Marketing for independent and alternative schools

You have a school with a philosophy, a waiting list that used to be longer, and nobody whose actual job is enrollment. The head of school does admissions between meetings. The website was built by a parent in 2019. Every conversation about advertising ends with someone saying that is not who we are.

These guides are written for that situation. Numbers where numbers help, and a serious answer to the objection rather than a lecture about it.

Permission 6 min

Marketing Your School Without Betraying What It Stands For

If marketing feels like it contradicts your school's values, you're not being precious. You're noticing something real. Here's a version of it that doesn't.

Numbers 5 min

What Should a School Actually Spend on Marketing?

Benchmarks, formulas and ranges for school and program marketing budgets — sized for a 60-student school, not a university.

Numbers 4 min

Cost Per Enrolled Student: The Only Marketing Number That Matters

How to calculate what it costs your school to enroll one child, what a good number looks like, and how to use it to end budget arguments.

Mechanics 4 min

The Only Enrollment Funnel a Small School Needs

Inquiry, tour, application, enrollment — the four numbers to track, realistic conversion rates for each, and where small schools lose families.

Money 5 min

$10,000 a Month in Free Google Ads, and Almost No School Is Using It

If your school is a 501(c)(3), Google gives you $10,000 a month of free search ads. How to qualify, set it up, and avoid suspension.

Mechanics 5 min

How to Fill Open Seats in 90 Days

A week-by-week plan for a school with empty places and no marketing department. Free and low-cost moves first, in the order that actually works.

Mechanics 4 min

Your School Website Is Losing You Families. Here's Where.

The six things parents look for on a school website, the five mistakes almost every school makes, and what to fix first.

Mechanics 3 min

The Five Emails Every School Should Be Sending

A simple email system for schools: what to send after an inquiry, after a tour, to families who went quiet, and to the parents you already have.

Mechanics 4 min

Word of Mouth Isn't a Strategy. It Can Be a System.

Most alternative schools fill by word of mouth and have no idea how it works. Here's how to make it deliberate without turning parents into salespeople.

Money 4 min

Can Grants Pay for Marketing? Sometimes — If You Ask for the Right Thing

Funders rarely fund "marketing." They regularly fund outreach, access, and capacity building. Here's how to write the ask so it gets through.

Permission 5 min

How to Sell Without Selling Your Soul

Selling isn't convincing anyone. It's removing the obstacles between someone who already wants it and the decision. A better enrollment conversation.

Money 4 min

$10,000 a Month in Free Google Ads for Nonprofits

Any registered 501(c)(3) can get $10,000 a month of free Google search advertising. Most don't use it, and most who do get suspended. Here's the whole thing.

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