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How to Recruit a Partner
Adapted from School to Work Alliance workbook “Effective School-Business Partnerships and Advisory Councils”
Schools are busy and have jobs other than business partnerships. You have limited time to recruit business partners, and therefore must make an efficient and targeted effort. The three main steps are:
- Identifying potential partners
- Articulating your educational goals and how a partner can help
- Approaching the partner
Step One: Identifying potential partners
The recruitment process is easiest if you can establish a team. Bring together interested staff and parents and work as a team throughout the tenure of the recruitment, and if possible, into the partnership.
- It is easiest to work with a partner who either already has a relationship with your school or knows someone at the school. Examine your school’s current partnerships. Circulate a memo to staff asking if they have any partnerships or relationships that could lead to partnerships. Include programs such as Junior Achievement, mentoring programs and contacts made through Principal for a Day. Take note of how long the relationship has existed, who the school contact has been, and the contact name on the partner’s side.
- If you do not have any current partners that can be utilized, consider people who have something in common with your school. Think about your geographic location and any themes or specialties your school might have. Are there any special programs, teams or clubs that might be used to draw in a partner? Consider alumni, or parents who have connections to businesses. Scan your local environment to see if there are new businesses that might want to work with you. Contact the local Business Improvement District (click here for an explanation and list of Business Improvement Districts) and local Chamber of Commerce to get a list of businesses and to see if they have suggestions.
- Brainstorm potential partners, preferably with a team. Having input from staff, parents and students will increase your pool of possibilities.
- Gather information about these partners. Use the internet if possible, or contact the businesses and ask for information on their mission and community involvement. Use this information to determine if the business is a good match for your school. Are they interested in education? Do they have a link to the school or local community? Do we know someone in the business that could help us get our foot in the door? Remember that many of the businesses you approach may turn you down; if you are looking for 3 partnerships, you should approach at least 10 businesses.
Step Two: Articulating your educational goals and how a business partner can help
Once you have a list of potential partners, you need to create a message about your school and its goals that is short, persuasive and informative. You have to market your school to these businesses.
· Clearly describe what your education goals are and how a business can help you reach those goals – Emphasize your goals for student achievement; the equipment, involvement, programs or guidance that you need; and how a business can contribute something to help you reach the school’s goals. Businesses often want to be involved, but do not know how – you need to tell them how and tie their involvement back to your core goals so they know how it relates to student achievement. Write out a short (one page) document of your goals and how a business can contribute to be mailed out or handed out in a meeting so that the business representative can share this information with others.
· Do not create a shopping list – businesses want to respond in a meaningful way and know what needs they are working to meet in a school. They really are interested in clear plans for student achievement – share them and how the business can help.
· Be concise – While businesses want to understand what is going on in the school and how to help, they do not have time to review a school’s CEP or other longer documents. You need to spell it out neatly for a business partner.
· Gather other materials about your school - A school brochure is also excellent item to give to potential business partners. If you do not have a brochure, a one page description of your school with relevant information would work well. The brochure/one pager should outline your school’s demographics, programs and accomplishments. It does not have to be expensive or professionally produced, but should LOOK professional and be clear, concise and well written.
Step Three: Approaching the Partner
Now that you have a list of potential partners and materials that clearly articulate your school needs, it is time to extend yourself to local businesses to sell you school.
· Mail your school information and needs to each business on your potential partner list. To find the proper person to whom to address the materials, have someone from the local Chamber of Commerce or Business Improvement District (BID) identify someone in the organization for you. If this is not possible, call the organization and ask for the head of community affairs or corporate philanthropy. If the organization is smaller, ask for the head of Human Resources. If you are approaching a small business, ask for the manager or owner. Be realistic about how many letters you send out – every letter will require a follow up phone call. Keep a good record of who you sent the letters to and when you sent them.
· Follow up every letter with a phone call within seven days of the mailing. If possible, call people in the business with whom you have a mutual acquaintance. Have your acquaintance make the introduction before calling. When you call, refer to this mutual acquaintance.
· When you call, be very clear about your reason for calling. Make your pitch about your school and be specific in what you are asking from the business. Consider writing out a script for yourself before calling that succinctly describes what the school is asking for. Refer to the letter that was sent and have the materials you sent in front of you for reference. Do not be discouraged if you have to call several times before speaking with someone, and if you leave a message, be specific as to when the business can reach a knowledgeable person at the school.
· Feel free to use a team approach to lighten the load of calling all these businesses, but make sure everyone on the team knows what they are asking for and is prepared to speak to the partner. If you have a mutual acquaintance with the business partner, make sure everyone on the team knows to refer to this person when calling the business.
· If there is any interest on the part of the business, take down all their contact information and establish a next step before hanging up (who will call who on what date and time or when you will meet). Be clear about the time frame and when the next action will be taken.
· Keep good records of your calls. Write down what day and time you called and with whom you spoke. Write down what you said you would do and when the next contact will be. This file should be accessible by all people working on the partnership building.
Next Steps
These actions should help you land an initial meeting with a potential partner. Return to Steps to a Successful Partnership to help plan your first meeting.
Adopt a School
The Fund for Public Schools and PENCIL operate the Adopt a School program. The Fund matches interested business partners with schools that meet the business partner’s requests and are identified by the Regional Superintendents as being schools in need. To indicate your interest, please visit our website and register your school for involvement. While we would like to match every interested school with an Adopt a School partner, we cannot match every school. We will make every effort to create successful partnerships, but we strongly encourage all schools to explore and recruit business partners using the guidelines in this toolkit.
Principal for a Day
PENCIL is an organization dedicated to creating school-business partnerships. Their flagship program, Principal for a Day, annually mobilizes more than 1,200 private sector leaders throughout the tri-state area to experience a day in the life of a New York City principal. The event serves as a catalyst for ongoing partnerships between the private sector and schools. Principal for a Day happens every spring. In order to make the best match for a school, the principal is encouraged to apply for the program to better explain school needs and goals. You can use PENCIL’s website to apply. Principals should take advantage of the day to engage the business partner in the school. When meeting with a business partner, articulate school needs clearly, and follow the guidelines below to help turn the Principal for a Day experience into a more long term business partnership.
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