After 22 Years, SchoolAdvancement.com is now ArchangelAdvancement.com
Systems Thinking to Help Schools Form a Firm Financial Foundation
Move Your Mindset From Fundraising to Development to Advancement, which leads to Growth, and then, Sustainability.
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.
Just as the elements of Advancement (Asset Management, Retention, Marketing, Enrollment and Development) form the acronym, ARMED, there are four additional systems at work within your school, denoted by the acronyms SIGNS, TEACH, FACTS and FAITH.
These systems are detailed on STAFFAdvancement.com, as well as providing articles on systems thinking, training opportunities, and financial success frameworks for parishes, sales professionals and personal finances. There is also the opportunity to engage Fractional Advancement Services for your school when it comes to financial aid allocation, streamlining the admissions process and re-enrollment journeys for new and returning parents of students, and adjusting your school's timelines to better serve the current generation of parents now enrolling their children at your school.
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Coming Soon: The ArchangelAdvancement Group
The new membership group will be hosted on LinkedIn rather than Facebook due to the professional nature of LinkedIn. To join, you must be a member of ArchangelAdvancement with a free, standard, or premium membership to the site. This way, membership will be limited to those who abide by the rules and are affiliated with a faith-based school, and content will be more protected than it has been throughout the past 20 years..
Why the Change to ArchangelAdvancement?
At this time in history, faith-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 schools, strategize to plan for the future. Many times, unfortunately, they try to solve problems with the same kind of thinking that created them.
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, For over 20 years, SchoolAdvancement.com shared "next" practices, unique and different strategies, and suggestions regarding 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 organization and are essential for every school’s success.
Since the elements of Advancement form the acronym "ARMED," and, as one Christian school leader put it, "The Battle Is Real," the word "Archangel" alludes to St. Michael the Archangel. The prayer to St. Michael contains a petition to "Defend us in battle," as Catholic and Christian schools strive to raise up disciples for Christ.
Additionally, within the word "Archangel" is the word "Change," which is what school leaders need to do with their mindsets and thinking, since doing what you've always been doing and working harder at it will validate the Law of Diminishing Returns.
Lastly, the letters of the word ARCHANGEL are an acronym from the 9 components of an effective Development program at a school. Notice there is not an "F" in the word, which means "fundraising" isn't one of those elements.
In Ephesians 6:11, St. Paul advises us to "Put on the armor of God, so you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." This site's purpose is to assist you in doing what needs to be done to your school is ready for the battle.
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.
Publications
Download your FREE copy of "Understanding Advancement: A Systems Thinking Framework for Today's Faith-Based School!"
Membership in ArchangelAdvancement is on the Horizon!
Free Membership
Access to select articles. publications and the ArchangelAdvancement LinkedIn Community
Standard Membership
Access to all elements of the Visitor plan, as well as specific articles about The ARMED Framework's elements.
Premium Membership
Access to all elements of the Free and Standard Membership plans, with access to additional articles and tools as they're developed.
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It’s Less Expensive To Reinforce a Brand Than To Create a New One – Especially Since You Don’t Create Your Brand Anymore
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