Independent School Marketing

What Should A Development Director's Summer To Do List Look Like?

Here's a quick list to put some detail around a central belief we have at The Gowan Group:  great Directors of Development kill it over the summer so that once families return to campus in the fall, they can devote themselves to the most important part of their work: building relationships.

  • Create calendars for all Development activities, layered together, to insure there are no collisions

  • Construct Annual Report

  • Finalize your own evaluation, that of your team and establish new yearly goals cascading from the Head's goals

  • Create yearly Development Plan 

  • Write (and hound delegate writers for) all Annual Giving communications

  • Meet with Director of Enrollment to review new families

  • Update alumni information with high school and college graduations

  • Rough out themes and content for alumni publications and other periodicals

  • Distant horizon planning: e.g. imminent capital campaign, event sunsetting, personnel change

  • Map out Development Committee agendas w/ Chair

  • Meet with Head and Facilities Director to review capital needs of school

  • Clean up:  set summer goals for database manager, toss obsolete materials, archive important work from last year

  • Thank/celebrate admin peers and your team

  • Review Development budget with Dir. of Business

  • Take a real break

Failure to complete these summer projects sets off an avalanche of unhappy consequences: the development team bunkered in the office through September and October unavailable to families and colleagues, hurriedly compiling the Annual Report (with donor-irking errors and impact-reducing delay), issuing spastic Annual Giving communications, some of them stepping on other key school initiatives.  As a result, continuing families re-confirm their perceptions of the school's development efforts as immature and aggravating, and new parents feel confused. Conversely, the Director of Development who has checked off most of this list starts the school year with momentum having built the time to personally welcome new families and continue stewarding continuing families. 

Written by:
Mike Vachow
Managing Director, The Gowan Group

Starting a 5-Year Independent School Positioning Strategy

Starting a 5-Year Independent School Positioning Strategy

Five Year School Planning: Value Positioning

The concept of value proposition evolved from Harvard Business School research and has been in the marketplace for decades. Like others in the independent school industry, Gowan Group refers to value proposition as a key selling point, or a differentiator used to persuade. We refer to the term value proposition as the method used to deliver value to a market.

Connecticut Independent School Hires Gowan Group

Gowan Group is excited to announce its most recent engagement with Eagle Hill School in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Eagle Hill School, located in Greenwich, Connecticut, partners with Gowan Group Indpendent School Consulting Firm.

Eagle Hill School, located in Greenwich, Connecticut, partners with Gowan Group Indpendent School Consulting Firm.

about Eagle Hill, Co-Ed Independent School

Eagle Hill is a coed school of 255 students for ages 5-15. Founded in 1975, Eagle Hill is touted as being a National leader in Schools for students with learning differences. With a visionary board of trustees, dedicated leadership team, and talented faculty, Eagle Hill consistently evaluates their program with an eye towards improvement and growth.

scope of school consulting services

The School is seeking Gowan Group’s guidance in an overall programmatic assessment focused on data-based research, community involvement, marketing and the efficacy of its program.

 

Gowan Group started its work in January and will continue to work alongside Eagle Hill through June, 2017.


About Gowan Group, Independent School Consulting Firm

Independent School Consultants with top experience in Private School leadership, providing the best solutions for every level of your School culture. Helping Independent Schools with Enrollment Management, Strategic Planning, Head of School Searches, Admission Audits, School Marketing, and School Messaging.

 

featured independent school consulting service:

COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM STUDY -  Once our initial research and discovery has begun and initial results are in, Gowan Group will undergo a comprehensive program study unique to our independent school client.