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Writing project proposals to gain buy-in from senior leaders

This workshop is only available to members of ContentEd+. Find out more about the benefits of joining ContentEd+.


Our leaders are busy. Their resources are in high demand. But we need their time, focus, budget, staff, and approval to launch our ambitious new content projects.

How do we get their attention? How do we gain their buy-in?

This talk will offer practical ways to engage your managers, leaders, and directors.

Many of these will draw upon best practice approaches that we use in content strategy and content design.

You will...

  • Learn tips, tools, and tactics for securing senior leadership approval

  • Discover the concept of strategic alignment, with take-home exercises

  • Explore the essential steps in the pre-writing stage of a project proposal

  • Understand the art of "making the ask" with advice from HE fundraisers

  • Reflect on the most critical balance: what you say AND how you say it.

Afterwards, you'll return to your university as a greenlight guru!

What we’ll cover:

  • The why, what, how, where, and when of project proposals 

  • The value of empathy-mapping when approaching your leaders

  • Drawing upon content strategy principles to have maximum impact and increase your chance of buy-in


Your facilitator

Simon Fairbanks

Simon Fairbanks has over 15 years of experience in the education sector. This includes student recruitment, marketing, and events roles at four different universities in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry.

Simon is the Head of Community Engagement at Pickle Jar Communications, a content strategy consultancy for the education sector. He helps schools, colleges, and universities share their stories through digital communications.

Simon is an international speaker. He has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, SU Digital, and Utterly Content. He was Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference from 2020 to 2023.

As a published author, Simon is particularly interested in storytelling in the education sector. He spends his free time reading, writing, running, and finding new ways to make his children laugh.

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Borrowing from ethnographers

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10 April

Recruiting students as social media influencers