Why haven’t we met our enrollment goals?

This is a question I am often asked, and it’s a multi-faceted one. So I ask a question in return: “What is it that sets your school apart?” Almost always, I get the same answer, “We’re a family, our academic test scores are great, and we have a Catholic, supportive, environment”. Since most schools answer the same way, you can see that school leaders are not communicating anything that sets them apart from the competition, even their public school competition. The next question I ask is “Have you surveyed the parents recently? The parents who stay, and the parents who have left”? The answer is often no.

“So, why haven’t we met our enrollment goals?” From years of analyzing parent satisfaction surveys at the diocesan level, here are some key takeaways:

Communication and Story-telling

School leaders are not wrong when they cite that parents love the family-atmosphere, strong academic program, and Catholic environment. However, sometimes school leaders assume these attributes are so strong, they are worth the cost of tuition versus free public school. First, ensure your school is truly pursuing excellence, and not just aiming for survival. Schools need to continually highlight their Catholic school culture and strong academic program through excellent storytelling in regular communication. Let your community know what your students are learning and doing, and the impact their experience at your school has on each family.

Perceptions

The best marketing your school has is word of mouth. Parents won’t put socks on their child without consulting their Facebook connections about the color and texture of the socks. Certainly school referrals through social networks are extremely important. I have to admit, as a novice principal I shied away from parent satisfaction surveys, because it frustrated me when there was a perception that was not reality. What I have learned as a more experienced leader, is when the perception does not seem to match the reality, either work to change the perception, or truly investigate your own perception and make sure it’s not biased.

Over Promise and Under Deliver

One of the mistakes I made as a young leader of a small Catholic elementary school with limited resources was I tried to add too many programs without enough personnel or time for professional development to really deliver on the promise. Schools cannot be all things to all people. If you ask the right survey questions, you can see what is important to parents. Evaluate the need, start with one program which has a nuance that will set you apart. Shout every success story to the roof-tops. As your program grows in popularity and your enrollment increases, you can invest more revenue back into the school. Then you are in a position to add additional programs and the personnel to support them.

We Don’t Have the (time, money, resources…)

I am sure you have heard the popular adage it takes money to make money. An important lesson I learned in school leadership is challenges are more like traffic cones than concrete walls. When you encounter a traffic cone, move the traffic cone. There is almost always a way to move the traffic cone, and the job of the school leader is to be persistent in moving the traffic cone. If it’s a good idea, someone will fund it.

Paid Marketing

Too often, I find Catholic elementary schools budget around $1,000 for marketing. School leaders will say, “but we post on Facebook”. Based on my research, organic reach to your Facebook followers is about 2%-6% of their current audience. It is even more difficult to reach prospective families who are not following your Facebook or Instagram page. Further, you want to capture parents who are intentionally looking for a school, so Google search ads are the way to go. I recommend budgeting the cost of two tuitions. Your money goes the farthest with digital ads if you do it correctly, and if you bring in two students as the result of your paid marketing strategy, then you broke even!

Need an enrollment management plan template? Click here.

Connect with me for a Vibrant Insights Assessment for actionable recommendations to help support and develop your strategic goals.