Engaging prospective families effectively is essential for increased enrollment. In order to engage prospective families, you must understand the characteristics of your target market so that you can adjust your marketing efforts accordingly. Follow the tips below to learn about your prospective families and optimize your marketing efforts.

Although the admissions office, teachers and current families play an important role in increasing enrollment, they won't reach their full potential without the guidance and support of the administrative team and board. Members of administration and board already know that enrollment is essential to the school's future, but they don't always realize how much influence they have over admissions. Follow the tips below to engage members of the board and the administrative team so that they will do their part to improve enrollment.

Just as the engagement of faculty is important to enrollment, the engagement of current families is essential as well. These families act as a walking advertisement for your school. If they are not engaged, they won't promote the institution. If they are engaged, however, they will increase interest and enrollment naturally. 

Chief Business Officers must wear many hats as they manage their institutions. Although every role you play is important, three key roles define your success more than any others: capacity builder, cultural traveler and horizon thinker. Fulfilling these roles effectively is essential to the success of the school.

An arsenal of versatile skills is an asset to any Chief Business Officer. Although all of the skills you possess will be beneficial to you in the course of your job, three specific skills are particularly important: creativity, communication and decision-making. Honing each of these skills will help you to be the best you can be in your position. 

Talk of school reform and innovation sometimes makes it seem like this is a recent concept in education, but at School Growth we've had the privilege of visiting two schools in the last week who have managed to effectively understand economic and education forces in order to stay relevant and grow. 

Fundraising is a top priority for many school leaders, so you may be looking for a way to improve your approach to donor cultivation. If you are connected with a Christian or similar faith-based school, I highly recommend the book, Giving and Getting in the Kingdom: A Field Guide, by Mark Dillon.

Mark is an unusually talented fundraising expert. He served in the development office at Wheaton College for 19 years, most recently as the VP of Advancement and Alumni Relations. Having led capital and annual fund campaigns that raised hundreds of millions of dollars, Mark is fully qualified to give advice on this topic.

He is now the Executive Vice President of the Christian Education and Non-Profit division at Generis, an Atlanta-based fundraising consulting company that advances the missions of churches, Christian schools, colleges, seminaries, universities, and non-profit organizations.

When the business office of a school is led by a Consultative Business Officer, excellence will be achieved. Nancy Greene is another great example. She is the Chief Finance and Operations Officer at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. Through her leadership on their sprawling campus and in many different professional organizations (NBOA, FCIS, etc.) across the country, Nancy has distinguished herself as a talented role model. 

As a Chief Business Officer, you are involved in managing the operations and administration of the entire school. Although every CBO is unique, the best CBOs typically share three key qualities: self-awareness, trustworthiness and agility. The more you capitalize on these qualities, the more successful you and your institution will be.

Inspiration arrives different ways for me - most often unexpectedly. Sometimes in a state of sleep, or in the shower, or even while driving. And occassionally when teaching...