Move Your Mindset From Fundraising to Development to Advancement
Linear Thinking is Process-Oriented; Systems Thinking is Systems-Oriented. Your school may have excellent results, but all its systems must be working toward excellence to be sustainable.
A tetrahedron is a commonly called a three-sided pyramid, even though it has four sides. When one side changes, the whole object must adjust to accommodate the change to maintain its shape.
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The Need For SchoolAdvancement
At this time in history, fatih-based schools have closed or merged due to rising costs and changing demographics. Schools simply cannot rely on traditional fiscal approaches to fund their ministries.
Conversely, some areas of the country have experienced growing populations, producing a desire for additional faith-based schools. Some of those populations do not have the financial means to pay for large construction projects, and growing communities are put in the same financial conundrum as those that are shrinking.
While school leaders grapple with the changes they're facing, a paradigm has begun to take shape. Isolated successes have been experienced in some areas of the country, while other dioceses, deaneries, parishes and their respective schools, as well as Christian and other faith-based schools, strategize to plan for the future.
Rather than continuing to “reinvent the wheel,” this site's goal is to provide guidance gleaned from schools which have experienced successes, accepting responsibility for achieving not just excellence, but sustainability. In a spirit of community, SchoolAdvancement shares "next" practices, proven strategies, failed experiments and suggestions regarding what to avoid along the path, and, interestingly, how some small "shifts" can have a significant positive impact on the future of a school. Though the curriculum of various faith-based schools may be different, the five elements of Advancement - Asset Management, Retention, Marketing, Enrollment and Development (The ARMED Framework) represent the “business" side of the mission and are essential for every school’s success.
While some school leaders and boards are beholden to the belief that “It’s all about the money,” others have said “It’s all about enrollment.” Actually, “It’s all about all of it!" Your school's customers will evaluate "the experience" of your school based on their expectations of excellence.
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Access to select articles, as well as podcasts (when produced) and publications
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Access to all elements of the Visitor plan, as well as specific articles about The ARMED Framework's elements.
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Recent Articles
November: The Importance of the Invitation…and Giving “Thanks”
A national company that works to assist schools and churches with their Development and Stewardship efforts defines Development like this: […]
Fish Where the Fish Are
(This was the first Marketing Matters article published on SchoolAdvancement.com back in 2004. That means this site is celebrating its […]
Surveying Your School’s Parents About “The Experience” of “Their” School
Continuing on from last week, “The Experience” is one of your school’s keys to successful student retention – or should […]
5 Tips for a Successful Fundraising Event Invitation
I ran across this article from the Andrea Brody Design Network. In it, Andrea says that she attended a Webinar […]
Strategic vs. Operational
It’s not often that I’m truly excited about what I’ve read on other blogs, but every once in a while […]
Your School’s Target Market and Segment Differentiation
I was hoping to call this article “Whom Do You Serve?” but most schools would answer, “The children.” But you […]
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Move Your Mindset From Fundraising to Development to Advancement
Linear Thinking is Process-Oriented; Systems Thinking is Systems-Oriented. Your school may have excellent results, but all its systems must be working toward excellence to be sustainable.
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