have the necessary skills to engage with donors when accompanying fundraisers, as well as individually."