Schools

Leaning on One Another

March 8, 2021

What started out as a project to assist a transformational group of principals to create an enrollment management plan for their Catholic school communities expanded into a cohort of school leaders who both leaned on and supported one another during what may be the most challenging year in their careers as school leaders.

The press release, Eleven Catholic School Principals Selected for National Mentor Program Year-long Pilot Program to Provide Ongoing Coaching and Mentoring issued by Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) sums up well the original purpose of the National Catholic School Mentor Program. Eleven Catholic elementary school principals from across the nation who demonstrated strong transformational leadership skills were nominated by their superintendents to take part in the National Catholic School Mentor Program developed in correlation with the 2016 research on parental perceptions of Catholic schools, The Catholic School Choice: Understanding the Perspectives of Parents and Opportunities for More Engagement. The program’s intention was to equip principals with the skills and resources needed to apply the research and positively impact enrollment and retention in their respective schools. The culmination of the yearlong coaching and mentoring resulted in each principal creating a comprehensive and practical enrollment management plan for his/her respective schools. Per the press release, the program’s generous sponsors, FADICA, and the National Catholic Educational Association “selected the professional consultants at Meitler to lead the initiative. As experts in Catholic school planning and operational strategy, Meitler coordinated the Leadership Institute and will continue to provide ongoing mentoring and coaching to the principals throughout the 2019-2020 school year.”

While the deliverable was achieved as an actionable enrollment management plan consistent with the research on what parents desired from the Catholic school, the byproduct was a cohort of school leaders who relied on one another and the Meitler team to walk together through a year dominated by the challenges of running schools during a pandemic. Our monthly conversations turned from asking the question, what are your enrollment goals, to asking the question, how are you holding up, are you still virtual, have you had any cases and what can we do to help? Principals took turns sharing resources and strategies with one another and soon a clear picture of the variety of approaches taken to education during a pandemic emerged depending upon the area of the country and the diocese in which a school was located. The principals, along with the team at Meitler, FADICA, and NCEA, soon became connected by our common commitment to Catholic education in a tumultuous time in our country’s history.

Fast forward and we are now entering into year two of this program with 8 of the 11 principals committing to a second year. Our focus is on assisting the principals in the implementation of their enrollment management plans, providing resources to support their work, and continuing to support one another in a time in which much is still unknown, yet the future of our Catholic schools remains bright.

Jackie Lichter, Ph.D

Please note: The photo was taken pre-pandemic.

The Pandemic’s Impact on the Parish

March 3, 2021

The first anniversary of the lockdown for COVID-19 is upon us. As we all struggle to adapt to a new sense of “normal” in our personal lives, how has the pandemic impacted parishes?

CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate) has been studying the effects of the pandemic on parishes and dioceses in the United States. Here are some highlights on financial contributions, Mass attendance, sacramental celebrations, ministry, and diocesan assistance to parishes from the 1964 Blog on the CARA website.

Financial Contributions

Parishes indicate that school funding, fundraising income and visitor revenue has declined considerably. Even outreach funds have diminished at a time of greater than normal need. What about regular stewardship?

About 76% of parishes benefitted initially from federal and/or state sources to fund staff salaries.
About 50% of parishes are now allowing for online giving. CARA estimates that 45% of Catholic households contribute regularly to the weekly collection. 48% of those prefer to give in-person.
About 22% of parishes have furloughed or laid off staff, closed their schools or eliminated programs.

Mass Attendance

The most visible sign of the pandemic’s impact nationally has been on Sunday and Holy Day Mass attendance. Here are some examples.

Easter of 2020 Mass attendance was 15%. 48% of the Catholic population attended the year before.
Christmas of 2020 attendance was 20%. The Christmas past saw 64% attend Mass.

Sacramental Celebrations

These have been impacted in varying degrees.

Confirmations across the country are down by 80%.
Funerals have decreased by 54%.

Ministry

The total impact is difficult to measure but there are some ministries which have faced significant changes.

Religious education on all levels has moved more and more to a virtual format.
Parish outreach programs are not only struggling for funds but are encountering difficulties in delivering services. Bishops have noted these same issues on the diocesan level for Catholic Charities.
Pastoral care to health facilities and home visits require personal protective equipment and prevent most lay volunteers from assisting in the ministries.
Staff morale has been diminished because of all the changes, demands and frustrations to ministry which have been encountered. Bishops have also noted a decline in staff morale at the diocesan level.

Diocesan Assistance to Parishes

The pandemic, in many locations, has provided an opportunity for the diocese and the parish to work more closely together. Dioceses have notably assisted parishes in these ways:

Many dioceses advocated for and assisted parishes with applications for federal and state aid.
Some adjusted diocesan assessments to ease the financial burden for a time.
Some have helped parishes and Catholic schools acquire the technology for online Masses and distance learning.

What Should Parishes Be Ready For When the Pandemic Ends?

Financial giving and Mass attendance are likely to gradually return to levels similar to the pre-pandemic ones. The same can be projected for sacramental celebrations and ministry. Here are a few specific areas for consideration or planning:

There will be some pent-up demand for sacramental celebrations.
Many parishes will need to re-establish communication with all parishioners, update them about “return to normalcy” plans, and invite them to engage when it is safe to do so in larger numbers.
People are now familiar with virtual technology which can be incorporated into ministries and regular parish meetings.
There may be some ongoing safety practices regarding liturgical interactions with the assembly.
The focus on sanitary supplies and sanitizing is likely here to stay.

If the past is a prelude to the future, according to the PBS documentaries on the 1918 pandemic and the 1930s through the 1950’s polio scares, people, will quickly put the COVID pandemic behind them and embrace a new “normal.”

Mark Kemmeter

Establishing an Enrollment Management Program

March 1, 2021

Establishing an enrollment management program is one of the most important steps a Catholic school can take. Be sure to establish clarity of your mission, form an enrollment management team, and then create your enrollment management plan that is specific and measurable. We can help you get there.

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Does your planning use a roadmap or a compass?

February 25, 2021

In a recent webinar presented by our partner, Ruotolo Associates (“Foresight 2021: Leveraging Lessons Learned”), they discussed lessons learned regarding philanthropic giving during this past year of the pandemic. In their presentation, I found an interesting idea that poked at my thoughts and led me to a different take on how we sometimes approach planning. And better yet, how a change in perspective could bring about a potentially better result.

We often hear and even use the comparison that strategic planning is like using a roadmap that will lead us to the vision we wish to achieve. Like a roadmap, the plan has a starting point and provides a route or multiple potential options of moving toward our vision, which is our end point. Nice and easy.

As we set out using the map, the path is clearly established. Maybe it’s well-worn from those who have gone before us; perhaps it’s new and possibly exciting. There are a variety of opportunities – things to see and consider, perhaps a side trip to look at something new, but usually not too far off the established route. Usually the challenges on the road – detours, potholes, and delays – are presented to us early on, especially if we have our GPS activated. Even with these challenges, we are usually able to anticipate them, choose a different proscribed route, and see other paths that we could consider on our roadmap.

But what if planning were more like a trek using a compass rather than the proscribed routes presented to us on a roadmap? What if we were to approach planning with a “direction” we would like to go, a vision that sets a big, bold future for our schools and parishes that is not always well-defined and easy to find on a map? What if we have the big picture and then use the compass to find our way? It would certainly be more challenging. We can’t always see or even find the “right” path, and we may not be able to anticipate the potholes, detours, and other challenges that may arise. Yet, what we may gain is a new level of innovation, flexibility, adaptation, resilience, and an openness to the yet undiscovered.

Interestingly enough, both approaches to planning can work, using a map or a compass in looking to the future. The questions are what are we looking for, are we open to the unanticipated and undiscovered, and will we truly enjoy the journey to what we want to be? Jack Dixon, the Welsh rugby player has an interesting quote: “If you focus on results, you will not change. If you focus on change, you will get results.” Sounds like a compass kind of guy with an interesting perspective that can apply well to how we undertake planning with our Catholic schools and parishes.

Tom J. Heding

Meitler Minute

February 16, 2021

A broad-based funding plan that looks beyond tuition and typical fundraisers is the best way to achieve long-term financial stability and sustainability. Developing this kind of long-range financial strategy is a part of our planning process when we engage with schools.