Improved data analysis. This is a complex world, and your school's marketing efforts must be aligned with data. Chances are, you as a business officer understand data better than anyone else. Just as you already spend considerable time collecting and analyzing data for the head of school and trustees, why not also dig into the data covering your school's market, specifically the demographics of families who are a good fit for your school? Actively partnering with marketing will pay big dividends in your enrollment yield and financial aid budget.
Support for your school's value proposition. At the end of the day, effective marketing means communicating value in order to drive a specific action. In the case of preK-12 education, that action is students applying and enrolling. By partnering with marketing, you'll create a shared understanding of what makes your school unique, which aspects of your program differentiate it in the marketplace and what areas of your physical plant are most attractive to prospective families. You'll understand your school's key enrollment drivers program by program and building by building, making you a powerful advocate for resourcing those areas in ways that improve net tuition and, ultimately, the bottom line. Remember, a school's budget is a financial reflection of its mission. You want to invest wherever your mission aligns strongly with the market.
Delivering your school's mission for decades to come. Every fall I ask business officers, "How does your enrollment look this year?" If your answer is positive, you will spend the year working strategically alongside the head of school and trustees, allocating financial resources to support world-class education and mapping out the school's long-term goals. If your answer is "We fell a little short," you will likely spend the year reallocating funds, reducing expenses and worrying about fundraising. In other words, you'll be focused on operations. If you would rather work on strategy than operations, you owe it to yourself to take a real interest in marketing and enrollment management.
Why do I feel so strongly about the business officer's role in marketing? Because I have seen how marketing can transform an organization. In 2010, NBOA had just over 700 member schools. We had much to recommend us, but we weren't telling our story very well. Last week, we welcomed our 1300th U.S. member school, St. Mary's Academy in Denver. What happened? Beginning in 2010, NBOA developed a professional marketing strategy to tell our story in every state.
By the same token, I believe that a professional marketing strategy — informed in part by the unique perspective that only the business officer can bring — can tell your school's story to every prospective family in your marketplace.
Listen to more of my thoughts on the business officer's role in independent school marketing in these two podcasts with our friends at Blackbaud and InspirED.
