Running a Private School

I was an early adopter of social media so I can tell you that the growth of the genre which I have witnessed has been remarkable. The instant communications and universal accessibility of social media have powered revolutions around the world as you and I both know. Sadly, social media has been manipulated and abused by governments and political movements that seek to undermine and destroy institutions.

For the purposes of this article, we shall set aside those negative aspects of social media and look at ways in which your small to medium-sized private school can use social media to make families past, present, and future aware of your school. If your school has the budget for professional social media curators and a fully-integrated marketing program, you are all set. However, if you have limited resources for marketing your school and are not certain how to proceed, I have written this article with your school in mind.

Before we look at some suggestions for using social media, I want you to set aside any misconceptions which you might have about social media. I run into people all the time who say "I don't use Facebook." "I can't be bothered with Twitter." "YouTube is a waste of time." Interestingly enough, they never seem to mention Instagram or LinkedIn which are popular with millennials and the business community respectively. Social media is essentially an electronic form of socializing. Years ago we sent postcards to our friends and family when

Signs that your school might be failing don't suddenly appear all at once like a flashing neon sign. Instead, they appear gradually over weeks, months, and years. I am targeting small private schools with these remarks and suggestions with the hope that you will see telltale signs of concern long before they become major troubles.

As you and your board of trustees review the list which I have set out below, I would suggest scoring each item on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the low end, and 10 the top. So, for example, as you look at your enrolment data for the past 5 years, if the trend shows a deterioration in enrolment, you would score that item 5 or less. And so on. Then tackle the items on the list which need the most attention.

The following video discusses signs that a business is in trouble. Many of these will apply to a private school which is, after all, a business.

Low enrollment

Let's start with enrollment. Filling your school's seats is essential for balancing your budget. If you are having trouble doing that, then you need to find out why you are not able to fill all your seats. If you are a seasoned enrolment professional or have one on your board, then seek his advice and follow it. Enrollment professionals will look at a host of things that

Editor's note: I asked Jason How, a professional enrollment strategist and Managing Director of Agency J, to answer some of my questions about achieving enrollment targets and related matters. ~Rob

1. My school's enrollment is declining. I can't afford a marketing professional. What should I do?

Understanding what a school means when it can't afford a marketing professional is essential. Here are some guiding questions:

• Does it mean that they don't have an in-house marketing person?
• Does it mean they can't afford to hire an extra pair of hands?
• If it can't afford to hire outside help, is it because the administration made certain assumptions about the cost of hiring a marketing professional?

Once we understand what the school means, the next thing is to clarify why their school's enrollment is declining. Each reason has its solution. Reasons include:

• Declining student age population within the geographical region.
• Growing competition due to:
  • New schools are popping up in the area.
  • Existing schools are expanding aggressively.
  • Deteriorating ratings and feedback about the school's programs lead to a rise in negative reviews and word-of-mouth, discouraging others from attending the school (true story).
• Over-reliance on a single marketing and enrollment source.

It's important to get clarity on the main reason for the decline because marketing is not a magic pill that can solve every issue.

If a school has a good reputation but happens to be located in an area with fewer student-age population, there is not much marketing that can be done. Parents are not going

I am assuming that your school is well-known within your local community. But what about beyond that community? Are you visible to families looking for a school like yours? How will they know that your school fits their specific requirements? Well, there are several things you can do to reach that critical pool of families and potential students.

The Invisible Stuff

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a mystery to the uninitiated. It is one of those arcane sciences that webmasters everywhere must be aware of. Unfortunately, mentioning SEO for the rest of us prompts most of us to start reading emails and texting friends. It's all so technical. The truth is that good SEO can enhance your marketing efforts. It can make your school more visible to the audience which you are trying to reach. Weak or non-existent SEO will bury your site so that it is practically invisible. So, ignore SEO at your peril. At the least, get your arms around the basics so that you can supervise your web management and design team authoritatively.

This video explains what SEO is.

Some background

What is Search Engine Optimization? In its simplest terms, SEO is ensuring that your site's meta tags and content are optimized so parents and students can find your site easily when they type specific words into a search engine. For example, if you ask Google to show results

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made many changes which impact charities and not-for-profit organizations such as private schools. Large private schools have expert tax advice at their disposal, as well they should. However, small private schools may not have a fulltime accountant on their staff. The point of this article is to encourage the administrators and trustees of small schools to discuss The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 with tax and legal professionals at their earliest opportunity. These small schools need to understand what impact the new tax code has on their operations.

Here then are five items which I offer as talking points for your discussions.

1. The Impact On Charitable Giving

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – What Nonprofits Need to Know by Sandra Cyr in Philanthropy Journal News offers some insight into how the Tax Act might impact charitable giving. I use the verb "might" advisedly, because it is too soon as of this writing in July 2018 to know what the real impact on charitable giving will be. We will have a better idea about that in the spring of 2019. In the meantime, I suggest that you discuss giving with your board and try to develop a realistic plan. Don't assume that giving will stay the way it has been. Assume that it will change and be prepared for that change.