Patrick McPartland/Staff Photographer - Richard Suchan, executive director of the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, addresses those gathered at the Department of Catholic Schools board/council training to promote the Professional Development Opportunity through media.
Education leaders of the Diocese of Buffalo gathered at the Catholic Center Nov. 19 to learn how best to market their schools in the dire economic realities of 2011. Principals, board and council members, advancement directors and home school associate presidents learned from marketing and advancement experts the importance of alumni relations, signage and the concerns of parents.
Rhonda Reid, president of Cornerstone Research and Ruth Diamond Market Research Inc., and adjunct professor at SUNY Buffalo, conducted six studies from 2008 to the present involving parents’ perceptions of Catholic education and what they wanted from a school. She also polled parents who chose not to enroll children after attending an open house nor continue with Catholic education.
The findings noted that while 89 percent like having multiple options when it came to choosing schools, only 52 percent were happy with the options they thought were available. One major concern was that only half the people polled could name a Catholic school in their area.
Parents want better quality education, more one-on-one attention for students and stricter discipline. In a nutshell, perception of the product is good. Catholic schools offer what parents want. The problem is awareness of the problem.
“What this study has shown us is that our overall awareness level was low, but the need and interest was high,” said Reid. “We need to communicate with them that we are out there. We need to show them that financial aid is available and we need to tell that you don’t have to be Catholic to attend our schools. That’s the bottom line.”
Kevin A. Keenan, director of communications for the diocese, spoke on raising the profile of Catholic schools.
Marketing a school is a 24/7 job and involves everything from the way the students dress to the way coaches conduct themselves on the field, as the given impression of the school.
“Don’t let people come up with their own perceptions of your school,” Keenan said.
Those in attendance were encouraged to look at their schools and find what makes them unique when developing a marketing plan.
Social media can be a free way to advertise schools. WGRZ welcomes blogs from residents on its website (
www.wgrz.com). Some posts are put on the Channel 2 Facebook page that reaches 28,000 subscribers. Some stories will be presented on the station’s newscast. No one present said they had a bad experience using Facebook.
Signs in front of schools can be another easy and strong way to deliver a message. Signs in front of St. Joseph University Parish and St. Benedict Parish, both located on Buffalo’s Main Street, get 9 million viewers passing by every year.
As the director of Catholic Alumni Partnership Karin Krasevac-Lenz knows alumni support is key to raising sustainable income for schools. Their support is based on appreciation of past service, current success, and knowing how donations of time, treasure and talent can shape a school’s future.
She also said that it is important to thank donors three times and to be sincere.
Richard Suchan, executive director of The Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese, followed up on fundraising by suggesting that every school allow donors to give online. Statistics have shown that online donors have higher incomes, are more educated, enjoy stronger job stability, and most importantly continue to give more than any other type of donor.
“If your going to be successful in fundraising you have to stand out from the crowd of these 1.4 million charities, you have to be able to effectively articulate your mission, you have to be able to identify your top three funding priorities, ensure that everyone in your organization effectively articulates those same three priorities, and then somehow in managing your work day you have to embrace the criticalness of fundraising. You have to set time aside to do it and do it as much as you can as a full-time job one day a week,” he said.
The nearly five-hour learning session was attended by 117 people representing 37 schools.
Like most Catholic schools, finances are the biggest problem for St. Joseph School in Gowanda. Principal Patrick Brady finds marketing to be both important to his school and a chore.
“We do a better job because of these types of meetings, but it is always a struggle because it costs money,“ he said. “You have to get brochures, you have to mail them, you have to get signs made up, you have to pay for advertising.”
Brady liked hearing of the low or no cost alternatives, such as the use of Facebook and Twitter. “I’m going to see how we can make use of that to get free advertising,” he said.
A small group of three representing Catholic Academy of Niagara Falls attended together hoping to learn how to deal with financial issues of the pre-k though eight school.
“I found it very helpful,” said Judy Nolan Powell, lay leader of the Catholic Academy of Niagara Falls board, and chair of the board for Niagara Catholic High School. “I think the important things are collaboration, mission and branding message. Collaboration in a community like Niagara Falls is very critical. We work closely with Niagara Catholic, but we could work much more closely, and I also came away with the need to really develop more strength on our board, representing a number of different industries and skills. Right now we have a small, very active, engaged board, but we need more people in the community because they can be our marketing message too.”
The Catholic Education Division of the Diocese of Buffalo recently published a new strategic plan for Catholic elementary schools. For more information visit FaithInTomorrow.org and www.BuffaloDCE.org.
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