Catholic School and Parish Consulting for Sustainable Growth

Guiding Catholic schools, parishes, and dioceses toward mission-driven success.
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  • Investors In People

We are the Institute for School and Parish Development

ISPD is a national development consulting, coaching, and educational firm working exclusively with Catholic institutions.

We empower Catholic schools, parishes and (arch)dioceses by helping them create and establish effective processes that engage people and invite resources in order to make the mission and vision come alive.

Through strategic planning, operational assessments, capital campaigns, advancement, enrollment management, and leadership coaching, we bring people and processes together to strengthen Catholic ministry. Every engagement is customized to the institution and may be delivered onsite, online, or through a hybrid approach.

ISPD’s mission: Bringing people, process, and ministry together to help build the Kingdom of God.

Catholic parish and school leadership team meeting

Key Service Areas

Operational Vitality Assessments

Strategic Growth Plans

Financial Feasibility Studies

Capital Campaigns

Enrollment Management

Total Stewardship

Development/Advancement Organization

Strategic Plans for Development/Advancement/ Enrollment Management

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Years In Business
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Clients Served
0 Billion
Nearly Raised
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Catholic Leaders Taught

Why Choose Institute for School and Parish Development?

  • Faith-Driven Advancement & Planning: Aligning your mission with financial sustainability through proven capital campaigns and strategic planning processes.

  • Customized Growth Strategies: We help Catholic schools and parishes increase engagement, strengthen donor involvement, and secure long-term funding.

  • Proven Success: Our Team has partnered with Catholic schools and parishes nationwide to raise over $750 million dollars in the past 35 years.

  • Built for Catholic School and Parish Leaders: Whether you need campaign feasibility studies, development/ stewardship assessments, or strategic plans, we provide tailored solutions that work for you.
Catholic School Strategic Planning
  • Consulting & Coaching Services

Onsite, Online, or Hybrid.

ISPD provides coaching and professional development for pastors, presidents, principals, development directors, and admissions/enrollment management directors.

  • ISPD Publications

Lessons in Advancement

Institute for School and Parish Development founder and president Frank Donaldson has written six books on Catholic development and stewardship.

ISPD Lessons in Advancement book collection

School & Parishes We Work With

ISPD has worked with hundreds of schools and parishes nationwide.

National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica
Pope John Paul II High School
Our Lady of the Light | Dayton, Ohio
New Orleans Jesuit High School
Holy Name of Jesus School, New Orleans
Logo for St. Michael Catholic High School
Archbishop Moeller High School
Mercy McAuley High School | Cincinnati
Mount Alvernia Academy | Baltimore
Scecina Memorial High School
Notre Dame Academy | Staten Island (Logo)
School of the Incarnation | Gambrills, MD
Archdiocese of New Orleans - Coat of Arms

Belonging Leads to Believing.

If you’re ready to transform your institution and embrace a culture of continuous improvement and engagement, we want to hear from you.

How Catholic Communities Grow with ISPD

Ten outcomes our partners achieve

Your Mission Stays at the Center.

Working exclusively with Catholic schools, parishes, and (arch)dioceses means you never have to retrofit secular fundraising to a Catholic community. Our associates bring 300+ years of combined experience in Catholic development and leadership.

Your Mission Drives Decisions.

Through consulting, coaching, and educating, we bring people, process, and ministry together to help build the Kingdom of God — and build the structures that make it operational in your budget, calendar, and staffing.

Belonging Leads to Believing.

We show you how to engage parishioners, parents, alumni, past parents, grandparents, and your entire community in the mission, so that when the invitation to consider a gift comes, it lands on a relationship already formed.

You Inherit 37+ Years of Lessons.

Hundreds of successful partnerships nationwide mean your community is never the test case. You begin where others finished as ISPD shares best practices from many.

You Hear What Your People Actually Think.

An outside voice surfaces what internal politics keeps buried. Our confidential interview and study processes give leadership an honest picture before major decisions — and before money is spent.

The Process Fits Your Calendar.

On-site, online, and hybrid delivery across Assessment, Strategic Planning, Enrollment Management, Feasibility Study, Capital Campaign, Annual Fund, and Total Stewardship.

Your Staff's Capacity Grows.

Our regional summits, workshops, presentations, and publications build skill that stays in your building long after the engagement ends. Coupled with the ISPD Compass (your AI Companion), your advancement efforts are set for many years.

Your Leaders Earn Academic Credit.

Through the University of Dayton’s Institute for Pastoral Initiatives, ISPD teaches for-credit courses each semester — professional formation your people can carry with them. Catholic school and parish development/advancement/enrollment management/stewardship course.

More of Every Dollar Stays in Ministry.

Our consulting processes, personalized coaching, online courses, summits, and conferences are priced for Catholic budgets, so results are not consumed by the cost of achieving them.

Your Community Raises its Own Expectations.

We encourage, motivate, and guide Catholic clients to move “beyond mediocrity” — a shift in expectation that outlives the initiative that prompted it.

Recent ISPD Blogs

  • The Warm Catholic Parish: What Happens After a New Family Walks In

    September 20, 2026

    9 min read

    Over decades of attending Mass at parishes across the country, ISPD's team has watched that five-minute test play out hundreds of times, and the pattern is consistent enough that we eventually wrote it down. Not as a checklist, but as a story about a young family visiting a parish for the first time and what happened next. We call it "The Warm Catholic Parish."

  • 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 read

  • Beyond the Balance Sheet: Creating Annual Reports That Tell Your Mission Story

    August 12, 2025

    6 min read

  • Is Your Catholic School/Parish Ready for a Capital Campaign?

    July 16, 2025

    5 min read

  • The Cadence of Catholic School Development: Connecting the Dots

    April 30, 2025

    5 min read

  • Holding Steady: Faith, Leadership, and Forward Momentum in Uncertain Times

    April 7, 2025

    4 min read

Frank Donaldson

ISPD Founder & President

Let’s have a conversation about your school or parish.

Let’s Make Things Happen

ISPD is ready to help transform the advancement culture of your parish or school.

Let us help your school or parish.
Schedule a 30-minute consultation.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)
ISPD Newsletters

By submitting my data I agree to be contacted