Turning Your Newly Enrolled

Families Into Annual Fund Donors

Presented by:

Angela May, bCRE

Database Administrator,

Denver Academy

#BBK12UC

An Introduction

About Me

• Database Administrator at Denver Academy

• Blackbaud user for 9 years

• Blackbaud Certified in The Raiser’s Edge

• Led several schoolwide database initiatives

• Presented at the Blackbaud Conference for Nonprofits

About Denver Academy

• An independent K-12 day school for diverse learners

• Enrollment of 370

• Blackbaud products:

– Raiser’s Edge

– Education Edge (Admissions Office and Registrar’s Office)

– Online Campus Community

– NetClassroom

– FAWeb

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Overview of Presentation

• Annual Fund as a whole at your school

• Annual Fund and your Newly Enrolled Families

– Welcoming Newly Enrolled Families

– Educating Them about the Annual Fund

– Turning Them into first year Annual Fund Donors

• Team Approach: Admissions and Development

• Ideas have been gathered over the years from several

sources, including list serves, blogs, trainings, and trial

and error at our school

• Take what you want, leave what you don’t!

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Why this presentation?

• Newly enrolled families “count” when it comes to Annual

Fund participation

• When you know how newly enrolled families are

participating in Annual Fund, you can craft a strategy for

increasing their participation (measure it!)

• A Team Approach is important!

#BBK12UC

THE ANNUAL FUND AS A WHOLE

IN YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Let’s check the temperature

• Does your school have an Annual Fund?

• Is the Annual Fund the #1 fundraising priority?

• Does the Annual Fund have competition?

– Capital Campaign

– Parent Association

– Classroom initiatives

• How well is the Annual Fund promoted?

• How do your employees and Board feel about Annual Fund?

• How are you communicating PROGRESS toward your goal and SUCCESS?

#BBK12UC

Why Measure Participation?

• Accreditation organizations (NAIS) look for participation

figures from your school’s various constituencies (parents,

alumni, board)

• Grantmaking foundations may request your participation

numbers, favorable numbers can mean GRANT MONEY!

• It is essential to have a goal and to know your progress

toward your goal! And share it!

• How are your newly enrolled families participating? The

results may surprise you!

• The fiscal year end is a great time to measure last’s year’s

participation numbers, to get a baseline to compare against

#BBK12UC

A look at the Numbers

Participation:

New Parents

• 30 out of 100 gave

• 30% participation

Returning Parents

• 120 out of 200 gave

• 60% participation

Counted together

• 150 out of 300 gave

• 50% participation

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30%

70%

Participation among New Parents

Donors

Nondonors

60% 40%

Participation among Returning Parents

Donors

Nondonors

Increasing New Parent

Participation

• Is “New Parent participation” in Annual Fund not where

you want it to be?

• Does “New Parent participation” in Annual Fund bring

down your overall parent participation percentage?

• It’s time for a strategy!

• Joint effort between Admissions and Development

– Welcoming Newly Enrolled families

– Educating them about the Annual Fund

– Turning them into first year Annual Fund donors!

• Measure it! Measure it! Measure it!

#BBK12UC

WELCOMING NEWLY ENROLLED

FAMILIES

Welcoming New Families

• How does your school welcome new families? What

about out-of-state parents?

• Some Ideas:

– Welcome Packet

– Letter from the Headmaster, Development Director

– New Parent Orientation

– Picnic with the Teachers

– Parent Association Welcoming Committee

– Parent to Parent Network

• The GOAL is to make them feel connected and welcome

#BBK12UC

The Team Approach

Admissions

• New families are not “off

your plate” once they’re

enrolled

• Follow up with families at

regular intervals

• Make information

available to Development

• Admissions and

Development: arm-in-arm

Development

• Easy does it!

• Privacy first

• Get as much relevant

data as possible into your

database

• Wealth screen

• Development and

Admissions: arm-in-arm

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EDUCATING NEWLY ENROLLED

FAMILIES ABOUT THE ANNUAL

FUND

Educating about the Annual Fund

• Rethink assumptions:

– “they know what Annual Fund Is”

– “they know the importance of participation”

– “financial aid families don’t have the extra money to give”

• Education starts on your website!

– Excellent examples:

• Charlotte Country Day School (N. Carolina)

• Poughkeepsie Day School (New York)

• Annual Fund should be prominently displayed at school

events: Back to School Night, the fall musical, etc.

#BBK12UC

Educating about the Annual Fund

• What’s your Annual Fund “elevator speech”?

• Traditions of Giving brochure

• Emphasize that participation at any level is important

• Consider emphasizing the success of the Board appeal

and the Employee appeal (if they were successful)

• Educate about the Annual Fund before appeals go out!

• The mailed appeal should not be the first time they have

heard about the Annual Fund. Same with Phonathon!

• Important to communicate: “we ask all families to give”

(financial aid families are not off the hook!)

#BBK12UC

The Team Approach

Admissions

• Prominently display

Annual Fund materials in

your Admissions office

• Enclose a copy of the

latest Annual Report in

the new family welcome

packet

• Take families to the

Development Office

during the tour!

Development

• Provide up-to-date

literature to Admissions

on a regular basis

• Mail a handwritten note

from the Development

Director to new families

• Keep Admissions

informed on your ‘new

family’ fundraising efforts

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TURNING NEWLY ENROLLED

FAMILIES INTO ANNUAL FUND

DONORS

Turning them into Donors!

• After welcoming them, and educating them, it’s time to ASK!

• It should be clear by now that Annual Fund is “a thing”

• Use a Multi-channel approach:

– Mailed appeals

– Emailed appeals

– Phonathon (consider a special script for new families)

• Follow up on “promises”/pledges

• Report on Success! Prominently display the progress toward your goal.

• Public gratitude: “Thank you to all who have donated!”

#BBK12UC

The Team Approach

Admissions

• Enjoy the fruits! You

were a part of the Annual

Fund’s success!

• Continue to contact new

families throughout the

year

• Notify Development about

any new information that

would be helpful

Development

• Track progress toward

your goals

• Design reports to track

‘new parent participation’

• Report back to

Admissions on the

progress toward the goal

• Thank the Admissions

staff for helping you!

#BBK12UC

Conclusion

• New Parent participation is important!

• Measure it!

• Don’t underestimate the value of a Team Approach

between Admissions and Development

– Welcoming New Families

– Educating them about the Annual Fund

– Turning them into first year Annual Fund Donors!

#BBK12UC

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

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