But if schools continue doing what they have been doing, they will keep getting what they have been getting…the disengaged parent!
- Once a child is enrolled in a school, parents rarely access school websites to retrieve information; they prefer to have information delivered.
- Parents continue to call the front desk with questions despite the school having inversted in creating a parent portal.
- 85% of newsletters are unopened and the 15% of parents who read them spend less than a couple of minutes on them as they are neither relevant nor to their child.
- Changes to parent communication processes are made just because 10% of the parent body wants it since they contribute the most to the school or they attend the coffee sessions with the school.
- They spend more time in setting up, creating, managing, executing and following up on their annual fund raiser or auction and don’t have the time for anything else during this period. And it’s getting progressively more difficult every year.
- Their school was short on funds last year, is short on funds this year and expects to be short on funds next year and for the foresee-able future. And their school happens to be one of over 70% of small schools which have experienced a declining enrollment year over year.
- Their parent audience is predominantly mobile – tech savvy – on the go, living on their smart phones and who expect clear, concise, compelling, timely, relevant and actionable communication at their fingertips and not on paper or websites; however, the school has no way to provide it in this form and instead, depend on Constant Contact to solve their communication challenges.
