Financial Management

Planning
| Professional Development
| Tuition

What Makes the Financial Model Work? This item is protected.

A data dive identified top levers schools can pull for financial success.

4 min read

Budget
| Endowment
| Investments

Navigating Inflation: Strategic Budgeting and Investment Management for Independent Schools

CPI may not be the best way to gauge inflation for your school – consider an education-specific index that may be more accurate.

7 min read

Feature

Gift
| Marketing

Shifts in Donor Dollars: Institutional Giving Trends This item is protected.

Recent trends in giving may inspire school leaders to rethink traditional fundraising strategies.

12 min read

Stacks of coins increasing in height on a wooden surface with a clock and growth graph overlay.

Budget
| Extended Day
| Summer Camp

Do Most Auxiliary Programs Bring in Net Revenue? This item is protected.

Analysis of recent school years indicates that most schools with auxiliary programs are turning a profit, with New England schools and schools with a boarding component leading the way.

5 min read

Two wooden blocks on a diagonal orange and blue background; one block has a green plus sign, the other has a red minus sign.

Business Intelligence

Cash Management
| Research
| Tuition

Is Your School’s Working Capital Working? This item is protected.

In 2023–24, most independent schools had a positive working capital ratio.

3 min read

Sunlight streams from behind a dark cloud.

Projections

Cash Management
| Endowment
| Planning

The Silver Lining in a Cloudy Economic Forecast

The markets may shift in the new fiscal year, but independent school business leaders can be prepared.

7 min read

Feature

Budget
| Endowment
| Planning

If This, Then That: Scenario Planning in an Unpredictable Economy This item is protected.

When the economic forecast is unclear, savvy school leaders are planning with multiple scenarios in mind.

12 min read

Business Intelligence

Debt
| Key Facilities

Plant Debt and Independent School Finances This item is protected.

Smaller schools are more likely than larger schools to have plant debt greater than their unrestricted and temporarily restricted net assets.

4 min read

Human Resources
| Legal
| Tax

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act: What Independent Schools Need to Know This item is protected.

The OBBBA will likely impact scholarships, giving and HR at your school.

6 min read

CEO Notebook

Planning
| Procedures
| Risk Management

Summer Could Be the Time to Tackle ERM

Enterprise risk management may sound intimidating, but this simple list can help you get started this summer.

4 min read

A student slips and falls on a school sidewalk, drops backpack

Budget
| Policy
| Risk Management

The “Jet Fuel” of Rising Claims Costs: Litigation Investment

Third-party litigation financing is driving up liability claim costs, and independent schools may be unwittingly investing in the practice.

3 min read

Red ship on blue water view half under water half above

Change Management
| Enrollment
| Planning

Strategic Rightsizing to Strengthen School Operations This item is protected.

Strategic planning led to fewer enrolled students and higher NTR in the case of one boarding-day school.

3 min read

Budget
| Leadership

Creating a Mission Spreadsheet This item is protected.

Skutt Catholic leaders mapped how different parts of the school’s mission statement aligned with actual expenditures to ensure every dollar is spent purposefully.

4 min read

CEO Notebook