Ask anyone at a school what the debtor management team does, and the answer is usually short. They collect the school fees. What that answer leaves out is everything else. The parent at the door. The attorney who needs a full account history by Friday. The age analysis that must make sense before the next management meeting. And the school printer, which somehow always ends up in their office.
Jumping Fox Software has worked alongside school debtor management teams since 2014, and two questions come up again and again. How are other schools performing? And what are the successful schools doing that others can learn from? In 2026, the company decided to answer both. It launched the Inter-School Debtor Management Competition, the first competition of its kind in South Africa.
The competition is now in its final stretch. By October, 41% of the schools that entered were still in the race, having completed every action, every month. That number says a great deal about how demanding the actions are, and even more about the teams still standing. The two winning schools will be drawn in a lucky draw on 11 December, from the schools that complete every round.
Why launch a debtor management competition for schools?
The prize was never the main point. The competition was created to put the spotlight on debtor management teams and the important work they do, often while the people around them do not fully understand the role. It was also designed to motivate them, and to give them something the role rarely offers: a way to see how they measure up, and a reason to celebrate.
“Debtor management teams carry some of the heaviest work in a school, and very few people see it,” says Daleen Vorster, co-founder of Jumping Fox Software and Jonker Vorster Attorneys. “We wanted to recognise that work, and give these teams a reason to be proud of what they do.”
How does the Inter-School Debtor Management Competition work?
The format is simple. The work is not. On the first day of every month, Jumping Fox Software releases the competition actions for that month. Teams complete them with the help of the Jumping Fox Software support team, and every school that completes all the actions goes through to the next round.
As the year went on, the actions became more advanced. From the middle of the year, the focus shifted to the proven collection strategy Jumping Fox Software has built over more than a decade with schools, with new collection actions added every month. By the end, teams were not just ticking off tasks. They were running a complete, structured collection process.
Tears, deadlines and new school fee collection skills
Here is the part that deserves a standing ovation. Every competition action was completed on top of a full workload. Month end did not wait. Parents did not stop calling. Attorneys still needed their documents, and management still wanted the numbers ready for the meeting on Friday. And still, month after month, the actions got done.
There was excitement. There were challenges, deadlines that arrived far too quickly and, yes, a few tears. There were also new skills, and plenty of them.
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The competition made a real impact on school finances. It taught teams the proven collection strategy, showed them how to implement it on the system and introduced them to features many had never used. Training, implementation and results, all in one competition.
“We knew the competition would motivate the teams. The benefits went far beyond that,” says Vorster. “It was so successful that we are definitely doing it again next year.”
The Jumping Fox Community: support for school debtor management teams
Building a community of debtor management teams has always been close to the heart of Jumping Fox Software, because the job can be a lonely one. The competition took that community further than anyone expected. It brought teams together in a way that is hard to explain to anyone who was not part of it. Teams at different schools discovered they were facing the same pressures, the same deadlines and the same creative excuses from parents, and that they did not have to face any of it alone. That kind of support does not show up on an age analysis, but it shows up in the work.
Competition prizes: R15,000 and R10,000 for the winning teams
First prize is R15,000, sponsored by Jumping Fox Software. Second prize is R10,000, sponsored by Jonker Vorster Attorneys, which has worked with schools on school fee collections since 2002. The prize money goes to the winning debtor management teams, the people who did the work.
Going bigger in 2027: sponsorship opportunities
For 2027, Jumping Fox Software hopes to bring other businesses on board as sponsors, so that the prizes can grow with the competition. It is a chance for any business that works with schools to stand behind the teams who keep those schools financially healthy. Businesses interested in sponsoring can contact Daleen Vorster at moc.erawtfosxofgnipmuj@neelad.
Lifting the standard of school debtor management across South Africa
Debtor management has never been a spectator sport. Nobody outside the office sees the phone call that turned into a payment plan, or the account that finally came right after months of work. This year, those teams had a scoreboard, a community behind them and a reason to celebrate.
“We are so proud of these teams,” says Vorster. “Month after month, on top of everything else the job asks of them, they showed up and did the work. Together, they are lifting the standard of school debtor management across South Africa.”
After the draw on 11 December, Jumping Fox Software will share an update on the two winning schools. Whichever schools take home the prize money, every team that took part has already shown what a school debtor management team can do.
About Jumping Fox Software
Jumping Fox Software automates the entire debtor management and exemption process for public and private schools in South Africa. The company was founded in 2014 by the legal practitioners behind Jonker Vorster Attorneys, a firm specialising in education and credit law. Its support team works alongside school debtor management teams every month. www.jumpingfoxsoftware.com
