Planning Purposeful & Productive School Events - Part Two
Did you do your homework from Part One?
If so, you formed a small events committee, listed and categorized your school’s events for the year, estimated your team’s investment into these events, and then outlined the results of each event in past years. If you haven’t done this, jump over to Part One here!
Now it’s time to ask your school board and leadership an important question: what is our priority this year as a school organization? A priority is the MOST important thing your school needs to accomplish besides the every day work of education. Notice that “priority” is singular…define just ONE priority!
This priority should be located in your school’s strategic plan. If your school does not have a strategic plan, ask your leaders for their input to the following questions:
If we could wave a magic wand, what one issue would we vote to disappear?
What one goal, if accomplished, would solve many problems?
What would help our ministry take a step forward or become sustainable?
What is more important right now: growth and outreach or stability-building and in-reach?
Answering these questions can help your team determine what your school’s priority for the year. A list of potential priorities includes:
Reaching more families in our community
Retention of current families
Building culture
Differentiating our school program
The next step is to decide how many events your school team can execute exceptionally well throughout the year. For example, you might consider, “We can host one event each month, while skipping non-essential activities in August and May,” or “Given our team size, we’ll focus on four exceptional events instead of spreading ourselves thin with numerous mediocre ones.”
Now that you have this priority, take a look at the list of events you created. It’s time to play “Keep, Axe, and Add.”
Exercise 2: Keep, Axe, and Add to Create a Purposeful Ministry Events Calendar
Keep: Keep events on the calendar that will help your school accomplish its priority.
Axe: Consider axing events that do not fulfill your school’s priority, as well as events that are not worth the effort, time or resources put into them. Also consider axing events that aren’t fulfilling their own purpose, like “outreach” events that really only attract current school families. Remember - axing an event doesn’t mean that you have to ax it forever! It’s okay to try something different or try it again next year.
Add: Brainstorm new events that will bolster your school’s number one priority.
Lay out the events on a 12-month calendar. Is your event schedule evently spaced…or do you have lots of events in one month and nothing in other months? Do your outreach events line up with the enrollment season in your community?
Cross reference your calendar with all other ministry calendars on campus (ie: outreach committee at church, early childhood center events, etc). Are there events that your church and school team can put on together? Are there any conflicts between the calendars?
Great work! The next article in the series will talk about ways to ensure that your events are well-attended and well-staffed.
Blueprint Schools loves helping schools reach more families in their communities. If you feel stuck or need advice about your marketing and admissions, we’ll listen to your unique situation, answer your questions, and share how we can help your school thrive.
Take the first step by scheduling a Zoom consultation with us.
