Crafting and Troubleshooting Your Development Plan | Kim Jennings

Armed with a carefully crafted development plan (or at least the outline of one), dig into some of the challenges of moving the needle. Work with experts on aligning with schools’ strategic goals, simplifying, prioritizing, and project management. You will also have the opportunity to see real example development plans of seasoned colleagues and learn how they are implemented in their respective schools. This module is for development directors who are working to create a workable development plan or have a plan that has stalled. Have no fear, your cohort will work together in the coming months to refine and encourage you as you implement your plan.

Kim Jennings specializes in Christian K12 school development and communications.

Before joining the Generis team in 2020, Kim served as a fundraising leader in faith-based K12 schools for more than a decade, Prior to that, she served on the development team at Wheaton College during their $170M “Promise Campaign.”

Kim is experienced in K12 capital campaigns and annual operations, with an emphasis on comprehensive strategic planning and messaging, annual giving, one-to-one donor relationship strategy, and communications – all in the unique context of the Christian K12 culture.

Kim graduated from Furman University and has a master’s degree in Public Relations from Boston University. She has three boys, all of whom are attending or have graduated from Christian schools. She grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and lived and served for 20 years in Chicago and Boston. Kim, her husband Mark, and their youngest son now live in the Atlanta area.

Growing your Endowment and Planned Giving Program | Steven Walker and Laurel Hardgrove

With the rising cost of running a school and increasing financial aid needs, endowment building must be a priority to ensure financial sustainability into the future. In this module, recommended for seasoned development professionals, you will learn about endowment-building strategies and planned giving program elements, as well as create a plan to build your school’s endowment. Throughout the year, you will test your plan with colleagues and donors while continuing to layer in more sophisticated and refined strategies.

Steven Walker represents Crescendo Interactive as the Central Integrated Marketing Specialist. In the six-plus years with Crescendo, Steven has opened the doors to numerous planned giving programs; introducing marketing strategies and concepts. He comes from a long history of sales and marketing, working for companies like Spirited Foods and The Coca-Cola Company. His primary goal is to help non-profits expand their brand recognition and help educate their donors on charitable planned giving. After graduating from Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, CA. Steven was a theater major at UCLA. Steven grew up in the entertainment industry working in theater and television, having done commercials for McDonalds, Coca-Cola, CVS and others. Also, Steven is a big LA Dodgers fan, growing up and living in Los Angeles his whole life.

A results-oriented philanthropy professional, Laurel Hardgrove has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and non-profit philanthropy.

After studying theology and apologetics at Moody Bible Institute, Laurel studied business and public policy at Western University in Canada. Fascinated with all things financial, Laurel served clients at Merrill Lynch and Sun Life of Canada. Recruited to healthcare, Laurel had the opportunity to serve as chief development officer of Canada’s third-largest teaching hospital, and she played a key role in their community-transforming $104 million campaign. During this time, there was ample opportunity for innovation – including leading an innovative legacy campaign that resulted in $4.95 million in planned gifts, which helped to establish “Leave A Legacy” initiatives across Canada.

After four large campaigns, Laurel joined the staff of her church and focused on funding a missions home, launching the Ministry of Giving, and creating a culture of generosity. Laurel loves coaching non-profit leaders toward becoming financial leaders, strategizing on legacy giving campaigns, and planning strategic events. Laurel is inspired to see generosity transform communities and build the kingdom of God!

Enrollment Planning in an Ever-Changing Landscape | Geordie Mitchell

Whether you have a carefully crafted enrollment plan or not, the ground is shifting! New challenges include individualizing the recruitment experience for younger families, managing wait pools, and identifying the best technology tools for managing the admission process. Intended for school leaders who manage recruitment and retention, this module will help you work through today’s challenges and create an actionable process that brings mission-fit families to your school. Throughout the year, participants will further develop their processes and troubleshoot together the challenges that arise.

Geordie Michell joined La Jolla Country Day School in 2020 as assistant head of school for enrollment management and outreach after spending 30 years in admissions and a total of 39 years in independent schools. He comes by his passion for education honestly as it is the “family business.” He grew up on a school campus in Baltimore and his mother, father, wife, daughter, and son have all held various positions in independent schools.

Mr. Mitchell began his teaching career as a chemistry and AP computer science teacher at a boarding school and later taught middle school math and computer skills. He has always loved technology and data and deepened his knowledge in these areas when he earned his M.Ed. in educational technology at Lesley University. Mr. Mitchell has shared his interest in data with admissions professionals all over the world presenting at conferences and running workshops on how to use and interpret data for enrollment management.

Utilizing Data and Predictive Modeling for Enrollment Forecasting | Mike Connor

Take a deep dive into demographics analysis, historical and future trends, and predictive models as helpful tools for enrollment forecasting. Nearly the entire school budget depends on our ability to consider all the influencing factors, and accurately predict enrollment for one, three, and five years into the future. It is part art and part science! In this module led by experts in the field, seasoned admissions professionals will hone their enrollment forecasting techniques. Throughout the year, participants will work with their HoS and CFOs, as well as their cohort to refine their predictive model and make adjustments.

Mike Connor is the President of Connor Associates Strategic Services and co-author of the National Association of Independent School's book, Marketing Independent Schools in the 21st Century. For three decades, Mike has served independent schools and presented keynotes and marketing workshops to education audiences around the world.

His 2023 blog and InspirED podcast, "A New Look at Succession Planning: Ensuring the Success of Your New Head of School" was among the top five downloaded podcasts for InspirED, a renowned resource for private school marketing and home to the Brilliance Awards that feature “best-of-the-best” global private school marketing and communication.

Having served in nearly all the administrative roles that his independent school clients hold, Mike was inspired to write his e-book, Pulling in the Same Direction. His call to independent schools is a prescription for getting the entire school community involved in enrollment, retention, advancement, and philanthropy.

Mike has spent 26 years as an education consultant, working with over 500 domestic and international independent, religious, boarding, private, public, and charter schools in marketing, predictive psychographic enrollment modeling and forecasting, internal and external image audits, strategic marketing plans, tuition pricing, forensic financial research and modeling, and institutional strategic planning.

Connor’s work in strategic planning, integrated marketing, and international programs has been covered by CASE Currents magazine, Independent School magazine, The Washington Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Education Week.

Take your Strategic Marketing Plan Further | Lori Paredes and Colin Wyenberg

So your marketing plan isn’t complete, has stalled, or needs another layer of sophistication! In this module, participants will troubleshoot essential elements of their strategic marketing plan and examine marketing plans of (non-competitor) peer schools. Consider ROI within marketing and learn how to gather and layer in informed data such as the cost of onboarding new students versus retaining current students. Learn how to best utilize staff for retention efforts. how to market to the elusive millennials and GenZ parents. Ongoing, your cohort will meet to ensure progress on building valuable collaborations within your school and utilizing data to drive strategic initiatives for marketing.

Lori Paredes has over 15 years of experience in non-profit advancement, marketing and communications, with nearly a decade of that time spent in faith-based PK-12 independent schools. As a member of the FinalSite Advantage team, Lori works with independent schools to assist them in implementing strategic marketing initiatives and to provide ongoing support to achieve their enrollment goals. She is passionate about championing the unique mission of each of her clients and helping her schools with whatever they may need, be it website strategy, video planning and storytelling, advertising campaign planning, advancement strategy, and more.

Colin Wyenberg has over 20 years of experience working in Admissions and Enrollment in both higher education and PK-12 independent schools. His doctoral research focused on fostering pathways of enrollment for underserved communities. Like many educators, he has also worn many additional hats, served on a wide range of committees, and loves the magic of a school community. As an Education Solutions Consultant at FinalSite, he works with schools across the south to step up their admissions and enrollment processes and advance the mission of the school.

A Strong School Culture Markets Itself! | Jason Cook

When marketing resources are limited, focusing on key elements of school culture can create a buzz within the local community and help a school capitalize on the number one (free) marketing strategy…word of mouth. A strong, compelling school culture builds trust and a public relations bedrock for the future. Raving fans then serve as your best marketing tool. Through telling authentic stories of demonstrated educational value and community collaborations and service, you can attract mission-fit families to your school and build a reputation in your community that will sustain you through the toughest crisis. Layer in transparency, media outreach, and change management strategies. Put your efforts into school culture and let it do the marketing for you.

Jason Cook was appointed vice president for marketing and communications and chief marketing officer for Baylor University in December 2016. He has served as a communications and marketing executive in corporate, public service, athletic, and academic settings for more than 20 years.

He provides strategic communications counsel to the board, president, and president’s council, and he leads the Division of Marketing and Communications, which directs the marketing, media, and electronic communications of the University and works closely with Baylor’s schools and administrative areas to advance University priorities and increase awareness of Baylor’s mission.

Prior to joining Baylor, Mr. Cook served from 2013 to 2016 as senior associate athletics director for external affairs at Texas A&M University. He previously served as Texas A&M’s vice president for marketing and communications from 2008 to 2013, during which time he played a key role in the transition to the SEC in 2012 and the establishment of Texas A&M’s “one brand” approach. For his efforts, he was named the International Brand Master of the Year by the Educational Marketing Group. In addition, he served six years as assistant vice president of media and communications for Birmingham, Alabama-based HealthSouth Corp., a Fortune 500 company at the time.