Overview: Why Backwards Planning Matters to Maximize Enrollment?
Toward’s summer’s end, hundreds of students and families will stream into schools. How do schools make sure they have the enrollment they need? Intentional and ongoing planning and engagement with students, families, and the broader community help schools and districts make sure they are meeting enrollment goals and targets.
The implications of hitting – or not hitting – enrollment targets are huge: it can affect the school budget, student experience, staff experience, academic outcomes, and even the school’s ability to persist. So, that’s why we’re helping our education partners focus on what they can do to maximize enrollment and yield success with students and families. We used the real time feedback and data we get from over 1 million people – students and families – to design a strategic roadmap for you.
This guide helps.
Maximize Yield and Engagement: Onboarding Families (March-September)
Before the new school year starts, schools and districts want to make sure they are maximizing their yield. Families have expressed interest, and applied to your school or indicated enrollment intent. This step makes sure that families who say they are coming show up on the first day.
Phase 1: Reflect, Plan, Partner, Brand, Engage
Firstly, this is your first phase of recruiting and enrolling your next class of students and families.
Phase 2: Build Momentum, Expand Reach, Test Messaging
Secondly, in this phase, you’ll expand your presence and engagement and start to see how your messaging is performing.
Phase 3: Data-Driven Awareness Building
Based on your data, you’ll create an ongoing data, recruitment, and retention cycle.
Phase 4: Release the Hounds!
Finally, in this last stage of pushing towards applications, you’re activating all your strategies.
Phase 5/Pre-Phase: Begin Onboarding New Families
Maximize Yield and Engagement
Goal: Keep new families warm, connected to the school, excited, and meeting necessary deadlines. Additionally, educate families about programs and deadlines while beginning. Learn about the family, their student, and help them learn about your school community.
March – September
- Communicate Calendar and Deadlines for Next Year
- Firstly, Share the calendar for the upcoming year, including exciting dates.
- Prompt for any questions or needs.
- Determine potential extracurricular interests of families or students to share more custom information.
- Host Community and Welcome Event/s
- Learn and Communicate Through Pulse Checks
- Send Pulse Checks to new families to learn about them and their child.
- Communicate to capture early experiences and build strong relationships.
- Prompt families for questions or needs and remind them about key dates and deadlines
- Share results with leadership to proactively address concerns and improve family satisfaction.
- Learn why families chose to enroll for future recruitment
Phase 1: Reflect, Plan, Partner, Brand, Engage (August - September)
Goals: Reflect on your enrollment goals and plans; Review your data about why new families came to plan for strategies and messaging; begin reaching out to partners.
Key Activities
- Recruitment and Enrollment Kick-Off Meeting: Host a meeting with a committee of people who will lead enrollment goals
- Create Enrollment Planning Calendar, Including Presence at School Kickoff Events
- Announce key dates during back-to-school nights and parent meetings.
- Begin Designing Messaging and Collateral
- Review your Possip Pulse Check routine feedback for key praise elements to highlight in messaging
- Create Partner Network Map
- Create and Visit Enrollment Sign Up With a Parent or Student in Mind
- Start Your Social Media Campaign
- Begin weekly posts introducing the programs and key dates.
- Start Partner and Parent Newsletters
- Provide local organizations with information to share with their networks.
Phase 2: Momentum Building with Early Outreach (October – November)
Goals: Build momentum and engage families through information sessions and targeted messaging.
Key Activities
- Host Open House Events
- Testimonials: Use quotes or stories from surveys to demonstrate family satisfaction.
- Continue a Constant Social Media Cadence (at least weekly) targeted at Student Recruitment
- Monitor Current Family Satisfaction to Identify Champions and Detractors
- Community Outreach:
- Highlight how the school uses family feedback to improve programs, creating trust and encouraging applications.
Phase 3: Data-Driven Awareness Building (December 2024–January 2025)
Goals: Use Possip Data Analysis to identify key trends and inform targeted outreach.
Key Activities
- Possip Data Analysis
- Analyze feedback from existing families to understand what resonates about the program (e.g., why families apply, barriers to retention).
- Use trends from previous Possip pulse checks to identify underserved demographics or geographies needing targeted outreach.
- Share insights with your team to refine promotional materials and outreach strategies (e.g., “highlight flexible program options for working parents”).
- Community and Digital Engagement:
- Based on data insights, adjust social media ads and email campaigns to address specific family needs or questions.
- Partner with community organizations that serve underrepresented families identified in the analysis.
Phase 4: Final Push (January – March)
Goals: Drive last-minute applications, support families in the process, and gather real-time feedback using Possip Pulse Checks.
Key Activities
- Possip Pulse Checks
- Conduct weekly pulse checks targeting current and prospective families to:
- Identify barriers to completing applications.
- Uncover common questions or concerns about the process.
- Gather quick, actionable feedback to adjust promotion efforts.
- Respond to feedback by sharing FAQs, creating guides, or offering direct support (e.g., virtual help sessions).
- Targeted Campaigns:
- Use insights from pulse checks to refine messaging in text reminders, emails, and social media posts.
- Example: If families cite difficulty accessing the application, send step-by-step videos or host walk-through sessions.
- Conduct weekly pulse checks targeting current and prospective families to:
- January 15-February 7, 2025
- Countdown Campaign:
- Use pulse check responses to highlight the benefits families value most, such as academic rigor or extracurricular options.
- Countdown Campaign:
Backwards Planning: Conclusion
Overall by focusing on family engagement, data-driven insights, and thoughtful outreach, you can create a smoother enrollment process that meets families where they are and highlights the value of your programs. Ultimately, this approach not only supports your enrollment goals but also strengthens trust and relationships that last beyond application deadlines. Click here for a fun, expanded guide on backwards planning
