Presentation by Angela May

2. Turning Your Newly Enrolled
Families Into Annual Fund Donors
Presented by:
Angela May, bCRE
Database Administrator,
Denver Academy
#BBK12UC

3. 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
#BBK12UC

4. 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!
#BBK12UC

5. 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

6. THE ANNUAL FUND AS A WHOLE
IN YOUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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
#BBK12UC
30%
70%
Participation among
New Parents
Donors
Nondonors
60%
40%
Participation among
Returning Parents
Donors
Nondonors

10. 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

11. WELCOMING NEWLY ENROLLED
FAMILIES

12. 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

13. 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
#BBK12UC

14. EDUCATING NEWLY ENROLLED
FAMILIES ABOUT THE ANNUAL
FUND

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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
#BBK12UC

18. TURNING NEWLY ENROLLED
FAMILIES INTO ANNUAL FUND
DONORS

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

23. #BBK12UC