Archdiocese of Los Angeles Department of Catholic Schools

1. Archdiocese of Los AngelesDepartment of Catholic Schools School Fundraising Capacity Building Kay Sprinkel Grace January – June, 2014

2. Webinar #2 Mission, Vision, Values and Case Development: Messaging for Investment and Sustainability February 10 @ 7 – 8 p.m.; February 26 @ 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

3. What We Will Cover • Review of assigned work: case elements checklist; ideas for “What We Are” • Internal case materials, external case expressions – differences, relationship • Creating inspiring mission and vision statements • Case expressions – why and how (with a nod to Black and Decker) • Relationship between development marketing and enrollment marketing • Assignment for Webinar #3, Board and Non-Board Volunteer Leadership: Why Nothing Works Without It

4. Defining Case: It Starts with Case Materials Kept Internally • “Case” is the sum total of all the reasons why someone should support you (The Fund Raising School, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI); often called the “case for support” • It is the informational backdrop from which all development and fund raising materials are derived through a process of tailoring them to respond to the interests and values of a potential donor • Case materials include all the information about your school that someone might want to know: the good news is no one ever wants all the information; the bad news is you never know what a potential donor will want to know, so you can be prepared!

5. Review of Homework:Case Elements Checklist; “Chat” About “What We Are” • Poll • You will be asked to respond to a poll (coming up) about how many of the case elements you have already, how many you need to revise, and how many you need to create. • Chat about What We Are • You were asked to think about all the things you are – so the focus is on abundance, not scarcity; on assets, not deficits. • What did you come up with? Please enter your thoughts in the chat box.

6. Why Do You Need All This “Stuff?” • Because you want to create a reservoir of case information that can be updated and drawn on easily and frequently – this will be the primary resource for positioning fundraising that will inspire major investment in your school • Because “systems liberate” – if you do it right once, and keep it updated, it will be a tool that you can use over and over that will become more finely honed the more it is used • Because it is really tiring to have to reinvent the entire wheel every time you have a donor development or fundraising opportunity – with case materials available, you can simply tailor your case to the funder or occasion

7. What Do You Do With All This Once You Have it Together? • Dedicated file in the computer with password access • Hard copy in a centrally located binder so people can read, edit and use • You don’t have to make it “read” like a single document: it is intended to be a compendium of the bits and pieces you need to develop proposals and other development-related materials • Schedule updates for case materials: e.g., quarterly or semi-annually or when new individuals, programs or partnerships are added • Encourage use of these materials by enrollment marketing and outreach as well as by development

8. Translating Case Materials into Case Expressions Taking the Case to Donor-Investors and the Marketplace in General

9. Case Expressions (Case Statements, Proposals, Brochures, etc.) • Drawn from the internal case materials • Written for specific purposes or audiences (e.g., annual report, newsletters, major donor updates, funding proposal for foundation or corporation) • Case expressions are tailored to meet the interests and needs of the audience or purpose • In major giving, the case expression is very often a proposal or a presentation • Brochures for donor recognition groups or planned giving opportunities are case expressions • Public relations releases about major gifts or significant school accomplishments are case expressions that draw background information from the case materials

10. Case Expressions: Reminders About The Message Framework - 1 • As we discussed at the Launch Meeting and during last month’s webinar, the success of 21st Century philanthropic investment in your schools will be based on a shift in the kinds of messages we send: we have to put away the tin cup. • As you build your case materials and begin translating them into case expressions that will grow new relationships and a larger base of major givers, these are the messages and themes you will need to integrate:

11. Case Expressions: Reminders AboutThe Message Framework - 2 • A focus on results/impact, not needs: remember that people give because you meet needs, not because you have needs • Emphasis on investment opportunity, not obligation • The idea that a gift to you is really a gift through you into the community • Focus on what you are, not what you are not • Remember (Webinar #1) that the only urgency you should convey is the urgent need the community has for the kind of education you provide, and that all giving is based in an understanding of shared values

12. Mission, Vision, Values Why they need to be integrated into all case expressions

13. Mission, Vision, Values: How can You Express Them? • Mission = why you exist • Vision = what your school wants to become or do, and what will happen in the community as a result of your school’s vision • Values = shared beliefs within an organization and with donors and parents and others that frame decisions, actions and the measurement of outcomes

14. Mission The “Why” of the Matter

15. Yale University School of Medicine: Mission Statement • We are in the midst of one of the most profound intellectual revolutions of all time, the revolution in the biological sciences. Its implications for understanding life processes and combating disease are boundless. Yale is in the forefront of this revolution. Published case statement, 1989

16. Vector Health Programs • Next to the human face, hands are our most expressive feature. We talk with them. We work with them. We play with them. We comfort and love with them. An injury to the hand affects a person personally and professionally. • At Vector Health Programs, we give people back the use of their hands. • (Class exercise, later published in brochures)

17. Check Up: Assessing Your Mission Statement • Does it answer the question of why you exist or why you are doing a particular campaign or initiative? • Does it use powerful and active language? • Is it appropriate for your school and your community? • How do you use it? • When do you use it? • Who knows it? • Is it reflected in your messaging?

18. Vision Bigger Than Your School

19. Vision • The key to attracting long-term donor-investors • Enrolling people in the vision: visionaries and leaders • Two kinds of vision (community and school) and why they are both essential to donor-investors • Sharing the vision: how we do it through case expressions • Why schools are uniquely positioned to communicate their vision and the impact of their work on the lives of children

20. Vision: The Bridge from First Gift to Major Gift • Donor growth goes through four stages: impulsive (first gift), habitual (renewed gifts), thoughtful (increased or special project gift), careful (major, capital or planned gift) • Donors need to get excited about a vision in order to move up that ladder • Shared vision grows donors into investors • From New Orleans pre-school organization: “Our vision is that every child in the greater New Orleans area will be ready when it is time for them to start school.”

21. Values Shared Beliefs that Lead to Long-Term Investment Be sure your school is telling its values Remember the values diagram from Webinar #1

22. Sage Hill School, Newport Coast • (Cover of a case expression) “Teach students to love knowledge and they will learn for the rest of their lives. Inspire students to use knowledge productively, with courage and compassion, and they will change the world.” • Marketing postcard (enrollment): “Sage Hill School will instill in its students a love of knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge productively, courageously and compassionately throughout their lives.”

23. Consistency in Messaging: Highest Priority • From direct mail to major and planned giving brochures: the core of the message must reflect the same values (even if the delivery system and the audience is different) • All of philanthropy (giving, volunteering) is based in values – your values especially must be evident for true investment to occur (in your mission and vision) • If we laid all your current materials side to side, would the messages be based on the same values?

24. Benefits of MVV Approach in All Case Expressions • Attracts donors for the right reasons • Helps retain donors and convert them to donor-investors • Develops common language points among all fund raising and marketing programs and allows tailoring to specific needs • Gives a consistent message to the community about your school and its impact

25. How To Implement This Approach • Revisit your mission, vision, values to gain clarity: they are the platform for your case • Get your board/advisory board involved (Homework for Webinar #3) • Increase community partnerships and connections and ask them to help you validate your mission, vision, values • Evaluate your donor outreach at all levels and stewardship methods and messages • Be sure that MVV are evident in all of your case expressions

26. Translating Case Materials into Case Expressions • Process driven by special or on-going need (e.g.) • Annual report • Proposals • Website updates • Brochures for campaigns or giving programs • Process involving staff and volunteers • Gain consensus by committee, but have a single writer • Volunteers, with guidance, can be very effective helping you in the development of case expressions

27. Translating Case Materials into New Message Case Expressions • Internal markets • Messaging within the school is as important an early step in building a culture of philanthropy as external marketing • Be sure there are not two levels of commitment to the new way of looking at the message and the market (internal and external) • External markets • Parents, families, donors, community partners, institutional funders and other social investors in the school

28. Taking the Case to Market Articulation of the Case When? How? Who?

29. Defining Development Marketing • External: all communication we do with our constituencies to position our schools as good investments, tell of our impact, convey our gratitude for previous support and ask for renewed or increased investment. People recognize your “brand.” • Internal: all communications with non-development staff and board to convey the impact and importance of development activities.

30. What Our Communities are Looking For In Our Messages • The needs we are meeting (not the needs we have) • Our track record for meeting those needs (impact, not just reach) • Indications of creative, fresh, positive solutions to community needs • Evidence of our partnerships with other schools or community organizations – collaboration is key • Indications of willingness to be “social entrepreneurs” – taking the best practices of entrepreneurs and applying them to our social mission

31. Articulating the Case for Support (Case Expressions) - 1 • Start with key school staff and the board or other lead volunteers: get feedback and ownership • Integrate into newsletter and on-campus programs to begin changing the way parents and others see the school: develop a strong brand (colors, typography, etc.) • Evaluate your current published and web materials and devise a plan for changing them if needed as budget and other resources permit

32. Articulating the Case for Support (Case Expressions) - 2 • When you update your website for current events, etc., also check the messages you send: are your mission, vision and values the ones you want to communicate? • Evaluate your “boiler plate” foundation proposals and grant applications: are they consistent with the new messaging? • Think of ways to promote values and brand on the school site (Sage Hill banners)

33. Articulating the Case for Support (Case Expressions)- 3 • In your personal interaction with prospective and current donors in cultivation and stewardship activities • In solicitation of donors – the way you position the ask • In the information you provide for visitors • In the information you provide for prospective students • In the information you offer at the Parish

34. Keeping the New Messages New Once You’ve Done a New Case Positioning, What Then?

35. Evaluating Your Case Expressions • Windows, not mirrors: review regularly to ensure consistency with community needs • Implement a system for keeping case materials current and case expressions lively and message-correct • Involve donors in case feedback: this strengthens relationships • Revisit values with board and staff at least annually and then compare what they generate as key values with what you are communicating to the community

36. Impact of New Messaging on Schools: Signals for Change • Shift in case positioning will signal a shift in the way the school views its donors (as investors) and indicate a new priority on longer term relationships and investments • The vision incorporated into the case also conveys certain changes that will be taking place throughout the school as the culture of philanthropy is strengthened • All messages should convey the excitement and impact that additional resources will generate for the school (not just “getting back to zero”)

37. Summary of Key Points:Session 1 • Case expressions are varied and tailored; they are drawn from case materials which you should have assembled and available for use • Case materials and expressions need to be reviewed and updated regularly • Mission, vision and values are the platform for all case expressions • Involvement of staff and board in creating, evaluating and articulating the case is key • Consistency in messaging is critical • Every meeting in the community or with parents or donors is an opportunity to convey your mission/vision/values based case

38. The Importance of Continually Renewing Our Messages • If you want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it. • Mother Teresa

39. Getting Ready for Webinar #3 March 6 @ 7 – 8 p.m. and March18 @ 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Board and Non-Board Volunteer Management and Leadership: Why Nothing Works Without It

40. Homework Assignment for Webinar 3:Board/Volunteer Leadership Development • Use the development (or refinement) of your case for support (materials creation and gathering; case expressions) as a reason for bringing your board and/or other key volunteer leaders together with key staff for a meeting that will focus on the following as they relate to the material covered in Webinar #2: (see next slide)

41. Homework for Webinar 3:Board/Volunteer Leadership Development • School mission statement • School vision statement including vision for the community • School values as presented in materials and how they can be conveyed in ways that reflect new messages designed to attract major donor-investors with whom relationships can be developed • Identification of the 3 most important ideas to showcase when building or refining the school’s case for support • See worksheet (emailed) for assignment

42. Archdiocese of Los AngelesDepartment of Catholic Schools School Fundraising Capacity Building Kay Sprinkel Grace January – June, 2014