Many schools run capital campaigns and annual fund campaigns simultaneously. Capital campaigns are usually implemented over several years and are designed to increase capital assets such as new or improved facilities and/or growing endowment. Annual fund campaigns are repeated yearly and are most often created for enhancements for the current year. Balancing these two efforts requires clear goals, appropriate volunteer training, targeted donor solicitation, and a strategic sense of timing. A capital campaign, because of the size of the goal and the drive’s length, is more likely to falter than an annual campaign that in many schools has become habitual. Being prepared with “jump-starting” strategies can mean the difference between success and failure.

ISM has consistently applauded schools’ efforts to continue to connect with students once they have graduated or left the school. While ISM has been skeptical about the willingness of alumni to give to their pre-collegiate institutions, that situation seems to be changing. Indeed, day schools are joining boarding schools in carefully cultivating and engaging their alumni.The result is willingness for alumni to volunteer, assist current students with networking opportunities and a marked increase in giving from this important constituent group.

As Admission Director, you are an expert at building relationships and cultivating enthusiasm about the educational opportunities your school offers for each child and family. While some admission professionals use the initial prospective family conversation to promote enthusiasm for the school’s philanthropic endeavors—some do not. Some actively resist any notion of addressing the school’s philanthropic pursuits during the admission cultivation experience, fearing the prospective family will lose interest in pursuing enrollment. In fact, the opposite is true. Families appreciate being fully informed about the mission trajectory of the school—and actively seek an accurate expression of costs, expectations, and community responsibilities.

In ISM’s Advancement Model, we advocate strategically integrating admission, marketing communications, and development at the service of your school’s mission. This model facilitates a united function that inspires and manages the flow of resources into the school—recruiting and re-recruiting students and their families and inviting philanthropic investment.

The competition for philanthropic gifts, and a donor’s reason for giving, require a more complex and multifaceted balance. Advancement professionals need deeper insights into what motivates donors and prospects to give. Develop effective strategies to engage and bring them closer to your institution. Donors are vital for securing your school’s stability and success, and your relationships with them must be conducted with care and understanding. The Donor Cycle is a strategic approach to moving the donor into a closer relationship to the school. It is a sequence of processes and practices involved in establishing and renewing the connection of donors and their values with the school and its mission.

In the previous three issues of I&P, we introduced the three spheres of influence, then focused on the Market Position and School Culture spheres. This article focuses on the sphere dedicated to Constituent Relations. “Constituent relations” refers to the manner in which you, as Admission Director, Development Director, or Marketing Communications Director, take care of your key constituents: parents, students, alumni, alumni parents, faculty, volunteers, members of the operational and academic leadership teams, and others. This sphere of influence focuses largely on developing a client-centered orientation. A robust and concerted culture of client service is an expectation of, and a real difference-maker for, private-independent school families.

Any professional, knowledgeable architect will ask your school for educational specifications—a definition of the “who, what, when, why, and how” for each space in the structure. These “building blocks” make the difference between a generic, restrictive structure and one specifically designed to: support your school’s mission; meet the needs of your program; serve the students, faculty, and staff who use the building daily; and stay within your budget constraints.

An effective and productive development operation is essential to a school’s long-term ability to sustain excellence in student programs. An accountable Development Office must evaluate how well its operations reflect best practices and whether objectives are achieved. A standard metric makes this evaluation possible. The following questionnaire provides a framework for appraising your performance and reviewing the practices that define success. Development Directors can use these metrics to analyze the state of their operations and establish baselines. They suggest ways to implement best practices in your development operations, and to measure progress and communicate it to the School Head, the Board, and the school community.

Who’s’ volunteering at your school? What are they doing? How many hours have been contributed? To provide oversight of volunteer activity, you, as Director of Parent Relations (or another administrator who oversees volunteers), need to have that information in hand. One of your responsibilities is to recruit and value parent volunteers, and maintain a reliable volunteer force. Work closely with your Parent Association leaders to ensure that your school makes the most of this invaluable resource.

The Board of Trustees is the champion of all your fundraising efforts, through their leadership roles in campaigns as well as their own financial support. As a development professional, School Head, or volunteer development leader, you know that the annual fund is one of your most important fundraising programs, providing the platform for developing a culture of philanthropy at your school. Trustees are the school’s volunteer leaders and fiduciary stewards, and therefore play a pivotal role in ensuring that your annual campaign achieves its goals.