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Is Getting Money Really That Hard?

I accepted my first principal position in 2000. I was excited at the prospect of leading and creating a culture of learning and continuous school improvement. I set my focus on developing a comprehensive plan for curriculum and instruction, expanding programming, and onboarding new staff. With my skilled and dedicated teachers, we received formal recognition for our curriculum work. Not only was hard work essential to achieve our goals, but it also required money, and getting money was the easiest part. Having a supportive pastor and financially sound parish allowed us to move forward in many improvement initiatives. It was what I fondly remember as the school budgeting “good old days”.

Fast forward 15 years and three schools later, I identified two areas of needed improvement, instructional programming, and a plan to increase teacher salaries. Both initiatives required substantial funding. At the same time, our school enrollment was declining and unsurprisingly parish financial commitments decreased as fewer parishioners participated in stewardship. The school had been dependent on the deep pockets of parents to accomplish its goals and thus, there was no funding strategy. To move forward with our important work my focus quickly became fund development planning, aka getting the money.

Fund development planning requires a team of dedicated individuals and a clear direction. Here are some valuable points to help guide your work.

  1. Using a SWOT Analysis
    It is important to look at your school’s current situation with your newly established fund development team. Diving deep into Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats will guide you in your planning and define your objectives.
  2. Donors
    Identify alumni, parents, grandparents, and businesses in your community that have demonstrated interest in your school’s mission. With those key persons identified, develop strategies to build those relationships while determining methods of solicitation. Create opportunities for outreach, appeals, and giving. Keep in mind, your beginning touchpoints should focus on positive and consistent communication about your school before an “ask” is made.
  3. Create a Database
    It is vital to create a database of alumni, parishioners, grandparents, and businesses. Again, it is important to include personal or face-to-face solicitation with each group. Outreach should be enhanced through your school’s marketing team.
  4. Development Funds
    Categorize your plan into three areas: What, Three-year periods of Results, and Future Expectations.
  5. Development Action Plan
    This section of the plan is comprised of actionable items and the persons responsible. Categories include What, Who, When, Status, and Expected Results
  6. Measuring Success
    Annually, measure the following areas: Donation amounts, Number of new prospects, Number of reoccurring donors, Effectiveness of relationship-building strategies, and Number of pledges.

We experienced an increase in funding by effectively engaging and building positive relationships with our donors.  By following our plan, getting the money became much easier.

Maria Schram

The Growing Number of Nones

Your eyes are not deceiving you.  The title neither refers to “nuns” nor is it a misspelling.  For the first time in the history of the United States, a 2020 Gallup poll has revealed that only 47% of American adults said they were members of a church, mosque or synagogue.  That means 53% of American adults have no formal religious participation.  Let’s break down that 53% number.

Much of the information in this blog comes from the book, The Nones:  Where They Come From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going (2021: Fortress Press), by Dr. Ryan Burge, an associate professor of Political Science at Eastern Illinois University.

Dr. Burge suggests that at least one fifth or 20% of the 53% are “nones.”  Other research groups view the percentage of “nones” higher:  Gallup says 21%, Pew Research Center posits 26%, and Cooperative Election Study estimates 32%.  The possible range of “nones” is from one-fifth to one-third of those who have no religious participation.  So who makes up this group of “nones?”

There are three groupings which make up the “nones:”

  • Agnostics – these are people who believe that nothing beyond the material world can be known including whether there is a God or is not.  For them, the existence of a God cannot be proven or disproven because there is no scientific evidence.  This grouping is about one-sixth of all “nones.”
  • Atheists – are people who do not believe in the existence of God.  To them, God does not exist.  This grouping is similar in size to agnostics but slightly larger.
  • Nothing in particulars – these are people who not sure about the existence of God.  They vacillate from unbelief to belief.  In fact, from 2010 to 2014, about one-fourth of the people in this grouping joined a denomination.  Two-thirds of “nones” can be categorized as “nothing in particulars.”

In terms of a profile of “nones,” there are some identifiable characteristics.

  • Agnostics and atheists tend to be more male, white and college-educated.
  • The average age of a “none” is 43-years-old.
  • 32% of “nones” are people of color.  The decline in the practice of Christianity is similar among whites, Blacks and Hispanics.
  • 70% of “nones” do not have a college degree.  The decline in the practice of Christianity is similar among the college-educated and non-college degree populations.
  • So, what are the possible explanations for the growing number of “nones?”  One explanation is that Christianity is becoming more politically conservative.  People who leave Christianity often cite the politics of the Christian right as the reason.

A second explanation is that there is a general disengagement from organized religion which has been taking place for decades in the United States.  There is a growing mistrust of large institutions and a view that organized religion is hypocritical.

The third explanation is that the decline in religious participation is consistent with religious trends around the world.  The Pew Research Center has studied worldwide religious participation for decades.  They have discovered a correlation between economic well-being and religious participation:  wealthy countries are less religious and poorer countries are more religious.  For decades, the United States has been an outlier, being a wealthy country and having a high level of religious participation.  Among the strongest influences on this connection between wealth and religiosity have been the Protestant work ethic and the more recent evangelical “gospel of prosperity.”  The Protestant work ethic is based on the Book of Proverbs and posits that God rewards the faithful with all the good things that life can provide.  The evangelical “gospel of prosperity” takes being rewarded in this life even further by suggesting that the wealthier you are the more you are favored or “blessed” by God.  It appears that the adherents of these beliefs are also waning in the United States.

What is this growing number of “nones” telling us?  First, the fact that so many people are no longer practicing any religion should be a challenge to renew our commitment to proclaim the Gospel.  It is obvious that whatever we are doing to evangelize is not working very well.  Second, as the largest organized religious denomination in the United States, if any religious group can begin to address these issues of declining religious belief and practice, it will be the Catholic Church.

Dr. Mark Kemmeter

 

Meitler Minute

We all love to nurture things and see them grow. How can you help your parish grow? Mark Kemmeter has decades of experience and insights that can help your parish add new members without simply pulling Catholics from another parish, or waiting for new Catholics to move into town. Mark firmly believes every parish can grow! Listen to this week’s Meitler Minute to learn more.

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Revisiting the Research

The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) and Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities’ (FADICA) 2016 research on parent perceptions of Catholic schools as reported in The Catholic School Choice: Understanding the Perspectives of Parents and Opportunities for More Engagement identified four major directional priorities that Catholic schools should focus on in order to attract more students.

  1. Both emphasizing the strength of and increasing the rigor of the school’s academic program
    • “Catholic schools need to clearly differentiate themselves from public schools in a way that also meets (or exceeds) parents’ requirements.” -The Catholic School Choice
  2. Demystifying tuition as many families assume they cannot afford a Catholic education
    • “Catholic schools should consider a second communications effort specifically focused on increasing parents’ confidence in their ability to afford tuition at a Catholic school.” -The Catholic School Choice.
  3. Offering a diverse learning environment
    • “Parents value diverse environments as they are seen as critical to their child’s long-term success in a global marketplace.” -The Catholic School Choice
  4. Taking a more integrated marketing approach
    • “There is an immediate opportunity for Catholic schools to strengthen their position within an increasingly competitive educational landscape nationwide” -The Catholic School Choice

Meitler’s experience in working with schools across the country for the past 49 years confirms the findings of this research study.  It isn’t unusual for schools to overemphasize their Catholicity and underemphasize their academic rigor. Yet, the research reveals that in most cases a false perception exists among parents who don’t send their child/ren to a Catholic school, that Catholic schools are really good at being Catholic and not as strong in their academic program.  The reality is most are academically rigorous high school and college preparatory Catholic schools who simply aren’t equally marketing their academic programing with their faith formation programming.

Similarly, when the Meitler team runs focus groups with parents of children not currently enrolled in Catholic schools, lack of affordability is most often noted as a primary deterrent.  Yet, when parents are made aware of a school’s tuition assistance program, state-sponsored tuition assistance programs, and scholarship opportunities, they are more likely to consider a Catholic school for their child.  In fact, the 2016 research study revealed only one in three families who lived in a school choice state were even aware of the fact that they live in a state that provides vouchers or tax credits for Catholic school tuition.

In Meitler’s experience, surveys and interviews confirm the desire on behalf of most parents for a learning environment that is ethnically and racially diverse, serves children from a broad range of socio-economic and religious backgrounds, offers support to students with exceptional learning needs, and differentiates instruction. Too often parents perceive Catholic schools as not keeping pace with the larger society and believe it to be narrower in its teaching.

Lastly, there is a tendency in our Catholic schools to utilize a one size fits all marketing message rather than a more targeted marketing approach.  With just a few simple steps, schools can better identify their target market and the best communication form to reach that market. A review of the school’s website and marketing materials is a good place to start. Do your messages contain a balance between promoting the school’s academic strengths and commitment to a Catholic culture?  Do your marketing materials reflect the student experience?  Are you proactively communicating what matters to parents? Do you advertise a learning environment that is diverse and utilizes modern/cutting-edge technology? While there are many more questions to consider when putting together a marketing plan, it all begins with moving away from a one size fits all method to developing a target market profile.

If you haven’t read The Catholic School Choice: Understanding the Perspectives of Parents and Opportunities for More Engagement, I invite you to do so.  While the research is now five years old, our experiences show it is still relevant today.

Jackie Lichter, Ph.D

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