From the Nominator

"In 2020, we saw an opportunity to bolster the University of Bristol’s response to anti-racism issues, energise alumni around an urgent need for change, and champion talented students who face numerous barriers to success in higher education. Working closely with the university’s anti-racism steering group and student inclusion colleagues, we developed a new scholarship programme, the Black Bristol Scholarships, that are grounded specifically in the challenges facing Black students in UK higher education.

In early 2021, we launched the Black Bristol Scholarships campaign to raise £1 million over four years to fund a total of 136 scholars. The campaign aimed to raise sufficient funds for the programme’s first year (£250,000) while improving access for and representation of Black students at every level of study. 

To reach the widest audience, we introduced Black Bristol Scholarships in a bespoke leaflet accompanying the print mailing of our alumni magazine, Nonesuch, along with a digital campaign of segmented emails, blog interviews, and social media testimonials. We worked with major gift colleagues to coordinate asks, harnessing the momentum of our mass communications.  

Our bold and direct messaging resonated with Bristol alumni. Their support was swift and enthusiastic, with donations reaching over £700,000 in 3 months--nearly 3 times our appeal target. 139 donors responded, 60% from our target audience of lapsed and non-donors. Additionally, mass campaign communications inspired significant philanthropic contributions from unengaged major gift prospects. 

Feedback on Black Bristol Scholarships was overwhelmingly positive, with alumni, staff, and students welcoming such comprehensive, bold, and progressive action."

From the Judges

We liked the creativity and originality of this campaign and were impressed by the wonderful impact it had on the institution and its stakeholders. They had ambitious goals and exceeded all of them with this bold program.