Joining Forces for Future Students

Students coming together for future students

Fostering early-stage philanthropy among students and young alumni has proven to be instrumental in establishing enduring connections with INSEAD and nurturing future advocates for the school and its mission.

The Robin Hood Scholarship Campaign is a beloved INSEAD tradition led by current students, centred around “fun fundraising” and solidarity. The campaign sees students coming together to raise funds for a needs-based scholarship to be given to a student from the following intake. Initially spearheaded by MBA students, the first intake of MIM students in 2020 quickly adopted the Robin Hood tradition and made the campaigns their own – so much so that they’ve proven to be just as successful, with no signs of slowing down!

We’re all in this together

During each Robin Hood Scholarship Campaign, the students organise fun and engaging events for other students and members of the INSEAD community, such as trivia nights and auctions. In 2020, when faced with unparalleled challenges brought on by the pandemic, alumni joined the fray in support of the campaigns by offering donor challenges if the students managed to reach a certain number of donors or raise a specified amount of funds. The message this sent was powerful and two-fold: Giving to scholarships at INSEAD is an important endeavour, and we’re all in this together.

INSEAD Campaign Board Member Charles de Portes MBA’96J gave €25,000 to inspire the Class of MBA’21J to secure 60% participation. Another alumnus, Jai Mirpuri MBA’07D, gave €15,000 to the Class of MBA’21D for reaching their 60% participation goal.

The numbers don’t lie

The incredible efforts of everyone involved have played a pivotal role in surpassing our goals for the Force for Good Campaign. Since 2013, the start of the Force for Good Campaign, a total of 23 Robin Hood campaigns have been run, with an average class participation rate of 71%. Together, these classes raised a total of €467,000 from 6,984 student donors (not including matching donor gifts). The Robin Hood students from MBA classes alone represent close to 45% of all unique donors to the Force for Good Campaign.

In fact, the MBA’23D campaign last year was so successful, raising the most funds in Robin Hood history (thanks to a matching donor gift), that two Robin Hood Scholarships will be awarded in the MBA’24D intake.

As for the MIM classes, they set the bar high with an impressive 92% student participation for the very first MIM’21 class in the 20/21 academic year and since then, they’ve produced an unrivalled 100% participation rate for both MIM’22 and MIM’23 classes. This is testament to the powerful impact of the Robin Hood Scholarship Campaign. Beyond the numbers, the strong showing of student support has served to inspire the wider alumni community and set the stage for a culture of philanthropy that will endure long after these students have graduated.

Leaving a lasting impact

Most importantly, the efforts of both students and donors will go a long way towards helping talented individuals across the world access a world-class INSEAD education amidst a challenging economic climate. Since its inception 16 years ago, the Robin Hood Scholarship Campaign has already helped 41 such students live the unique life-changing INSEAD experience. For Alison Ah-Moo MIM’22, the scholarship she received was a “god-send” at a time when she was seriously considering dropping out of INSEAD. Coming from Mauritius, her income was highly dependent upon tourism, which suffered immensely and unexpectedly during the pandemic. “ Alison is also the first graduate in her family and shared how receiving the scholarship has helped to concretize the hopes and dreams of her relatives for a brighter future. “I will be eternally grateful to INSEAD and the MIM’21 Robin Hood Committee as this scholarship really changed my life.”