If you work in a school that relies on significant financial contributions to meet your yearly budgetary goals, it is possible that at some point there will be or has been a breakdown in confidence within the organization. As a result, donations have dropped, enrollment has likely declined, and school spirit is in serious jeopardy.In essence, the overall health of the organization is very poor and the prognosis isn't very good.
At these times, if the board of directors wishes to save the school, drastic measures must be taken to both "stop the bleeding" and set a new course to the future.
Below, I have suggested ten ways for schools to regain the trust and confidence once shown to it by parents, alumni, and donors.
1. New Leadership
The quality of leadership is vital to the overall success of any organization, especially a school. If your school is in dire straits, I would look at the person in charge of the day to day operations, whether he or she is called the principal, administrator, or superintendent. What has this leader done to either help or harm the community? What has he or she done to foster alumni development and what is the current status of donor relations? Has enrollment increased or decreased? All these factors are important when judging the leader. These questions can be summed up, however, when gaging the predominant "mood" of the school. If the teachers and students aren't energized and happy to be in the school everyday, I would submit that the leader is not doing a good job.
If this is the case, either something has to be done for the leader to improve dramatically in short order or a change must be made. Without the absolute commitment of the administrator, the school will continue its downward decent.
2. Apologize Without Excuses
Once new leadership (or at least a new leadership attitude) is in place, the repair work must begin. The incoming leader must quickly acclimate him or herself and find out who has been or who feels wronged by the organization. Then, the leader must reach out and do whatever it takes to bring these people back into the fold.
The leader must make this apology, even though he or she had nothing to do with the perceived injustice. The best way to do this is with a sympathetic ear and understanding words. Phrases like, "I can totally understand that would make you feel hurt," or "It makes sense that you felt we weren't being good stewards of the money" are honest and sincere expressions that will resonate with the people, without damaging the personal standing of the new leader.
Make sure not to get bogged down in excuses or details from the past. Accept that the person feels wronged and your job is to make him feel better. That's it.
Once you've got a few people back on board, word will spread, and your job of mending fences will become a little easier with momentum.
3. Make Easy Physical Changes within the Organization
I feel that easy physical changes should always precede difficult policy shifts. If your school is going to go through serious transformations in staff, procedures, and expectations, that will be difficult for some people to accept.
I have always found that if I undertake some simple physical projects, like painting, landscaping, re-arranging furniture, changing the purpose of a supply closet or classroom, or anything else that does not affect people's sense of security, but actually improves the physical appearance of the school, you will start to win them over before the tough stuff comes.
4. Honor History in New Ways
If the leader is new to the school, he or she can earn much respect and loyalty by finding a way to honor the school's past, but doing it in a way that has never been done before. This way, the leader will be both showing a respect for what came before, but also demonstrating that he or she has an eye on the future.
One example might be to create an annual award based on service to the school. This award could be named after a school founder or an important donor. This covers the "past" part, while the actual honor of the award, along with a new plaque that hangs in a prominent location is the "new" part. I did something very similar to this in the school I worked at and got great results.
5. Listen to Alumni and Donors
Another important task for new leadership in the school is to listen to alumni and donors. The leader should seek these people out and ask them a lot of open-ended questions. Let the alumni and the donors give you their unedited opinions about the school at large. Listen to them as long as they want to speak. Pay close attention and take good notes. Let them know that while you may not be able to make all the changes at once, you really appreciate their insight and will do your best to enact sensible change. This act of just opening yourself up will go a long way toward building trust and loyalty.
6. Study Successful Programs and Emulate Them
While every school has its own special circumstances, there are plenty of commonalities between educational institutions where you can find a success story to model. Do some research and talk to other leaders of similar schools. Share your story with them and find out what they did to pull themselves out of the tailspin they were in. While you may not use every suggestion, I would wager you will still find many pieces of useful advice in their experience.
7. Set Realistic Short Term Goals
Donors want to see verifiable proof of success. This is another reason why making physical changes is beneficial. Even though painting a few walls or cleaning something up won't make long-lasting improvements in enrollment or fund raising, they will show donors that "stuff is getting done." And that is good.
The leader must find a handful of areas that he or she can point to for easy success. Perhaps one goal is to improve communications. A regular newsletter, frequent email blasts, an improved website, and frequently updated bulletin boards are all ways to show that the leader is making quality communications more of a priority than it was in the past. Donors like this.
If the leader chooses to set and focus only on more long-term goals, like raising enrollment 10% for example, he will miss all of the building blocs in front of him. After the slow decline into the depths, donors and alumni, as well as parents of currently enrolled students are going to want to see more immediate signs of life. It's the reverse of the cliché, "Can't see the forest for the trees". Just remember that without individual trees, there is no forest.
8. Repair a Key Relationship(s) in the Community at Large
When I worked for the Christian school, I encountered a situation in which the relationship between the school and the local church community was dormant or in some cases, non-existent. I was shocked that there wasn't an active and dynamic support system between these seemingly cooperative groups.
One of the first things I did was to schedule private meetings with many of the key pastors involved to introduce myself and to invite them to become involved in our mission. Not everyone accepted my invitation, but some did, and we developed some very good friends from this effort.
I would guess that there are many rather obvious "missing links" in schools and non-profits out there. A new leader has the chance to, without any history, right some wrongs. If you find a person or a group that your school should be friendly with, but you aren't, I urge you to make this happen.
If you are successful in making this important connection, it will be another example to your board and donors that you are out there, changing the culture that existed before.
9. Be Appreciative
Sadly, one of the most common mistake non-profits in general and schools in particular, make is not to be appreciative of the gifts they receive. A gesture as simple as a thank you note is often forgotten.
This omission is often the reason why many donors break off their relationship with a school. I actually heard one donor once say he felt like a horse, ridden hard and then put away.
Even if a gift is many years old, if you are new to the school's leadership, you have the opportunity to say thank you again. With the "thank you" should also come the admission that you know this was (very) late in coming and you should give them your word that such omissions will not occur again. (And make sure they don't!)
Conclusion
Taking over a school in trouble is a very difficult task. The issues that put the school in jeopardy can be very serious and almost impossible to reverse. However, there are several ways that can help set your school back on a path to success.
