You’re not raising as much as you could be if you haven’t “normalized” talking about money and the importance of giving generously in your school. Intentionally building a culture that places a high value on generously giving time and resources is the key to raising more money.    Yet, defining and clearly describing a Culture of Generosity is rarely discussed. Even more rarely described: EXACTLY HOW TO BUILD ONE. Until now. This is the first of a four part series on exactly how you can go about building a Culture of Generosity in your K12 school.   Resources: Kim Jennings is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and a member of the consultant team at Generis.  Follow Kim on Instagram and FB @yourk12fundraisingcoach  and on LinkedIn at kimtjennings Access free fundraising resources for your Christian school at www.kimtjennings.com and https://blog.generis.com/blog You CAN craft a culture of generosity and build a sustainable pipeline of givers. Learn more about my digital course, Onboarding New Parents with Purpose: A Proven Plan for Increasing Generosity at www.kimtjennings.com/cultureofgenerosity  SCHEDULE A FREE CALL and read more information on Kim’s services as a coach and consultant to leaders and K12 Christian schools! Visit www.generis.com/Kim-Jennings and www.kimtjennings.com    00:58//Introduction 02:09//Importance of intentionality in creating a Culture of Generosity  03:19//Why normalizing talking about money is crucial 05:22/Defining a Culture of Generosity 06:46//Describing the hallmarks of a Culture of Generosity looks like 10:36//Importance of intentionally building a culture you want 11:46//The four steps to build a Culture of Generosity 12:23//Step One: Align to your North Star 15:02//My mantra: We will not sacrifice tomorrow’s culture for today’s transaction. 16:38//Importance of reflecting on your journey of generosity 19:03//Your homework for this week on aligning to your north star

Unfortunately too many schools only communicate (some) gift impact with “big” donors and not ”small” ones, if the school communicates at all. We’re making our fundraising work so much harder than it could be! In this episode, I’m going over WHY you need to be regularly communicating, WHO you’re going to communicate with and WHAT they need to hear…and then I’m giving you step by step instructions on HOW to create an effective, regular cadence of communications.

It’s 2023 and Christian schools are bursting at the seams! Leaders are constantly reaching out, asking great questions about how to get the millions of dollars they need to address their space issues. In today’s episode I’ll briefly discuss some questions before offering practical ways to know if you’re rock solid in the two MOST CRITICAL FACTORS for school campaign success.  You MUST evaluate your status in these two areas and prioritize strengthening them (now), regardless of when your quiet phase launches – next month or next year!

Fundraising can be complicated when a school and a church are intertwined. The church + school combo often means you have two communities under “one roof.” Church members/families and school families might overlap but that doesn’t guarantee everyone will be on the same page when it comes to vision or fundraising for that vision.   My guest this week is Jennifer Perrow, CFRE, a Senior Generosity Strategist at Generis whose long list of skills and experience includes fundraising within the niche of church + school campaigns. Based in Seattle, Jennifer is an experienced coach and consultant to faith-based organizations across the US, helping ministries articulate vision, communicate mission, and raise abundant funds to advance Kingdom priorities.    In this episode, we discuss:  The purpose of an Annual Fund for a school that’s within a church and its role in overall Capital Campaign Readiness for the entire organization  What we see as the ingredients to success in a church + school fundraising campaign (annual fund and/or capital campaign)  How and when to communicate with the two different sets of families (church and schools) A way to organize how you run a combined church + school campaign  What a comprehensive campaign is, and how it can work within the context of a church + school campaign to raise more money for both budgets What to do when you’re a church or school leader whose facing a very full (even overwhelming) task list and need to raise money At the end of the episode, I revisit two items from our conversation, offering you practical applications to enhance your everyday work in development. Let me know what you find most helpful by leaving me a review and rating my podcast!   Resources: Kim Jennings is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and a member of the consultant team at Total Advancement Solutions by Generis.  Follow Kim on Instagram and FB @yourk12fundraisingcoach  and on LinkedIn at kimtjenningscfre To learn more about Jennifer Perrow, CFRE and to contact her visit www.generis.com/jennifer-perrow  Access free fundraising resources for your Christian school at www.kimtjennings.com and https://blog.generis.com/blog You CAN craft a culture of generosity and build a sustainable pipeline of givers. Learn more about my digital course, Onboarding New Parents with Purpose: A Proven Plan for Increasing Generosity at www.kimtjennings.com/cultureofgenerosity  For more information on Kim’s services as a coach and consultant to leaders and K12 Christian schools visit www.generis.com/Kim-Jennings and www.kimtjennings.com

Fundraising can flourish in healthy, tight-knit cultures. So it makes sense to devote a portion of our limited bandwidth on optimizing our culture – for better fundraising results and for many other reasons! But, how do we create and nurture this critical success factor? This week’s episode talks about how one Texas school has begun to accomplish this.    My guest this week is Julie Ambler, Head of School at The Woodlands Christian School and current chairperson of CESA, the Council of Educational Standards and Accountability.    Five years ago, Julie designed and introduced a year-long class to train her school’s emerging leaders on the school’s history, culture and operations. In my estimation, it’s a fabulous tribute to: the importance of mentors and  the success that comes when we’re INTENTIONAL about leadership development. With each successive cohort, Julie is strategically growing culture organically throughout her faculty / staff team. Does this create an environment in which healthy teams can flourish? Yes! Does it build trust and a common core experience? YES! And does it ALSO serve as an example of how we can effectively grow cultures of generosity within our school communities? Also, YES!   You’ll find my conversation with Julie insightful about 1) identifying and developing future leaders, 2) the value and wisdom in establishing and nurturing culture throughout your organization, and 3) how to use both of those methods to grow a culture of generosity - starting with some of the most influential members of your community, your faculty and staff, and then applying those concepts to your parents and beyond.   At the end of the conversation, I offer you a couple of practical applications based on what Julie’s shared with us to enhance your everyday work in development. Let me know what you find most helpful by leaving me a review and rating my podcast!   Resources: Kim Jennings is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and a member of the consultant team at Total Advancement Solutions by Generis.  Follow Kim on Instagram and FB @yourk12fundraisingcoach  and on LinkedIn at kimtjenningscfre Access free fundraising resources for your Christian school at www.kimtjennings.com and https://blog.generis.com/blog   You CAN craft a culture of generosity and build a sustainable pipeline of givers. Learn more about my digital course, Onboarding New Parents with Purpose: A Proven Plan for Increasing Generosity at www.kimtjennings.com/cultureofgenerosity    For more information on Kim’s services as a coach and consultant to leaders and K12 Christian schools visit www.generis.com/Kim-Jennings and www.kimtjennings.com

If you’re measuring culture with the wrong yardstick, it’s very possible that more people than you realize do NOT, in fact, understand how to thrive in your community. And since your school’s DNA is your strongest tool for cultivating generosity, it’s pretty important that you know how to articulate and then wield this tool! In this episode I’ll cover ways to identify your DNA and methods to use it to grow a culture of generosity.

Join me as I sit down with my friend and colleague, Dr. R. Mark Dillon, Executive Vice President and Founder of Total Advancement Solutions, the division of Generis that focuses solely on serving Christian schools, universities, and nonprofits (the division I serve with, too). In this episode, Mark and I discuss his book, ”Giving and Getting in the Kingdom, A Field Guide,” which is considered to be a standard guide for fundraising in the Christian realm.

Without strategic communication, the other major components of your development plan - clarity and community - will suffer. And your results will be significantly diminished. In this episode, I’ll provide examples of solid communication plans and suggest tools that will help you communicate well in your fundraising efforts.

The Your K12 Fundraising Coach podcast hosted by Kim Jennings is a weekly masterclass designed to give you actionable steps you can use TODAY to be more effective without being overwhelmed by the tyranny of the urgent. Learn more at www.kimtjennings.com/podcast.