This second system actually began to be examined before the other four were.<\/p>\n
The site that I started and have administered for over 20 years is SchoolAdvancement.com.\u00a0 It started out as a discussion group for the Diocesan advancement directors and principals I worked with, but then people from all over the country started requesting to be part of the discussion group.\u00a0 It was created on “forum” software (if you remember that service before Facebook and LinkedIn groups emerged), and I used Blogger to create articles about Marketing, Enrollment and Development.<\/p>\n
When I added Asset Management and Retention to those subjects, I realized I could create the acronym DREAM, as it was the dream of the people involved to move their school forward into the future where enrollment and revenues were stable.<\/p>\n
It was then that a colleague suggested that since I knew how to create Web sites, I should create one to put all these elements together.<\/p>\n
Some time ago, I met with a speaker and author at a local leadership conference for schools, and asked him for feedback on what I was doing.\u00a0 He said the concept was great – but the DREAM acronym didn’t work – because if the point was to help advance schools toward the vision the leadership has set for them, once the dream is achieved, it is no longer a dream, but a reality.<\/p>\n
After some thought and prayer, I realized that I could rearrange the letters into ARMED after seeing a presentation which started out with a slide that stated, “The battle is real.”\u00a0 That immediately sent my mind to the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, which asks to protect us in battle, and to the book of Ephesians which advises to put on the armor of God.<\/p>\n
On to the second system.<\/p>\n
Last month, the first system of your school was defined as five elements that work together and identify your faith-based or private school as an educational environment.\u00a0 Those five elements are Faith Identity or Founder’s Heritage, Activities, Curriculum, Technology and Surroundings.\u00a0 It may help to think of these areas as associated with the “left side” of the brain, since they deal with the “factual” or logical elements that make a school, “a school.”<\/p>\n
If we look at the “right side” of the brain, then, we can see there is a different system in place. The first letters of the five elements of this system create the ARMED acronym – Asset Management, Retention, Marketing, Enrollment and Development.<\/p>\n
Here’s an interesting comparison to consider.\u00a0 In academics, the highest grade a student can receive, without extra credit points, is a score of 100%.\u00a0 In activities, there can be a championship level which teams strive for.\u00a0 It’s the goal of many schools today to have one-to-one technology programs in place so that every student has a piece of computer technology to assist them in performing tasks that make learning and collaboration possible in today’s classrooms and cloudspaces.<\/p>\n
But in Development, how many dollars raised is considered “enough” to support this year’s budget?\u00a0 How many additional students are considered to be “enough” for the upcoming school year? How much marketing is “enough” before your constituent communities tire of hearing your message?\u00a0 With this system, and a nod to the movie “Mean Girls,” the limit does not exist.<\/p>\n
Well, it does…but no Development Director would keep their job if they said, “I’ve raised my goal of $100,000, so I’ll take the next 3 months off.”<\/p>\n
Further, the ARMED acronym reminds us that not only must we be prepared, but aligns the elements required for building a solid financial foundation for the school’s stabilization, growth and sustainability.<\/p>\n