The school funding crisis is in full swing. The reality is hitting home that subjects, staffing and resources are all experiencing a massive squeeze. However, while we protest and campaign for political parties to stick to their manifesto pledges, the education of our young people must go on.

It might be prudent at this point to reflect on the emphasis African cultures place on family and community and the relevance of this timeless Igbo and Yoruba proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child”

While the squeeze takes place, it is more important than ever for the UK community to rally around its local school and its local children. It is vital that parents, local councils, local businesses all come on board as a collective and help financially to educate the children in their ‘village.’

As teachers, managers and senior leaders, we cannot expect people to simply gift us money; we must be creative, bold and ask for the funds we need. Securing funds from grants has become ever more vital and competitive.

Here are seven tips to start you off that I have found quite useful:

1. Break down all your projects into small amounts
   Whether the project is worth a total of £100 or £30,000, break it down into manageable chunks of cash that can be pledged.
    
2. Match projects to relevant local businesses
   Create a list of businesses in your catchment area and find out what they do in the community already and what their aims are in terms of their public profile. Sometimes your school’s project could provide just the type of public image the business would like to associate itself with.
    
3. Call on the parents in your school who have links with the local, county or national business community
   Network with these parents; they can be an invaluable network for contacting the right managers or even CEOs.
    
4. Look at all the funding sites and read their guidelines carefully for eligibility and criteria
   Hunt out grants and take note of what each funding pot is looking to award money for. Take note of the deadlines. Tes provides a grants database with its leadership subscription. 
    
5. Start local
   Make contact with your local councilors and ask what local funding might be available to your school area and your project. I tend to look at grants and funding sites relevant to my borough and county first and then look at the grants being issued nationally. The Prince’s Trust has a very helpful website with a list of organisations offering funding.
    
6. Pitch
   Albert Einstein is reported as saying: “If you can’t explain it, you don’t understand it well enough.” If asked to pitch to potential funders, aim to sum it up in three lines. One of the biggest problems that prevents a school getting funding is that the idea is there, but the pitch is vague on how it will be delivered and for whom. Be clear in your application on your objectives, how you intend to deliver these objectives, costings and timeframe.
    
7. Be brave, bold and relentless
   Our children’s education need the collective support more than ever, so don’t give up at the first hurdle.

Clare Erasmus is director of mental health and wellbeing and head of creative media studies at The Magna Carta School