Marketing on a Shoestring

Most of us in Catholic schools don't market our schools very well, mostly because we see it as a luxury we can't afford. In fact, newspaper ads, slick admissions brochures, billboards and radio spots are very expensive, and given what we pay our teachers, it's not an unreasonable position to be hesitant to spend money on what may or may not "pay off" in the long run. But that makes us uneasy, because we know that enrollment is the life blood of our school's long term health.

The best marketing, however, doesn't cost us anything.

I believe the best marketing for our school is "inside-out" marketing--that is, equip our parents and teachers with "good news" stories about our school, and then let these "insiders" share those stories with others. If you think about it, "word of mouth" is the way that parents choose schools for their children anyway--they don't do it by the quality of an admissions brochure. 

So what are our parents saying?

Parents are proud of us, and they want to feel good about their choice and sacrifice to send their children to our school. Teachers are proud to work with us. They both want to hear good news stories, and they're eager to share this news with others.

The key question is this: how do we equip our "insiders" with these stories?

I believe that it's incumbent on us as school leaders to generate 2-3 "good news" stories every week about our students or teachers, and we must be creative in doing so. It isn't just what Mrs. Johnson did in second grade this week, although it could be. It might be about a student who just became an Eagle scout. It may be an interesting service project our kids are involved in. It might be a quick "catching up" with a recent graduate who is now in high school or college. It might be a quick interview with a teacher who is celebrating his or her 10th, 15th or 20th year in our schools. It could be an interview with four sixth graders who tell us what they like about our school. Perhaps it's a quick interview with a new parent, about why they chose our school for his or her child.

These stories need not be the long "feature length" quality--in fact, shorter is usually better. But they should include a picture that resonates with the reader, and they should reflect on the mission of our school and all the diverse, wonderful things our students, faculty and parents do.

Don't have the time to write these stories? Perhaps that's something we can ask a volunteer to do for us once/week.

Once we have these 2-3 stories, we should share them with everyone. They should be posted on our school's facebook page and as links for our "Twitter" feeds.  They should be placed as links on the front page of our web site (if they're on page 2 of our website, no one is reading them--see how we do this here: www.jp2hs.org). They should be sent out as links in the school's weekly email to all of our constituents. They should be mailed to the diocesan and local papers (What they publish we can't control, but if they need content, we're giving it to them. With the razor thin margins papers are operating with, we've found about 1/2 of what we send to them is published, often word for word with what we've written.)

In this world of "rubber-necking" to see the latest accident or tragedy, we must be very disciplined and persistent in countering with positive stories about our school and students. The word "gospel", after all, means "good news."

Let's share the gospel unabashedly! 

Ramping Up Our Message

One of the mistakes we often make in Catholic schools is we don’t speak powerfully enough or evocatively enough of our mission. 

Our problems begin with our mission statements themselves, which too frequently go through the laundry list of “mind, body, soul” in some form or another. My school at John Paul II is fairly typical: 

Inspired by faith, Pope John Paul II High School prepares students to be strong in mind, body, character, and spirit for lives of learning and service, according to the Gospel. 

We get it, right? Our mission is aimed at the whole child. But that mantra is so tired, so old, so predictable, it’s forgettable and uninspiring.  

But it’s worse than that. If our mission statements were merely forgettable, they’d be harmless. But too often, they become the parameters within which we describe ourselves to each other, to our own families, and to prospective families.  As such, they have a deadening effect on what we should be proclaiming: the magnificent work God is doing in the lives of our students.  

In contrast, watch this brief clip from St. Rose of Lima, in Denver, Colorado:

 

Who do you say that we are? “We are Christ to the world!” says an 8^th grade girl, with unblinking conviction.  “We are going to college! We are getting to heaven!” say two first graders.  Even the least sentimental among us is likely moved by the powerful simplicity of those statements.

Or how about this way of talking about our mission? 

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity). 

What is our purpose as Catholic schools? To build palaces—cathedrals, even—where God can reside in the life of our students!

Or how about this magnificent way of presenting our mission to our students, from the mouth of soon to be Saint John Paul II? 

(Young people), it is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal. (World Youth Day, Rome, 2000) 

Pope Benedict said something similar to youth recently: 

The world promises you comfort. But you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness! 

This is the language we should be using to tell people about our schools!  When we immerse our students in a culture of optimism and high expectations, when they're supported by teachers and parents who care about them and pick them up when they stumble, when they belong to a team, activity or club that they are passionate about with peers who share that passion, and when they are invited to grow in their faith through prayer, worship and service, they truly flourish, becoming young men and women who are confident, happy and future oriented.  

Let us be bold! Our schools need to embrace the evangelical challenge of the gospel and talk about this challenge openly with our students and prospective families.  Young people are living in a dreary world of low expectations and accommodation. Deep down, beneath the veneer of apathy, they want more.  They want to become "new creations," and to be "transformed, by the renewal of (their) minds."  They want to make a difference in other people's lives--like all of us, they want their lives to matter! If we speak openly and optimistically of this gospel challenge with them, if we build a culture of high expectations, prayer and support to live this challenge out, our schools can free young people of the gravitational forces that inhibit them from becoming the magnificent persons God created them to be! Our schools change kids' lives!

Let us find stories that witness to this transformation in the lives of our individual students and retell these stories over and over.

If we start thinking and talking about ourselves in this way, parents will be beating down our doors to send their children to us.