Research That Benefits Marketing, Accreditation, and Strategic Plan at Once

William “Trip” Darrin

Headmaster, Blue Ridge School

D. Franklin Daniels

Associate Headmaster, BLUE RIDGE SCHOOL

“The findings from the Connor Report were the principal input to both the accreditation process and the strategic planning process (that’s high impact!). We’ve already acted on your recommendations. There were very specific recommendations from the surveys that were not on our radar and that needed to become part of the long-range plan.” ”

By William “Trip” Darrin, Headmaster and D. Franklin Daniels, Associate Headmaster, Blue Ridge School, VA

The Need to Know How We Stand With The Competition

Blue Ridge School in a 9-12 Boarding and Day School in VA. There was a Board retreat with principal leaders of the School. At that retreat, it was coalesced that we needed to do a competitive analysis to consider: what are our principal competitors? What are they offering? What space exists in the marketplace for us?

Choosing a Partner

We looked around and had several firms we worked in other capacities or came through another source. The two principal things in choosing Connor Associates: they were highly referred to us through a trusted source, and, in the early stages of investigating Connor vs. other options, what stood out to us is the leading role that President Mike Connor takes.

Mike wasn’t just in the customer acquisition side of the business. Mike would be a part of the analysis, the results, and helping Leadership and the Board understand the findings. The central role Mike Connor played in the work meant a lot to us.

Effect on Accreditation and Strategic Plan

The findings from the Connor Report were the principle input to both the accreditation process and the strategic planning process (that’s high impact!). We’ve already acted on their recommendations.

There were very specific recommendations from the surveys that were not on our radar and that needed to become part of the long-range plan.

I’ve had tons of very positive feedback from families on how responsive we were to their needs, and we were able to do so based on Connor’s research.

Now we can go into a Board meeting and not say we believe we have; we say we know we have.  And every head in that room nods, even if they don’t always agree with whatever we ask them for or what will follow. That feels good, especially as our market gets tighter and tighter.

Also, your research showed us that we lost the ability to stay in touch with an important cohort for the School. This got us thinking about alumni engagement as a whole and when we think about the advancement staffing model.

We need to think about broadening the work we do to foster more connections. This has been part of our long-range planning process.

Your work has allowed us to — in Board meetings and with donors and friends — say we have raised the school stature, we know what we did to do that, and we understand our relationship to the large marketplace better.

Our Board, our faculty, donors are really pleased by all that. Your work turned out to be a confirming element for those of us here in the trenches who are doing the work. And that has tremendous value.

Expensive, But Worth It

The price tag for the work was substantial for us, as these are funds that we carved out of the operating budget. But it was worth every penny. I felt like the results were valued and on point.

I felt like also that there was no way that I could try to do the work in-house. Even if I asked my team to dedicate time, I’m not sure if parents and alums would be open to say their most critical feedback to someone they know well. Having an outside source was important.

The accreditation process has been a great success and the long-range planning isn’t done but it’s going very well. The Connor report played a big role in both of those major endeavors.

Our accrediting team was amazed that we had gone so widespread in our scope, based on who Connor Associates connected with in their research.

In a marketplace that is getting tighter, the schools that will be in here in 50 years better be doing an even better job than ever in raising money, managing brand. It’s essential when your donors are buying into that as well. We’ve been weaving in the things Connor Associates confirmed for us. 

We have the confidence to make very big decisions here at the School. Connor Associates’ work played into that confidence.