Welcome to the Painter Common Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Kristen Heiders, Senior Marketing Coordinator here at PinkerPoint. And today's podcast, I think, with Camus, Advancement Strategist for Internet. Kim is a skilled fundraising leader with more than 20 years of experience serving in the nonprofit industry. We spent more than a decade in face-face K through 12 schools. And this conversation, Kim shares some of the challenges that heads of schools are facing when it comes to fundraising efforts and tips for overcoming these hurdles. We hope you enjoy this conversation. Well, hey everybody. Thanks for joining us today as we talk specifically to heads of schools about the topic of fundraising. What we found recently is that this is a topic that I feel like a lot of people aren't prepared on, or maybe they aren't exchanging notes with others, so they aren't sure the direction of where to go within fundraising for their school. I think COVID and post-pandemic has brought on a whole nother set of challenges. So we brought on our friend from generics, Kim Jennings. Kim, thanks for joining us today. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01I'm so glad to be here. I appreciate it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Well, thanks. Well, Kim is an advancement strategist with an extensive background in education. And so I want to go ahead and let you share a little bit, Kim, what it is you do and your background within education.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much. I grant, I really am so pleased to be here and thank you for the opportunity to chat with you about K-12 schools, where my heart is. I love it. I am again, my name is Kim Jennings, and I'm a certified fundraising executive. And I am have been with Generis now for a few years. Specifically, I'm with the Total Advancement Solutions Division of Generis, where we specialize in serving higher education, nonprofits, and K-12 schools, all of those faith-based. And so I've been with the Total Advancement Solutions team for a few years. But prior to joining Generis, I was in faith-based K-12 schools for 11 years in the Boston area and serving in development there and really loved what I was doing. And my family, my children all uh attend those schools. My husband works in one, so our family is really embedded in that community. And um prior to that, I was at Wheaton College, where I like to say I uh cut my teeth in development, which is an amazing experience, a really wonderful team there. And um, I also have a background in public relations and in theater. So I have yeah, so I I really um I think that it gives me a lens of really understanding the importance of communication and um communicating well and also creative uh creative creativity and creative storytelling, trying to make sure that we're telling our stories really well in compelling ways. So that's sort of where I'm coming from.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. So you mentioned kind of your experience with this, and I know you work still so heavily in this area in your heart for K-12. Just as you've been, I know you spoke to CISA not too long ago and you've been pretty busy lately talking and out there on the road. What are some of the words that you would use to describe the challenges that face heads of schools and their fundraising efforts at the moment?
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for asking, uh, Krista. I really appreciate um you asking that because I think heads of school really face a lot of challenges. Certainly, COVID was just the tip of the iceberg. I don't think that uh that heads really had an easy time of fundraising to begin with before COVID and all of the things that they had to deal with. And um, as I've really had the privilege of speaking with heads of school and working with heads of schools across the country along with my uh generis colleagues, um, some of the words that come to mind when I think about the challenges that they're facing, one is familiarity. And familiarity because, and I use that word because I think that it's when heads of school, especially if they're not very experienced in fundraising, it's easier to tend to go to the folks who have already been giving to the school or perhaps are the founding uh donors. We're seeing a lot of people now who are kind of what I call a baton campaign where they're moving from the founding group to sort of the next generation. And so heads of school really have to fight that desire to be among familiar people. And the other um, two other words I would think of one is relentless. I think their jobs are absolutely relentless, and the tyranny of the urgent can sometimes really take over, and that's extremely challenging for them. And um, the other the word that I would think of is unsupported. And I say that because I feel like boards tend to have a real heart for the mission. They love the school that they've been asked to serve, but they don't really necessarily know how to be strategic partners to their heads in fundraising. And so boards um could learn stronger skills in supporting their heads in that aspect, in terms of raising money and in introducing new people to the school and all those aspects that could be really, really helpful for a head's um effectiveness in fundraising.
SPEAKER_00Right. And I think you and I talked about not too long ago the lack of resource for boards and for heads of schools. There's just not a huge source and pool. And I know in a little bit I want to talk to you about that more because I know you mentioned something y'all are working on and we're wanting to work on to try to provide some resources in this area just to speak into some of the kind of pain points that we've been able to see and hear about. So I love how aware y'all are of this and working in that area. Just your heart through that is so amazing to us.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Yeah, it's a it's really an honor to partner with these folks. They're really, really amazing people who have vision for what their schools could be and what the Lord has for their schools. So um we really desire to see them succeed. I really want that.
SPEAKER_00And then, kind of off of that second question, you mentioned a few words that I mean, honestly, are some hurdles. So, what are some of the hurdles that you're seeing heads of schools have to face?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, you know, obviously the the tyranny of the urgent can be a really significant hurdle for them. Um, and related to that, I think a big aspect is clarity of strategy. And so if you are not super clear and dialed in to the strategy and your vision and for reaching that vision, then it can be very easy for um, you know, for the tyranny of the urgent to take over. And then you're kind of like going with the wind and going to deal with all the urgent things rather than what's really going to move the needle forward and making your mission possible. Um, and related to that, I think that school heads really can get pulled into the minutiae. Um, you know, I have, I have a um, we have one client that we were working with. We were on site ahead of school and uh a staff person came in and there was a very minor issue, but something that typically he might have handled um at the moment. And but I was really proud of him because he was able to, you know, kind of lift his head up a little bit and say, can can somebody else take care of that this moment? Because right now we're working on a strategy, it was for a campaign plan. And so he's like, I really just need this 30 minutes right here. And so can and so somebody else was able to handle that. And I think um that's really hard to do when you're in the thick of it. There's a lot of things that are coming at heads, and so the minutia is really challenging. And the last thing I would mention, I think a really significant hurdle for heads is the as a scarcity mindset. And I don't mean that to be um disparaging in any way, but I think it's really hard because they're having to raise money, get markets enrolled, you know, lead a team. There's so many things at them coming at them. And when they are looking at all the things they would like to do, but don't necessarily have the funds to do it, it's it's really hard for them. And um, I will say, you know, we have, I didn't work with this, but one of my colleagues worked with a college, um, well, I'd say I said Gordon College, and they was really interesting the way that they handled, they were coming into this campaign and they invested really dramatically in their advancement team. And the president hired, he brought in um the team that they really needed to get it done. And I'll say that, you know, they were able to raise $187 million, which was $56 million over their original goal. So I don't, I'm not saying that that's true for every single school, but I do, I was really um pleased that they invested in that area and saw that it was necessary to get the to get the work done to meet the mission.
SPEAKER_00That's really encouraging. I feel like that's something that goes very overlooked. And then when you see someone that does it well and see the benefit of that, that's really impressive.
SPEAKER_01But it is hard. I mean, it is definitely when you're in the thick of it, like I said, it's really hard for a head to say, you know, I I need to, I really need somebody, but I don't have the um wherewithal to hire them right now. Maybe there's another way to do it. But that investment is really important.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So let me ask you, how are some ways that they can overcome these challenges that they're going through?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thank you. I I think um one of the ways that I think that heads of schools can answer this challenge is to really develop their team's skills and in very specific ways, and which takes, of course, time and effort to do that. But um, for example, I talked with one head of school um in the text in Texas, and she has a really well thought out, well-designed, and well-implemented mentor program that she does within her school to develop leaders. What that allows to happen is that her leadership is kind of up and rising, and so that she's able to trust them and lean into them. And um, so there's, you know, it's certainly not foolproof, but really developing your team's skills is an important way to allow you to delegate better.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Willie talks to us. We work with so many succession plans, and he's very aware of, hey, I don't want this to rise with me. I want this to continue past me. This is more than just the William Vanderblumen show. Like I want leaders, I want people who are on this mission as well. And so I think when it comes to Christian education, having people back that up and able to lead and rise up is so important as the continuation of the school or organization.
SPEAKER_01So true. It's exactly right. And I think it's really hard, especially for founding heads, you know, when they it's their pride and joy and they really put their life and soul into it for so long. Um, it's really hard to make that handoff. Um, so that's a that's a really, I think it's a key area of growth that people could do. I think also, and I I don't um, you know, this sound sound sounds self-serving, but frankly, getting a coach. I think getting a coach is a really important thing. We all need coaches. I think um, you know, we all need um to get stronger in various areas. And so getting a coach, whether it's in public speaking coach or whether it is a fundraising coach, you know, the Total Advancement Solutions team does this very well, I'll say, I think. Um, or at least our our uh clients say so. But I think um, you know, I was I met with a head of school um out in Sioux Center Um Christian School, and he wrote some articles about what heads of school can be doing. And one of the one of his key takeaways was that heads really need a coach because they need to be able to deepen their own um skills, and so getting it counsel is helpful for that. I think um another thing I want to mention is that an accountability network is pretty critical. And I do love the way that CISA, the organization CISA does, they have a really nice heads of school accountability, and I'm sure other organizations do. I'm just familiar with CISAs more directly. But um, so finding an accountability group uh is really helpful so that you can lean into one another and sharpen iron, sharpens iron, right? That's a really important piece. And um, and I the last thing I wanted to mention is and this is a hard one, it we have to be flexible, obviously. We have to be able to take to you know take things as they come. But at the same time, I think that we as, well, all of us as leaders, but certainly heads of school, I think they need to really um prioritize. And I use the word ruthlessly, but really that's kind of it's kind of a strong word. But I think they need to be really ruthless in how they prioritize and know what their strategy is so that they can really stick to the things that will move their school forward. What are the institutional pillars that matter to you? And make your decisions based upon those pillars, or you know, what I like to call the north star. What's the north star that your school is going for in terms of fundraising, for example? And make your decisions based on how you're going to get there and leave aside the things that don't get you there or pull you away.
SPEAKER_00Right. I love that. Something we've talked a ton about lately is kind of starting and forming everything around your why and around your mission. What is the reason you're doing this? I mean, we've seen so much turnover and transition and burnout happen globally, honestly, throughout the last year or so now. And I think a huge part that we've talked about is like, let's get back to the why. What's your mission? What are we trying to accomplish here? And then us as Vanderbilt, like, how can we assist you in that? How can we help your organization or church get back on this mission and contribute to that has been one of our favorite topics to talk about lately. Cause I think it really does form and shape all those decisions you make and the next moves and everything is around that why.
SPEAKER_01That's absolutely that's that is absolutely right. I totally agree with that. I think the why for your organization, the why for you personally, what you know, all of a folks, all of these folks who are serving in these schools tend to be, you know, working ridiculously long hours and really wearing a lot of hats, just serving, serving, serving, serving, serving. And so it's easy to get burnt out unless you are remembering why and you're being, you know, poured into. And so, and really that's that accountability group, I think, is helpful for that as well. It allows you to pour into one another and support one another.
SPEAKER_00Well, let's listen. I want to hear kind of some of your advice that you have for people who are wanting to grow in their leadership roles. I think you touched on this a little bit. Um, so maybe someone who wants to be and aspires to be ahead of school. And then how can they prepare for this business side of it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thank you for asking. I uh, you know, I personally and the team at Total Advancement Solutions, we really feel very strongly about pouring into leaders, current leaders and future leaders, and helping them to do their work effectively and um more efficiently and have more success. So um future leaders, you know, one of the things that we're seeing, I know that you guys at Vanderblumen are a key part of this, is trying to fill the roles that are being left by heads of school. And there's a lot of spots that need to be filled. And so it's important that the next generation of leadership is developed so that they can step into those roles with confidence and capability. And so one of the aspects, so if you, you know, if you're listening to this podcast and you are aspiring to be a head of school, or you are a fairly new head of school without a lot of fundraising experience, some of the things that I would suggest is be a real student of the business side of what you're doing. People tend to come to this head of school position from the education side, the curriculum, all of those pieces. All of that's important. But now it's you got to remember it's a business. Right. And so, you know, that's a really learn from experts, lean into your key board members and learn from that. Um, the other thing that I would mention, and I'm not saying that I pull this off personally very much, but um, is that they need to learn to be a stellar communicator. Uh, that is a like the one thing that I see a lot is that um schools are people who are in schools are crazy busy, faculty, staff, families, and they're not really paying attention to what's being given to them. So I think that heads of school and future heads of schools need to really hone their communication skill and be a good writer, a very good writer, I think is a pretty important key. And if you can't do that yourself, then have someone on hand that can do that with you as a partner and a good speaker. I think that's also important. And if you um are growing in that area, then you know, getting some help in that area to grow because you're the one that casts the vision and people need to um be able to understand the vision really well and be compelled to join it. So I think that's a huge piece is becoming a stellar communicator. Another aspect that I would say if you are a rising leader and you're not yet um ahead of school, I would volunteer for whatever's happening at your school related to fundraising if you're not already. Well, that's that means, yeah, I think that, you know, a lot of times when schools have a gala or something, they'll have faculty and staff step in and help and do things. And so that's very, very good. But I would encourage you, if you can, to go one step further and really learn, you know, peel back the curtain and see what's happening with your fundraising staff and how you can assist them and really kind of begin to understand the mechanisms so that when you yourself are fundraising or you yourself are leading a team of fundraisers as a head, you will have had firsthand experience of what it's like in the trenches with them, even if it's just as a volunteer, that's really key.
SPEAKER_00That's I love that. I want to mention real quick, Krista.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00No, I was just gonna say, I think that's a great piece of advice. I, a quick story, a friend of mine one time went to their pastor and was like, I think I really want to get involved in like church ministry. And they were like, Great, go start stacking chairs, go get involved there. And they were like, be faithful there and learn as much as you can. Like you're at a young age where, like, right now, the best thing you can do is learn and grow as much as you can. And I think fundraising is similar of like, great, if you want to start doing these campaigns, get involved down here and work your way to learn as much as you can. I think it's one of the best pieces of advice I've heard.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Thank you. I I do think so. I think that folks um want to jump right into the deep end and learn the deep, you know, nitty-gritty details. But they, you know, it might help like just going in and um, you know, sorting uh auction cards at the gala would be a really big help to the staff. And you would learn something about how, you know, what the reasons are behind the choices that the fundraising staff makes. And the other thing I wanted to mention real quick is that um I think, and if you were a current head of school, I think this is very relevant uh as well. Um you, I would really encourage you to advocate for your fundraising team in public. And your fundraising colleagues, um, if you are not a current head of school, your fundraising colleagues are working really hard and oftentimes it's a thankless job. Um, they work in 12 months a year and they are doing a lot of things. And so I think that faculty and staff sometimes tend to not understand what the fundraising folks are doing. So um understanding that and advocating for your fundraising colleagues. And then when you're ahead of school, um celebrating those wins publicly and helping your faculty and staff to understand the importance of their work and setting that culture from the top is absolutely critical. So and I tend to think that um oftentimes development folks are sort of just in the background working hard. And um I'm not saying that we can be on stage and everybody celebrate the fundraisers, but at the same time, it's helpful when everybody's um encouraging, encouraging to the fundraising folks. Yeah. Celebrating. That's great. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, Kim. So you mentioned a little bit about preparing leaders and that kind of area and resources. And so I wanted you to go ahead and share a little bit about what you are working on and that I think is a great resource, and I want to make sure that everybody can hear about.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Krista. I am really excited about the Aspiring Heads Collective. We at uh Total Advancement Solutions, there were five of us together, um, partnered together to create this course. It's a five session course for folks who are either wanting to become heads of school and learn about fundraising so they can be stronger. Or also we had new heads of school in the winter cohort. So folks who already had the job and were beginning to um, you know. Get trained in the area of fundraising. So, this is a um a collective we had, and we're turning it into a digital course so that anybody can take it at any time. And we'll be looking forward to launching that in the fall. I cannot wait. I think it's a fabulous resource with um tons of great content about um learning how to be a fundraiser as a head of school and how to lead a fundraising team.
SPEAKER_00That's great. And I know this is going to be a great resource. So I'll make sure we have that in the show notes for everybody to access. So I feel like we've talked a lot about kind of the challenges and the how to face these and the hard things. I wanted to kind of turn, take a little bit of a turn and kind of talk about the blessings and the unexpected blessings that heads can get out of this part of their work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's a really wonderful reminder. I think that folks who are thinking about fundraising as heads of school or future heads of school, and they're looking at that as part of a job description. I mean nowadays, right, it's at least a third of the job description, maybe more. And if they don't have that experience, they might be looking at it with trepidation and worried about how they're gonna do it. They don't want to do it, it's awkward. But at the same time, first of all, I think that anybody can do it if they have a willing heart. And I think that um that's a really important piece. But I think the thing that don't we tend to forget is how what an incredible blessing it is to partner with God's people to um to make God's vision come forth. You know, God has you know, generics, we talk a lot about culture of generosity and that it is God's plans. And so we as God's people need to release God's resources to make possible God's um plans and God's vision. And so that is a really beautiful piece of being a head of school or or any fundraiser for that matter, getting to partner with people who are deeply generous. And um, you know, I had one head of school tell me that it was really a beautiful thing to have a front row seat to deep generosity, quiet generosity, you know, folks who are paying, you know, extra tuitions so kids could come when they're, you know, somebody lost a job or you know, various pieces of things that heads of school get to hear about that no one else does because those are very quiet acts of generosity. That's a beautiful thing. And being used in God's work, the role that I have a head of school is pretty amazing. And um, and so that's very fulfilling. The heads of school that I work with and talk with, that's what they express, is how amazing it is to get to be in this privileged role to be a part of God's work. And the partnerships that um that you as a head of school will have with um, you know, your fundraisers, certainly your team and the folks, you know, your board, I think is a really important uh strategic partnership. But I think the partnerships with your donors as well, and um, because they are just amazing, generous people who want to make possible the missions. And I think heads of school have an opportunity for that to be a two-way street. I always say that fundraising is a dialogue, not a monologue, and um, which is a cheesy way of saying that it's I think it's a nice way, but I think of pointing out the fact that it's really about relationships. And so heads of school get to have amazing opportunity to meet so many wonderful people. And regardless of the gifts that are given by those people to the school, they are giving in other ways. They're giving of their time, treasure, and talent. And so the heads of schools that I know really have a wonderful opportunity and express that often often that they love what they get to do about that.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Well, Kim, thank you so much for joining us today and just shedding a little bit of light onto this topic specifically. Um, I wanted to real quick before we let you go, let people know where they can get in contact with you and your team. What's the best way to do that?
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much for um having me. It's been such a pleasure. And um, so I personally, you can find me on LinkedIn, uh Kim T. Jennings. And um, I think that um one of the things that I really want to point out is that the Total Advancement Solutions team is amazing. I have incredible colleagues that I get to work with across the country. There's uh seven of us and serving, like I said, in K-12 schools, colleges, and universities and nonprofits, all of those faith-based. And so um my colleagues and I can be found on gen uh generis.com at G-E-N-E-R-I-S.com. And um, you know, there you'll can find tons of resources uh for your school, uh, complimentary resources that I think that you might find helpful. And um I hope that you you reach out. We'd love to meet you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I'll make sure all of these resources that Kim mentioned are included in our show notes so you can have easy access to the links as well as their new cohort that she is working on for heads of school specifically. It's going to be a great resource that you were telling me about, and I want to make sure y'all have access to that as well.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00Of course. Thanks for joining us today. Thanks for listening to the Vanderblemen Leadership Podcast. At Vanderblemen, we help Christian organizations build their best needs through hiring, succession, compensation, and diversity consulting services. Visit our website, Vanderblemen.com to learn more. And subscribe to our Vanderblemen Leadership Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts to keep up with our newest ethics. Thanks for listening.