DONOR DEVELOPMENT
For the Small Christian School
About Our Program
Our one-of-a-kind step-by-step prescriptive coaching plan will help Christian schools begin, grow, and maintain a vibrant and well-structured development program for sustained annual funding and capital campaign readiness.
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When you hire someone to take on the role of Development at your school, they need the necessary tools to succeed. If this backfires, it can cost the school time, money, and lots of frustration.
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Development is NOT about a sale or an event. Stop the nonsense before it begins and easily learn how to start, staff, and correctly operate a real development department in your school.
Designed Specifically for Christian Schools
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Start a sustainable development funding program.
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Restructure or jump-start a struggling development program.
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Learn specific tasks and processes of a Christian school development program.
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Analyze donor perceptions and guide your Development team (even if that is just one person!) on the exciting journey into "Development done right."
Development is not rocket science; however, no one probably ever woke up one day and said, “I think I want to be a fundraiser.” This is a learned field, with a right way to do that which will make you successful.
Benefits and Cost
When you consider the cost of hiring someone to take on the Development functions of the school who may not be completely prepared for the task at hand, the investment into DevRx from SchoolRIGHT will significantly impact your Development ROI.
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Our single pricing feature of $1,499 provides the following for your school...
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On-Demand Video instruction for individuals or groups (one cost per school regardless of the number involved).
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Development Training Manual with guides, instructions, forms, and more to steer you correctly in the learning process.
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Discounted rate for our classic Parent & Employee Survey of prevailing attitudes & opinions.
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Unlimited support via email.
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There are no contracts or up-front costs. Onsite visits may be conducted as mutually beneficial and incur an additional cost based on travel distance and time spent on site. Please ask for details.
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How do fundraisers (candy sales and events) fit into the overall Development program?A professionally executed Development program will have a very high focus on building sustained annual givers of various financial capacities and abilities. The "painless fundraiser" such as a candy sale or event does not help form any long-lasting relationship with a donor. While many events serve a very good purpose in a Development program, they cannot be the measure of a successful operation, nor the end-all of the Development program. And while smaller fundraisers such as candy sales may bring in some much-needed cash at different times, the time investment and percentage of return should be carefully scrutinized to determine their continued use. Our approach is not necessarily to eliminate these types of fundraisers, but to help give them a place where they can best be utilized. A true Development program is built-upon many other factors that will help the school gain in much more dramatic ways than events and candy sale fundraisers ever could.
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Our Development Director has some experience. Will this be beneficial to them?Development leaders in many schools do not have much, if any, training to properly execute a fully functioning Development program. They tend to learn on the job or "by their best guess." The average tenure of a Development professional is under two years! Much of the reason for that is related to training for the task. You will find our program will provide a significant amount of training that has never before been known or realized by those already in the Development role at your school.
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​Can this help with Capital Campaigns and Annual Funds?Yes! If your school has any plans or desires for a special funding project such as a capital campaign, we can help you get ready for that. If you don't, we will help you understand the strategic Development steps that need to be addressed to undertake a campaign. Campaigns make our schools healthy and we think every school should either be in a campaign of some sort, just have come out of one, or be planning for one!
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​What if we don't have a Development person on staff?Our program is ideally designed for schools just wanting to start a Development office or those who already have a young Development presence. It is not necessary to have a dedicated or experienced formal Development leader or team in place, but someone who can be assigned as the main point person. In some cases, this may be the Head of School.
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Our school is small. Do we really need to do Development?Absolutely! Schools with the greatest long-term viability are those who take this venture seriously, understand its need, and dedicate the time and resources to its success.
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Can more than one person be in this program?Yes. An entire committee, a sub-committee of the board, more than one staff person, or others you assign can all benefit from this education. There is no additional cost to have more than one person going through the program.
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​Who should do Development at our school?If needed, we will help you profile and identify qualified candidates to consider as the lead for your Development program whether this is a full-time, part-time, or volunteer position. It may be someone who is currently on staff, a parent in your school body, or an outside candidate.