As a fee-paying school, how can ACS International Schools possibly be a charity? It’s a popular question. Amba Shirfield, Head of Alumni Relations and Development, answers some questions about what being a charity means for ACS and for your child.
How can a fee-paying school be a charity?
To be a UK charity, an organisation must fall within one of the descriptions of purposes in the Charities Act and be for public benefit. Advancing education – what we ultimately stand for at ACS – classes as a charitable aim. Most independent schools are actually registered charities in the UK. This means that they operate as not-for-profit, and it’s a legal requirement that they must demonstrate that they are creating public benefit. That’s why we – and other independent schools – are naturally capable of being charities. As a not-for-profit, surplus funds are re-invested directly into our education programmes, staff, and all of our operating costs. Also, as a non-profit, we don’t have shareholders so don’t pay dividends.
What does ACS do with regard to public benefit?
The majority of our public benefit activity is through the means-tested bursaries, we are able to award to deserving students at our UK schools each year, where we are able to offer anywhere between 10 and 100% of full fees, depending on individual financial circumstances. We’re proud to have supported over 50 bursary recipients since we became a UK-registered charity in September 2018. We also undertake community work and provide grants through our partnerships activity and access to our facilities and expertise.
Why do you need to fundraise? Shouldn’t school fees pay for campus development and other projects?
We rely on tuition fees to not only ensure that we are preparing all of our students to be the global thinkers and doers of the future, but to run a diverse range of teaching and learning programmes. We also use school fees to invest in the future to build up funds for one-off facilities and to deliver our charitable public benefit, such as financially-assisted places, hardship funds and partnerships. All our surplus income is reinvested back into your child’s education programmes, our schools’ day-to-day operating costs and maintaining and developing campus facilities. We’re committed to delivering the highest quality of student experience to every family.
This means we need to raise money above and beyond what we collect in school fees. We can create inspirational teaching and learning spaces sooner than we can through school fees alone. We can further develop teaching excellence and support even more deserving students who do not have the financial means to come to an ACS school.
We currently don’t have an endowment to support all of these programmes, which is why it’s so important to build an alumni and friends community that is proud to support and give back to their school and benefit our students. With their help, we can do so much more.
Why now?
We’re still a new charity and are at the beginning of our philanthropic journey with our parent and international alumni community. Annual giving, for example, is one of our most important resources to provide innovative learning experiences and spaces.
We can bring forward and accelerate some campus development projects, so that your children can benefit from improved facilities, teaching and learning sooner rather than when ACS can afford to invest through school fees. School fees already cover all staffing costs, high quality education programmes, maintenance and equipment, security/utilities and some capital projects, but we need to build up the funds as a charity to go further and do more, to inspire the world’s next thinkers and doers.
What are your current fundraising priorities?
We recently launched our first campus development projects appeal at our UK campuses: Project Tomorrow (Cobham), Project Narnia (Egham) and Project Shine (Hillingdon). We’re inviting current and former parents to pledge a donation to realise these projects this summer, ready for the 2021/22 academic year. Through philanthropy, we can realise some strategic campus development projects sooner than we can afford through school fees alone. Funds are strictly restricted to your campus and appeal of choice. The donated funds aren’t shared between different projects.
Funding Future Minds
Our first annual appeal to all parents to give a small gift to a hardship fund on your campus to support families in your school.
Inspirational Spaces
Across our schools, we are committed to providing stimulating teaching spaces, both in terms of the architecture and the facilities that are housed inside. This includes state-of the-art laboratories, thought-provoking libraries and the space and technology to collaborate in new and exciting ways.
ACS Cobham: Project Tomorrow
Transforming Marble Hall into an inspirational Innovation Centre, equipped to revolutionise STEM teaching and learning.
ACS Egham: Project Narnia
Transforming our libraries into dynamic hubs of learning, inspiration and collaboration - places where imagination and technology meet.
ACS Hillingdon: Project Shine
Transforming our auditorium to create a modern, multi-purpose space, equipped with the latest audio-visual technology.
If you want to support or discuss any of our fundraising campaigns at your school, please contact development@acs-schools.com.
Whether you can make a gift or not, we also invite you to champion our cause and spread the word to other parents who might want to understand why we are doing these projects. It all makes a difference to improve the education of our students and we very much appreciate your support.
