by Barbara Barron | Posted January 8th, 2025 | Subscribe to this newsletter When I was the DoD at my first school gig, I was asked to help move the school away from a pay-to-play system where students paid $2 to get to wear jeans (those were still dress code days there). The money raised went to a selected charity. …
Women Heads of School: Finding Your Voice
by Barbara Barron | Posted December 4th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter I recently have begun to get to know the Executive Director of The Heads’ Network, Jen Evers. I learned about this cool organization through my association with the School Leaders Connect. Jen was a recent guest speaker. Afterward, I referred a former colleague of mine, a fairly …
Research That Affirms Our Approach
by Barbara Barron | Posted November 13th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter It’s always nice when empirical data confirms the best practices we’ve been using, and teaching others to use, for years. Just this month, I read the second annual report on the state of capital campaigns completed by Capital Campaign Pro. CCP is a women-owned firm that specializes …
How to Set a Fundraising Goal
by Barbara Barron | Posted October 23rd, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter How are your fundraising goals set? Seems like a simple and fundamental question, right? But in my experience, the answer can range from “no clue” to “they are set by the finance committee of the Board” to “I took last year’s total and added 10%”. None of …
How to Launch Your Annual Fund Appeal During Election Season
by Barbara Barron | Posted September 11th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter “When should we launch our an annual fund appeal when people are being asked every day to donate to the elections?” Are you hearing and reading this question, too? I have clients asking me about the right timing for their fall appeal. I’m reading articles about whether …
Here’s to Our Successors
by Barbara Barron | Posted August 28th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter Most of us in advancement will move around quite a bit during our careers. Before becoming a consultant eight (!) years ago, I had four experiences of stepping into the role of Director following someone else. But in each of those situations, the person ahead of me …
How Cohort Shifts Will Impact Jobs in Fundraising
by Barbara Barron | Posted August 14th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter You don’t need me to tell you that the demographics of our parents are changing. You feel it and see it every day. Gone from most of our schools’ parent bodies are the Baby Boomers. They are approaching and entering retirement and their kids are beyond our …
What’s the Power of the Debrief?
by Barbara Barron | Posted April 24th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter Last week, I was writing a summary of a capital campaign just completed. I do this to pull into one document the highlights (and low points) of a campaign. I recap key moments and decisions we made that changed the course of the campaign, and the surprises …
How Can We Make Good Use of AI In Advancement?
by Barbara Barron | Posted April 10th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter Are you using AI in your advancement work yet? This is a question I am asking my clients and asking myself. Even more on point: how can we make good use of this technology that is emerging with lightning speed? What are the right and ethical uses …
Why Would a Consultant Choose to Work with Your School?
by Barbara Barron | Posted March 27th, 2024 | Subscribe to this newsletter Before I write anything that might have me drifting into the land of self-promotion, let me start with this qualifier: I may not be the right consultant for you. I am honored and, after 7 years of being a consultant, still flattered to be asked nearly every …