Development Directions
ISPD’s team writes a monthly newsletter on advancement, enrollment management, and strategic planning in Catholic schools and parishes.
Two Important Ingredients for 2024-2025: “PD” and “SGP”
Professional Development and Strategic Growth Plan. In the battle today for individual sanity and institutional survival, these two ingredients rise to the top as we begin to put the “wrap” on the 2023-24 fiscal year. Professional Development First, let me get my bias out of the way. ISPD is hosting our annual Summer Development School here in New Orleans on June 18 – 20, 2024. This will be the 35th anniversary of our company. Would I like to see you attend? Absolutely! However, there is more to this newsletter on professional development than just a “pitch” for our annual conference....
Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying
This is the famous quote that Andy Dufresne says to Red in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. The message is clear: Life can be spent going through the motions and waiting around for something to happen (reactive), or life can be spent making things happen (proactive). I recently hit the REFLECT button a few weeks ago. With 2023 behind us, the second month of 2024 moving quickly, Catholic Schools’ Week activities on the horizon, and the Lenten Season right upon us, I took time to download and read some publications that were recommended to me. They all reminded me of...
ISPD’S Catholic Development Resolutions for the New Year
Happy New Year! We hope the Christmas Holidays were a wonderful and blessed time for you and your family to grow closer, share stories, worship together, and get that well deserved “down time” that all of us need in order to charge the battery. Here’s wishing that 2024 may be a healthy, prosperous and joy-filled year for you, both personally and professionally. Here at ISPD, we find it beneficial if we use the month of January as a way to take a look at what resolutions are worthwhile considering in order to grow and enhance our Catholic Development efforts. Every...
Revelant Post-Pandemic Macro Considerations for Catholic School Leaders
Hands-on the wheel with an intentional gaze forward, we briefly look into the rearview mirror and see remnants of the Cares Act of 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program 1 and 2, PPP Loan Forgiveness, and the EANS program, all providing a stimulus to the operational vitality of Catholic schools over the past forty months. Looking further ahead as we maneuver along, the winds before us are changing, blowing from different directions, causing us to momentarily consider how these forces will affect our movement and trajectory. Purposeful reflection reveals that pandemic-fueled federal programs behind us were helpful as Catholic schools took...
Don’t Let Giving Tuesday Pass You By!
It’s the most wonderful (and busiest) time of the year! For school administrators, the final two months of the calendar year can be the most hectic – between the end of fall sports, the start of winter sports, parent-teacher conferences, annual fund kickoffs, high school open houses, and all the multitude of special holiday events that fill our calendars. For many Catholic school administrators, the countdown to Christmas Break starts before Thanksgiving break begins. Nestled right in the middle of all this end-of-year chaos is a big opportunity for your school to expand its ripples of philanthropic giving and invite...
The Value of Strategic Planning
When we talk about strategic planning with a Catholic school and/or parish, ISPD’s philosophy of belonging leads to believing takes the front seat. How do we reach the many ripples of people who are not involved? These could be parents, alums, parishioners, past parents, grandparents, community members. In addition, we have found that in most cases Catholic schools and parishes need better processes in place to get to know these folks and their many connections and resources. With evangelization being so important in the church today, the essential role of the layperson has never been so dramatically emphasized, and that...
ISPD Welcomes New Associate, Dr. Ashley Lynn Ogden
ISPD Welcomes New Associate, Dr. Ashley Lynn Ogden The Institute for School and Parish Development is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Ashley Lynn Ogden to our ISPD Consulting Team. Dr. Ogden served as the principal of St. Dominic School in New Orleans from 2017-2023 and also served as the assistant principal from 2016-2017. Before that she served in both public and catholic schools as a teacher and leader. Dr. Ogden has a strong background in increasing student enrollment, special education, establishing mission-driven brand awareness, increasing academic achievement and developing senior leadership teams. Dr. Ogden will be working with...
Is It Really Important to Conduct an Objective Financial Feasibility Study before Launching a Capital Campaign?
In our work with Catholic schools, parishes and (arch)dioceses, we often have questions from Catholic leaders in regards to whether or not they need to conduct a Financial Feasibility Study (FFS) before they launch the capital campaign for their parish or school. Because this question has come up numerous times in the past year, we thought we would use this newsletter to address the issue and give our perspective. Value of a Financial Feasability Study There are usually three schools of thought about Financial Feasibility Studies: Conduct the FFS using outside and objective counsel; Conduct the FFS internally; Move to...
Institute for School and Parish Development (ISPD) Expands National Footprint by Welcoming Dan Ferris as Full-Time Associate to Lead Regional Growth with New Northeast Office
August 20, 2025
2 min
NEW ORLEANS – The Institute for School and Parish Development (ISPD), a national leader in Catholic school...
Beyond the Balance Sheet: Creating Annual Reports That Tell Your Mission Story
August 12, 2025
6 min
As another fiscal year closes and another begins, business offices are busy with familiar tasks: closing books, preparing statements, and drafting the annual financial report for the parish and/or school. But what if this year-end requirement could become something transformative? Every year, parishes dutifully publish their financial statements, and every year, the same misconceptions persist about how the business of the Catholic Church – and Catholic education -- works.
Is Your Catholic School/Parish Ready for a Capital Campaign?
July 16, 2025
5 min
Discover what it truly takes to launch a capital campaign at your Catholic school or parish. Learn key steps, avoid common mistakes, and explore a proven process that leads to success.
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The Cadence of Catholic School Development: Connecting the Dots
April 30, 2025
5 min
The Cadence of Catholic School Development will provide a roadmap for those who need a clear direction on how development/advancement should unfold while also providing a guide for those Catholic schools who may have taken some detours.
Holding Steady: Faith, Leadership, and Forward Momentum in Uncertain Times
April 7, 2025
4 min
Over the past week, we have witnessed a sharp and sudden drop in the Dow Industrials, triggered...
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The Interconnected Role of the Catholic Parish, Church, and School
March 31, 2025
4 min
March 2025 Newsletter The Interconnected Role of the Catholic Parish, Church, and School: Understanding the Unity of...
