Beyond Mediocrity: Successful Development Tips for Catholic Schools and Parishes

In this edition of “Beyond Mediocrity,” Frank Donaldson, president of ISPD, introduces and has a conversation Lelia Kramer, president of St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati, OH. Lelia shares the many stories of success she and her team have had in positioning the school as one of the leading all-girls' schools in the Midwest. She talks about the value of mission, vision, and having a strategic growth plan in place in order to prevail and not just survive in today's world. Frank first met Lelia when she and her husband Mac were chairpersons for a successful capital campaign at St. Gertrude Parish and School in Madiera, OH. 

Expanding on the ISPD newsletter that was released on June 15, 2020, ISPD president Frank Donaldson talks about the importance of the Summer of 2020. In this episode, he offers 10 suggestions on what Catholic school and parish leaders could do over these 75 days (June 15th-August 28th). Using the theme of “building the bridge as you walk on it” from Robert Quinn, this podcast emphasizes the importance of networking, pipelining to your people, establishing a consistent communication system, putting your Leadership (Core) Team in place, plus other suggestions.

In Session II, Frank Donaldson shares with the audience the six stages of change process and how we have seen these stages unfold since the beginning of March 2020. He explains that by understanding these stages, this will allow us to move through this “storm” and enter into our reformation and new norms for the future.

In Session I, Frank Donaldson, President of ISPD, introduces the title and purpose of this new ISPD video/podcast series. Titled From Crisis to Challenge to Change, the series will take the audience on a series of steps that are designed to provide the foundation for meeting and surpassing the challenges in this COVID-19 world. In Session I, the focus is on making sure the guiding principles of sound development/stewardship are understood, because that will make a huge difference on navigating safely in these times.

In this episode, we discuss two more types of input – the Input Session and Cup-of-Coffee Gatherings. With both of these methods providing the opportunity to meet “eyeball to eyeball,” this podcast talks about how to set up and organize these input vehicles.

In this episode we talk about the importance of “pipelining to your people.” Furthermore, we discuss The Ultimate Question survey and its value to Catholic schools and parishes. ISPD believes this simple survey can gather valuable information in terms of understanding the people who promote your school and/or parish and the people who detract from it.

This episode discusses the value of Catholic schools and parishes creating a Culture of Belonging and Believing. Outlined as the top tier on ISPD’s Catholic School/Parish Development Pyramid of Success, this major step in establishing a people-engaging culture can mean the difference between Catholic institutions prevailing or just surviving. This podcast talks about the importance of building this culture.

This episode shares information about the four upcoming, spring 2020 semester on-line courses in Catholic school and parish development that Catholic leaders can take. These courses are offered through the University of Dayton and taught by Frank Donaldson, president of ISPD. Students (pastors, presidents, principals, development/advancement directors, stewardship directors, diocesan leaders, faculty/staff, board members, volunteers, etc.) can receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) and a Certificate of Completion from UD.

In this episode we talk about your Catholic school’s WOW. What can you say about your Catholic school that no other school can say? What is your WOW? In other words, what distinguishes you from everyone else — not makes you better than — but what makes your school stand out?

In this episode we talk about the value of a parish developing their Top 10 promotional points. Very similar to Catholic schools, parishes would serve themselves well by having clear affirming messages to use across all communication vehicles. In addition, what if your parish created a list of expectations: what a parishioner or parish family can expect from the parish and what that same parish can expect from the parishioner or parish family.

In this episode we talk about the value of Catholic schools creating their Top 10 list of “selling points.” We emphasize that this is an excellent opportunity to invite and involve different groups of Catholic school leaders in order to create this Top 10. Faculty and staff, student leaders, boards and councils, parent leaders, and alumni leaders can all participate. This is an exciting exercise to create your Top 10.

Referencing Henri Nouwen, we explain the value of having a dynamic mission/vision statement. Seen as the core to everything a Catholic school and/or parish does, the mission/vision statement becomes the “topic sentence to the paragraph” and the “thesis to the essay.” This episode discusses why and how.

In this episode, we explain the value of having a FORMAL Catholic parish development/stewardship system. This episode also clearly articulates the six major components that make up the organizational structure needed for successful Catholic parish development.

This episode clearly articulates the six major components that make up the organizational structure needed for successful Catholic school development.

Part II discusses the value of creating a belonging culture in Catholic schools and parishes. In addition, the rippling effect of people involvement is discussed with the image of the “Pebble in a Pond” theory, which ISPD has both illustrated and taught for years.

In this episode, we reveal a working definition of the word “development” and how it does not translate into just fund-raising. At the heart of this episode is the 7I process of Catholic development that shows the value of people engagement.