“Jack has given us a clear road map for the future and I could not be more pleased with his work. He provided focus and advice, and our school will be better because of his work!”
Matthew Schambari • President • Archbishop Murphy High School
Sample Situation: School A is concerned with its annual giving results and the cost of raising money. They have talked to several campaign consulting firms but find them lacking in experience managing a secondary school development office. Further they want to tie the office’s operations more closely to the school’s faith-based mission.
Solution: The school hires MfM to conduct a development audit. Jack Peterson meets with the president, development director and several staff for 2 hours to structure the audit and sends a preparation packet to gather background information. He then spends 2 days on campus to talk with staff, other school personnel and selected board members. He prepares a report and returns to the school to meet with the president, development director and the board officers to present his findings and recommendations. He then provides 3 hours of follow-up coaching around his recommendations and is available for additional coaching.
Sample Situation: School B hired its principal to fill the president’s position two years ago. She’s a great administrator but has little experience with development. In addition, the development director left the school a year after the new president started. The president has attended several development seminars but is finding it difficult to apply what she learns when she returns to campus.
Solution: The school contracts with MfM to provide 4 days of intensive training. The training comes in two installments with 3 hours of teleconferencing follow-up in between, and includes reference materials and customized tools that help the president immediately apply what she’s learned. The training also includes sessions with other school staff and board leaders as well. In addition, the president has the option of further coaching as a follow-up to the training.
Sample Situation: School B hired MfM to provide development training for its president, who is the school’s chief administrator, but also wants to provide coaching so that the president can get on-demand expertise.
Solution: In all, the president schedules 10 coaching sessions on an as-needed basis and Jack Peterson is available for on-site visits if needed.
Sample Situation: School C is planning to conduct a capital campaign. It has not decided whether it will hire resident campaign counsel, but would like to avoid the high expense and wants to use the campaign to build the ongoing effectiveness of its in-house staff.
Solution: The school hires MfM to prepare the headmaster and development staff for running the campaign. Jack Peterson helps the staff evaluate its prospect pool, identify volunteer and staffing needs to support the anticipated campaign goal and develop a structure to achieve the requisite quality and number of asks. He also prepares the president and the board for their role in the campaign and even trains the top volunteer leadership. This requires a total of 8 days on site and 10 hours of remote consultation and coaching. The school has the option of hiring MfM for a development audit.
Sample Situation: School D is a diocesan Catholic school which has experienced a lot of transition in its development office in the last five years. One of the consequences is that there has not been a sustained alumni or parent involvement program. At first, fundraising levels are not affected by lack of outreach. But eventually people begin to feel uninvolved and that the school contacts them only when it needs money, so giving stagnates and in some cases declines. The president realizes that there is an unhealthy trend but needs an outside perspective to identify what the root causes and solutions are, and so contracts with MfM.
Solution: Jack Peterson consults with the president and then the development director for one hour each. He then comes to the school for a day to conduct 3 focus groups sessions and meet with the president and the development staff. He prepares a set of recommendations, presents them in draft form to the president and development director via a 1.5 hour teleconference. Finally he comes again to the school to conduct a half-day workshop and provides 2 hours of follow-up coaching.
