Development Committee Topics

Dr Daugherty serves as the chairman for the Development committee. He provided these highlights from their meeting this week.

Themes from parent survey - the committee discussed several questions that revolved around the potential of the community giving to the development of the school. Their observation was that we are a blue collar community. Most parents are willing to financially support the school but don't have much means to do so. Those who can are most interested in supporting a capital campaign and scholarships.

Fund Raising - 1) continuing to work toward a goal of not depending on fund raising and gifts for operations. We want to reserve those funds for projects. We have reduced our dependency on gifts and fund raising for our operations budget by $60,000 over the last 2 years. We current rely on 2 all-school fundraisers: Spirit of 12:44 Annual Fund and Corporate Partners. 2) Exploring alternative methods for generating substantial revenue outside of tuition such as a service oriented business.

Marketing Strategies - 1) Redesigning our website, 2) More emphasis on radio marketing, 3) Bill Boards, 4) Leverage traffic to Swarner Park with more signs, 5) consider cable TV and 6) get a professional assessment of our marketing materials and tactics.

Preschool Enrollment - the preschool is a critical component to Maranatha's financial viability. So additional attention will be given to make sure we have the preschool in optimal shape (marketing, staff, facilities, programs, etc) to maximize enrollment. This will start with internal and external evaluations.

As you can see, the Development committee has a lot on its plate, and it is all very crucial business. Please pray for God's wisdom and leading for this committee as it thinks, plans and works.