Transcript The Business of Adventist Education Creating an Educational Revival WELCOME! • Introduction • Take our Poll • Agenda.

The Business of Adventist
Education
Creating an Educational Revival
WELCOME!
• Introduction
• Take our Poll
• Agenda
Agenda
• Strategic Planning
–
–
–
–
–
–
Objective –when we are done
Brief history
Current scope of business
Current business model
Competitive advantage
Expanding your army
Your Mission
• Mission Statement
Does it match the quality of program you wish to
deliver?
• Are you living up to the mission?
• Where is your school falling short?
Real-Time Strategic
• Turn Around Mode
• Two worlds – Reality and Future
• Real-time strategic planning
– There are never enough resources to meet needs
– To remain viable we must focus resources
– Adapt quickly
When We Are Done
• Gain clarity about your identity
• Develop a better shared understanding of your
current and future situation
• Learn how to use practical tools to help you get
where you want to be
• In the future you will need to:
– Develop a work plan for implementing strategy
– Develop the ability to recognize and address
trends and factors that may impact your school
– Strengthen bonds between staff and board
members
The Ideal
•
•
•
•
•
Safe
Quality Education
Seventh-day Adventist Values
Updated Facility & Technology
Extracurricular Activities
What is Your Reality
•
•
•
•
•
•
Perception of school
Facility
Marketing presence
Web presence
Board leadership
Growth potential
A Common Reality
• Poor curb appeal, no signage
• Common vision needed
• Detractors are louder than supporters
Basic Demographic Hurdles
• Lower than average median income
• Aging Adventist population
• Mediocre church/pastoral support/involvement
Make a Brochure & They Will Come?
• Competition in the
independent school
world is on the rise
– Tuition increases
– Shifting
demographics
– Expanding choice
– Home Schooling on
the Rise
– Increase of charter
schools
– The Value
Proposition
• The national
association of
independent schools
reports that admissions
officers must identify 9
prospective students
for every 1 slot filled.
• In 1990, admission
officers averaged 10
contacts with families to
secure an enrollment.
Today that has
increased to as high as
30 contact points.
The Bright Side
• Long-standing history
• Upward growth trend
– Several entities taking an interest
(commonweal and AAF)
• Quality leadership
• Willingness to
improve
Top Hurdles of Your School
1
Wake up Community Adventist Education
2
Re-define Brand
Perception
Physical
Plant
3
Sell & Promote Vision
4
Establishing Worthy Student Funds
Jumping Right In with Eyes Closed
Vision without action is a dream. Action without
vision is simply passing the time. Action with
Vision is making a positive difference.
A Few Case Studies
Forest Lake Education
Center
• No real brand.
• Declining enrollment
• Stalled fundraising
campaign
• Vocal parents without any
details causing downward
spiral
• Very sophisticated
business community
West Coast Christian
Academy
• No brand
• Facilities is disrepair
• Extremely poor
community
• Dissention amongst
board, school and
churches – each going in
different direction
A Case Study
FLEC
• Underwent rigorous
strategic planning
process
• Identified key goals
• Created new brand
• Began to aggressively
promote brand and speak
the language of their
audience
Results
• Growth in enrollment from
540 to 647 in two years
• Donations of over $2
million to complete new
building
• Engaged board with ease
to share differences
A Case Study
WCCA
• Underwent rigorous
strategic planning
process
• Identified key goals
• Created new brand
• Began to aggressively
promote brand and speak
the language of their
audience
Results
• Growth in enrollment from
25 to in two years
• Donations to paint and
new carpet
• Changing board
• Focused mission
Top Three Focus
• Enrollment
• Visioning/Constituent Perception/Retention
• Marketing & Design
True Marketing
• This journey is going to be personal.
– One by one
• Conveying how your school is unique and
demonstrating why it is worth what it costs
(Value) will help you grow your school.
• This effort is the hardest work you will do as an
administrator of your school.
6 Essentials
• True Education has identified six essentials to a
school’s success –
• Community
• Curriculum
• Customer service
• Communication
• Cost (value)
• Christ
Create Community
• A school is more than a center for learning; it is a community center,
meeting the needs of its community. Building a sense of community,
of ownership among parents, teachers, and students is essential in
growing a school.
• Adapting Rick Warren’s church planting method
– determining who the school can best reach first and most effectively, but
welcoming all seekers and expecting target groups to multiply as the
school grows.
• “When the school becomes the center of community life, great
things are going to happen for those families, and great things are
going to happen to those children.”
- Education Secretary Arne Duncan
• The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into
windows. ~Sydney J. Harris
Customer Service
• From the inside out
– Begin with a cohesive and collaborative internal
effort.
– The most effective school marketers recognize
the power of partnerships among key internal
stakeholders, including faculty, admissions
• Listening carefully to those you seek to serve
– Making sure all stakeholders understand their
roles,
– Put the right technology in place to support
communication, schools can foster strong
internal collaboration that helps to advance their
missions
Communication
• The “Communication Age” Twitter
• Twitter
– Fastest growing social networking site with over with
over 12.1 million users.
– The largest segment of those users are people between
the ages of 35-50
• People must feel connected at all times. This must be embraced by
schools or risk alienating consumers.
• Schools should be equipped with a consumer database to track
and inform their customers on a regular basis.
• It is essential that the line of communication among Parents,
students, teachers, and administrators is open and free flowing.
Christ
• A Christian School begins with Christ.
• Meeting the need
– Today in America, about 70% of adults identify
themselves as Christian.
– 13,600 protestant schools and growing steadily.
• Experiential Christianity
– Christianity in Action
– Being vs. Doing
– They will know you by your deeds.
Where Do We Begin?
• One:
– You must recognize, and truly believe in your heart, that
your students and their parents are your customers.
Customer service must be at the very core of how you run
your school.
• Two:
– You must motivate your employees to serve as dedicated
champions for your students and cheerleaders for your
school. In other words, they must live the concepts of
excellence and service.
• Three:
– You must, literally, take your school message on the road.
Don't wait for people in your school community to come to
you. You must aggressively reach out to them. Only
through the combined support and efforts of everyone
directly and indirectly associated with your school will you
attain meaningful and lasting public confidence.
Staying focused
• Maybe so much to fix that you can’t focus
• To Do:
– Lay out a concise and practical map of the things
that need addressing and then number in order of
priority
– Try to carve out more time to be proactive instead
of reactive
Staying Focuses
• CURRENT SCOPE OF BUSINESS
–
–
–
–
–
–
Geographic area
Whom do we serve
What do we/do not offer
Finances
Competitor Issues
Future Plans
Staying Focused
• All Hands On Deck
– You cannot do this alone
– Who are your partners
– What products do you use that you can ask some
of those professionals to come on board
– You don’t have to do everything
• Science – partner with others
It Begins With You!
• Your spiritual walk and the one your school is
being lead is the utmost
• What first then?
– Reach out
– Reach within
“Excellence can be obtained if you:
. . . Care more than others think is wise;
. . . Risk more than others think is safe;
. . . Dream more than others think is practical;
. . . Expect more than other think is possible.”
What Can We Do
•
•
•
•
•
•
True Education is a strategic planning and marketing consulting firm focused on
strengthening and sustaining a sense of community, improving perception and driving
enrollment for Christian schools.
I believe in the purpose and mission of Christian education. Our goal is help raise
awareness of the value such an education can offer both in this life and the life to
come.
I believe, perception is reality and in order to get the best results from any marketing
campaign you must be keenly familiar with your perceived strengths and
weaknesses.
I believe any school can achieve excellence with proper vision and commitment.
I believe each community is different, and with a tailored approach your message
can stand out and affect positive change.
I believe in the value of information technology and its ability to deliver your
message.
“True education is well defined as the
harmonious development of all the
faculties; a full and adequate preparation
for this life and the future eternal.”
-EGW
Melissa Keller