Developing Your School’s Enrollment & Marketing Plan
Andy Lynch, NorthStar Marketing and Rick Newberry, Enrollment Catalyst
Social posts. Website updates. Open houses. Re-enrollment deadlines. Reports. Meetings. More events. Photoshoots. More social posts. Does it ever seem like you’re on the hamster wheel, always running and never quite catching up? Wouldn’t it be great to step off the wheel long enough to think about purposeful priorities and not just pressing projects? Even better, wouldn’t you love to have an Enrollment & Marketing Plan to guide and align your Marketing and Admissions teams? The reality is most Christian schools don’t have a cohesive plan for their marketing, recruitment, and retention efforts. They are driven by deadlines rather than strategic priorities. The reality is marketing and admissions teams often operate independently without shared goals and dashboards. At CESA’s 2022 Summer Advancement Institute, we’re bringing Marketing and Admissions professionals together to address this gap and lay the foundations for creating a cohesive strategy. Andy Lynch (President & CEO of North Star Marketing) and Dr. Rick Newberry (President of Enrollment Catalyst) will lead the conversation and provide a framework for developing a cohesive Enrollment and Marketing Plan. We’ll walk through three strategic sessions together, including:
- The elements of an Enrollment & Marketing Plan
- An in-depth look at word-of-mouth marketing (including Parent Ambassadors)
- Components of a successful digital marketing strategy
Whether you’ve been operating from a plan for years or just making it up as you go, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to collaborate with your peers and go deep together.
Creating an Engaging Alumni Program
Penny Abrahams, Independent School Management (ISM)
The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) reports that the median alumni/ae giving is 8%, while the median CESA alumni/ae giving is under 2%. Our schools have an opportunity to not only increase giving from this important group but also continue to tell our school’s stories and to keep our alumni engaged in the life of our schools. This module will explore what motivates alumni of each generation to stay connected to their alma maters, and how our schools can build healthy, productive relationships with alumni that result in a well-organized volunteer program.
Discover how to support an alumni association that encourages professional and personal connections, engages alumni in your school’s present and future, and is highly representative of the breadth and diversity of individuals in your alumni community.
Create a well-organized and responsive program that empowers you to engage and steward alumni. Explore ways to plan and execute virtual and in-person alumni events, reunions, and fundraising initiatives, and discover how to build a representative Alumni Board to reduce the load on staff and give volunteer leadership meaning and purpose.
Throughout the year, participants will meet bi-monthly with their cohort to provide and receive accountability and advice with the goal of completing an effective alumni engagement plan by the end of the 2022-23 school year.
Schedule
Wednesday, June 15th
4 p.m. – Tour of Faith Lutheran Middle and High School
5:30 p.m. – Dinner and Networking
7 p.m. – Opening Program
Thursday, June 16th
8 a.m. – Breakfast
9 a.m. – noon – Cohort Study
noon – 1 p.m. – Lunch
1 – 4 p.m. – Cohort Study
4 – 5:30 p.m. – Break
8 p.m. - Optional Neon Museum Tour
Friday, June 17th
8 a.m. – Breakfast
9 a.m. – noon – Cohort Study
noon – Closing Worship and Prayer
1 p.m. – Grab and Go lunch and depart
Questions? Contact Katie Wiens
770.268.9355