{"id":5740,"date":"2026-01-15T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T20:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeziemski.com\/?p=1596"},"modified":"2026-01-15T19:57:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T00:57:59","slug":"build-community-at-your-school-january-2016-next-practice-insight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/?p=5740","title":{"rendered":"Build Community at Your School Since It’s A Community – Not a Family (January 2026 “Next Practice” Insight)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems that schools are always asking parents to “do” something, or “give” something.\u00a0 Parents are asked to donate school supplies or paper products, attend events and bring family members (because there’s an admission fee for the event, and that generates revenue for the school), or to come to the PTG or HSA meeting to “Get involved!”\u00a0 Unfortunately, parents know that if they do attend, they may be asked to volunteer for a special event, give money for a special project, or buy something as part of the school’s “Fundraiser of the month.”<\/p>\n

The parent’s usual response?\u00a0 “Hey, I’m paying tuition already!”<\/p>\n

If that sound familiar, the interesting point is that “we know this stuff,” but still continue to persist in the same behavioral patterns because “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, the donating, attending, and getting involved is certainly necessary, but simply asking just isn’t enough.<\/p>\n

Think of it this way.\u00a0 If you were to ask a potential major donor to just give you $10,000, without knowing anything about your school, would they do it?<\/p>\n

I’m sure you know the answer.<\/p>\n

Yet, parents that may have 2 or 3 children enrolled in your school may be struggling and sacrificing to pay that much in tuition.\u00a0 They are certainly giving of their treasure, but sometimes, their time and their talent are equally, if not more, valuable to your school.<\/p>\n

To attract a major donor, a foundation which can offer a grant, or a business that will partner with your school, you know you first need to engage those individuals in the mission of and vision for your school by sharing (read, “marketing”) its successes.\u00a0 You may think that your parent community is already engaged because they’ve enrolled their children there, but once a child is enrolled, the engagement process, many times, ends.\u00a0 Parental engagement was important to enroll the child, but then engagement continues with other parents of prospective students to keep enrollment growing.<\/p>\n

The first step to growing enrollment, however, is keeping the enrollment you already have.\u00a0 Just as donor retention is a key topic among advancement professionals today, student retention is an important topic in higher education.\u00a0 For faith-based elementary and high schools, student retention is actually parent retention, since they’re the ones paying the way.<\/p>\n

Current parents of your school community must continually be engaged with your school by reminding them why they chose your school in the first place – because they realized it’s the premiere educational environment for their child.<\/p>\n

Need a couple of ideas as to how to foster community?\u00a0 Remember the song from days gone by:\u00a0 “The more we get together, together, together, the more we get together the happier we’ll be.”\u00a0 Your school needs to be a place where parents “want” to go; not where they “have” to go.\u00a0 With that in mind, here are some ideas schools are already using.\u00a0 Remember, your school isn’t just there to teach the children.\u00a0 A school is an educational environment, and teaching parents is certainly something administration and staff do every day.<\/p>\n