The Business of Adventist Education

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The Business of AdventistEducation

• Creating an Educational Revival

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WELCOME!

• Introduction
• Take our Poll
• Agenda

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Agenda

• Strategic Planning
• Objective when we are done
• Brief history
• Current scope of business
• Current business model
• Competitive advantage
• Expanding your army

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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?

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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

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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

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The Ideal

• Safe
• Quality Education
• Seventh-day Adventist Values
• Updated Facility Technology
• Extracurricular Activities

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What is Your Reality

• Perception of school
• Facility
• Marketing presence
• Web presence
• Board leadership
• Growth potential

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A Common Reality

• Poor curb appeal, no signage
• Common vision needed
• Detractors are louder than supporters

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Basic Demographic Hurdles

• Lower than average median income
• Aging Adventist population
• Mediocre church/pastoral support/involvement

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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.

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The Bright Side

• Long-standing history
• Upward growth trend
• Several entities taking an interest (commonweal
  and AAF)
• Quality leadership
• Willingness to improve

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Top Hurdles of Your School
Re-define Brand
Sell Promote Vision
Establishing Worthy Student Funds
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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.

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A Few Case Studies

• Forest Lake Education Center

• West Coast Christian Academy

• No real brand.
• Declining enrollment
• Stalled fundraising campaign
• Vocal parents without any details causing
  downward spiral
• Very sophisticated business community

• No brand
• Facilities is disrepair
• Extremely poor community
• Dissention amongst board, school and churches
  each going in different direction

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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

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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

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Top Three Focus

• Enrollment
• Visioning/Constituent Perception/Retention
• Marketing Design

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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.

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6 Essentials

• True Education has identified six essentials to a
  schools success
• Community
• Curriculum
• Customer service
• Communication
• Cost (value)
• Christ

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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 Warrens 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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Staying focused

• Maybe so much to fix that you cant 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

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Staying Focuses

• CURRENT SCOPE OF BUSINESS
• Geographic area
• Whom do we serve
• What do we/do not offer
• Finances
• Competitor Issues
• Future Plans

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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 dont have to do everything
• Science partner with others

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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

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• 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.

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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
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Thank You!
Melissa Keller