Author Archives: Natasha Wahid

About Natasha Wahid

Natasha is a seasoned marketing leader with a curious mind and a passion for storytelling and community. A mission-driven person, Natasha has spent the majority of her career in industries that impact people, including HR and education technology. A firm believer in lifelong learning, Natasha is currently sharpening her roller skating skills and dusting off her Italian.

  1. How to earn money as a nonprofit organization: 2025 Strategies

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    If you’re an executive or leader at an arts non profit, the question of how to earn money for a nonprofit organization is probably on your mind a lot. Earned revenue may be a big part of your budget and the last few years have made it even more important. 

    In our discussions with nonprofit arts organizations, we’ve noticed a pattern popping up among those that are thriving. It’s an approach to earned revenue that any nonprofit can implement—and it’s all about engaging the whole family. Read on to get tips and strategies for how to implement this approach. But first, a closer look at the forces impacting nonprofit budgets in 2025.

    Why nonprofits are reexamining their budgets

    The last few years have been challenging for many nonprofits. Charitable giving fell 2.1% in 2023, continuing a multi-year trend. The largest percentage of giving came from individual donors, many of whom are curtailing donations because of inflation and overall economic concerns. 

    For museums, post-pandemic recovery is ongoing, with just barely over half of U.S. museums reporting that attendance had reached pre-pandemic levels in 2024. That means fewer people visiting gift shops and paying admission fees—both sources of earned income.

    For nonprofit theaters, total ticket income for 2022 remained well below pre-pandemic rates, with a drop of -49% since 2018. However, the news isn’t all bad. During the same period, average earned income from educational/outreach programs rose 13%. 

    However, the news isn’t all bad. During the same period, average earned income from educational/outreach programs rose 13%. 

    All of this put together means that both charitable giving and earned income is dropping. That’s concerning since about one-half of all nonprofit arts revenue comes from earned income. Fortunately, there is something nonprofits can do to turn the tide. 

    How to earn money for your nonprofit organizationa: A family approach

    In conversations with our arts nonprofit clients across the country, we’ve noticed a trend among the organizations that are thriving. These creative leaders are finding ways to appeal to the whole family. They’re offering programming, performances, and classes for audiences of all ages. 

    When a whole family participates with an organization, the nonprofit becomes a part of the fabric of the family. And, by extension, more embedded in the community. Selling one ticket is good. Selling six because everyone in the family wants to see your production of A Christmas Carol, is better. 

    Kids who grow up in arts programs are more likely to make the arts a lifelong pursuit. They’re more likely to become future participants and donors. And parents, grandparents, and even aunts and uncles, may be more likely to participate or give if family members already do. 

    Classes are a key strategy for earned income and budget balancing

    Classes are a smart choice for theaters, museums and other arts programs that want to increase earned income. One American Theater article pointed out the benefits of an increased focus on education: 

    • Creates an infusion of revenue when it’s most needed
    • Directly supports the engagement and access missions of arts nonprofits
    • Opens up new funding channels and grant opportunities

    Here are three ways to use classes to get the whole family involved with your nonprofit arts organization.

    1. Offer family classes

    This doesn’t necessarily mean that every class needs to appeal to entire families, although that is one approach. Family classes can give multiple generations of a family the opportunity to spend some quality time together.

    They can be an entry point for new students because they make great gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or birthdays and other events. They also may reduce barriers to entry by removing the issue of childcare for parents who might otherwise not be able to attend. Best of all, if families enjoy their class, they’re likely to sign up for more, either individually or as a family.

    Organizations might also offer kids camps, couples classes, creative aging classes and more. 

    2. Create engagement points for people of all ages

    When we think of “families” we tend to think of mom, dad and the kids. But families come in all shapes and sizes. Many organizations have seen success with senior enrichment classes. Adults over 55 will be the dominant age demographic in the U.S. by 2030. Arts programs improve quality of life as we age. They help people connect, stay active, and keep learning.

    Watch: Jane Fonda shares her perspective on aging well.

    Seniors who enjoy their experience may purchase classes or memberships for children and grandchildren. They could encourage the whole family to participate. 

    Couples are another subset of the family that could benefit from some engagement in the arts. These classes make great gifts for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries or just date night. Couples classes can deepen relationships both within the couple and with the arts organization. Participants are likely to come back with their children, parents, or friends. 

    3. Remember, friends can be family too

    Found families hold a unique place in many people’s hearts. Offering classes that appeal to friend groups or “besties” can expand your potential pool of learners. Although people could sign up to any class with a friend, arts organizations can promote programs in ways that encourage group participation. 

    • Offer a buy one, get one 50% off registration on certain classes
    • Write marketing copy that highlights why this class is good for friends
    • Make group registration simple (the best class registration software has this built in!)

    These are just three ways you can use classes to get families involved in your arts nonprofit and increase earned revenue. Use these ideas as starting points for your creativity. 

    Ready to make classes a (bigger) part of your nonprofit earned income plan? Check out our guide to How to Increase Enrollment in Arts Education Classes.

  2. Simpler processes, smarter tech: Solving the time deficit for arts nonprofits

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    Busy is the natural state of any nonprofit arts organization administrator. Brian Rahill, CEO and Co-Founder of CourseStorm recalls sitting at a talk attended by a bunch of performing arts professionals when the presenter asked, “How many of you feel like even if you had a second pair of hands, you still couldn’t get it all done?” And every person in the room raised a hand.  

    At CourseStorm, we see thoughtful use of technology as a way to relieve the pressure and help nonprofits do more, faster. Recently, Brian joined CourseStorm Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Matt James to present a webinar on how nonprofits can simplify processes and use AI to increase capacity tenfold in 2025. 

    As a course registration and marketing platform, CourseStorm is focused on making these processes impossibly simple for both students and administrators. We spend a lot of time talking with admins and staff at arts organizations about their opportunities and challenges. Here are some highlights from the webinar on how organizations can integrate AI to position themselves for success this year and into the future.

    Watch the full webinar or read on for the highlights!

    The nonprofit arts industry is in flux

    Right now arts organizations face big challenges and unique opportunities. Overall ticket sales and subscriptions are stagnant across the industry. Audience demographics are in flux, and old methods of reaching audiences don’t resonate with everyone. As patrons age and demographics shift, organizations are looking for ways to build the audience of the future. 

    Meanwhile, political and social changes are causing even more uncertainty. Organizations are trying to do more with less. They’re looking for stable revenue streams and opportunities to increase efficiency without sacrificing their connection to the community.

    Brian and Matt believe there are two key strategies that can help organizations build a thriving education program in the face of these headwinds — simplifying processes and selecting the right technology.

    First, simplify your processes

    Over-complicated processes can bog down organizations. Adding technology to complexity doesn’t fix the core problem, it just makes things even more complicated. The better course of action is to streamline processes first. 

    Examine processes to identify what’s causing friction. For education program admins, these might be policies or procedures that are making it difficult for you to manage and process registrations. It might also be decision points that are causing friction for your students. 

    For example, imagine you want to make a class more accessible to people with lower income so you create a “pay what you can” policy. That might sound like a straightforward solution, but it creates some fiction points you might not be aware of. First, this might be tricky to do within your registration software. Perhaps more importantly, it presents learners with an extra decision to make — how much to pay for the class. 

    “[The customer] already had to make a bunch of choices, and so you want to limit the number of decisions they’re having to make,” Matt said. “It’s got great intent behind it, but introduces unnecessary complexity that slows things down and then makes it more complicated for you to run your program.”

    The simpler solution may be to provide scholarships or discount codes, or even offer the class for free.

    Add the right technology for your needs

    Simplifying processes is a powerful first step, but organizations can’t stop there. Brian talks about the many organizations that are still using ticketing or event software to run their class registrations. “They simplified some processes, but they’re still using the wrong software and they’re feeling this friction,” he said. 

    That friction might come in the form of complaints from students, or the realization that you’re spending a lot of time moving data between multiple software systems. This most often comes up when an organization is in a stage of growth. 

    That’s when a solution like CourseStorm becomes almost essential. Our software integrates registration and payment systems and can connect to marketing and donor management software. 

    The right technology should save you time, reduce manual tasks and improve the student experience. It should:

    • Empower instructors to connect directly with students and manage class rosters
    • Automate class reminders and other communications
    • Send low enrollment warnings and flag classes that are almost sold out

    Automation frees administrators and staff to focus on the human tasks that add unique value to the organization. Tasks like interacting with students and connecting with community members.

    AI in class registration and management

    When it comes to AI, Brian acknowledges that administrators may be feeling both excitement and uncertainty. 

    “If we think about helping someone on a personal growth journey through education. If we think about the arts in particular, and how that connects to the whole of human experience, that’s something AI is never going to replace,” Brian said. 

    What AI can do is handle the time-consuming tasks that humans are less good at. “AI is really an accelerant,” Matt said. It speeds up tasks like analyzing data.

    So rather than manually reading through and coding dozens of pages of student feedback, you can use AI to search for trends, identify outliers, and analyze sentiment. The best AI tools allow you to ask questions in plain language like, “The glassblowing 101 class seems to rank poorly, are there any common reasons why?”

    AI tools can also support idea generation. For admin staff who are working alone or who don’t have easy access to peers, generative AI can help with brainstorming. “It’s sort of a thinking partner,” Brian said. You may not take the exact ideas generated, but they may spark new directions.

    How arts nonprofits can simplify reporting with AI

    Annual reports and results reporting are essential tasks for nonprofits. It’s also time consuming, and frankly, boring for most administrators. AI tools simplify reporting processes so admins and their teams can focus on more human work.

    While third-party AI tools, like Chat GPT, can help organizations generate reports, they also raise privacy concerns for some organizations. De-identifying student data takes time. So does downloading it from your system and uploading it to a third-party site. That’s why we’ve simplified the process.

    AI generated reporting is now built into CourseStorm, no plug-ins or extra subscriptions needed. Your data is protected and anonymized with no extra steps. You can ask the AI complex questions in plain language, and it will deliver clear results, plus tell you how it found the information. This allows you to feel confidence in the answers you’re getting because you can see the underlying logic. 

    We call it “Just Ask Reporting,” because all you have to do is ask. See this feature in action below:

     

    How to increase your org’s capacity tenfold

    “Uniquely creative human endeavors are never going to be replaced, and we’ll have more time for those if we can offload some of the [manual] things, like wrangling spreadsheets.” – Brian Rahill

    In short, organizations can increase capacity tenfold by taking three simple steps. At every step, choose the simplest and most straightforward solution.

    1. Streamline and simplify processes to improve overall flow
    2. Introduce the right technology to solve real problems and automate processes
    3. Adopt targeted AI tools to accelerate processes

    Technology in general, and AI in particular, should free people to focus on the tasks that are uniquely human. By automating and accelerating with technology, you liberate your team to connect with the community, build relationships with your students, and get creative about ways to increase your impact.

    Learn more about what we do at CourseStorm and how we can support your arts education program here.

  3. How to recruit volunteers: A simple guide for nonprofits

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    A few years ago, I decided I wanted to start volunteering. I wasn’t 100% sure what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to work with marginalized women in my local community. I was living in a fairly big North American city and I knew there were tons of organizations I could work with but finding the right one proved kind of difficult. Through friends of friends, I eventually connected with a great organization. Still, I couldn’t help thinking that trying to find the right place to put my keen volunteer energy was trickier than it needed to be.

    Many nonprofits rely at least partially on volunteers to perform even the most foundational tasks that keep their organizations and programs running. But knowing how to recruit volunteers isn’t always straightforward.

    The good news? Volunteers are out there. In the first month of 2025, more than half of organizations that use volunteers reported an increase in volunteers. The bad news? Despite this, only about 12% of organizations said they had all the volunteers they needed. 

    When nonprofits figure out how to recruit volunteers, they gain a host of benefits that make their organizations stronger and support their mission. Read on to learn the value of volunteers for nonprofits, and how to develop your own volunteer recruitment strategy.

    The value of volunteers for nonprofits

    The University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy Do Good Institute partners with Independent Sector to calculate the value of volunteer time. According to their 2024 report, each volunteer hour is worth more than $33. This number, based on the labor and benefit costs of hiring an employee to do the same work, has been increasing rapidly since 2018. 

    Of course, the monetary value of volunteer labor is just part of the picture. Volunteers do more than save nonprofits money. They also strengthen the organization’s connection to the community. Volunteers are likely to be loud advocates for your organization. They attend events, invite family and friends, and encourage others to help or donate. 

    Volunteers are also more likely to make donations. A report from Fidelity found that about 50% of volunteers who donate say they give more financial support because they volunteer. 

    If your organization doesn’t have a plan for how to recruit volunteers (and retain them!), you’re missing out on a lot of value. A few simple steps can help you capitalize on the opportunity volunteers represent.

    How to recruit volunteers in 4 steps

    1. Assess the your organization’s need for volunteers

    Start by having a conversation with your staff about where they need help. Anywhere you’re understaffed or employees are spread too thin is an opportunity for volunteers. Simple but time consuming tasks are also a smart way to use volunteers. (AI can help here too, but that’s a conversation for a different post!)

    Volunteers can help you plan and run events, support fundraising or membership drives, staff your front desk, answer phones, serve on your board…the list is almost endless. Look for the places in your organization where a little extra help could make a big impact.

    2. Create volunteer job descriptions

    People are more likely to volunteer when they know what they’re getting into. That’s why an essential part of your volunteer recruitment strategy is writing volunteer job descriptions. For example, you might have an admin volunteer who helps in the office, an outreach volunteer who helps represent the organization at community events, or project volunteers who work on specific projects. 

    Write out the duties and responsibilities just like you would write an employee job description. Having all of this in writing helps both the volunteer and the organization know what to expect.

    3. Assign responsibility for volunteer recruitment and management

    To maximize recruitment and retain volunteers, at least one person in your organization should be responsible for volunteer management. Research shows that the more time the person responsible for volunteer management spends on the role, the more likely they are to meet recruitment goals. 

    Too often, volunteer management becomes one of a dozen duties added on to the work of a busy Executive Director or Director of Development. These leaders are often pulled in multiple directions and volunteer management falls by the wayside. 

    If the structure of your organization doesn’t allow for a dedicated Volunteer Management staff person, look for a reliable volunteer who can handle that responsibility. 

    4. Get the word out about your volunteer opportunities

    Don’t assume that potential volunteers will approach you or that they’ll even know how to find you. Your organization will probably need to seek them out and let them know what you need. The next section includes a few volunteer recruitment ideas that reach throughout your community and beyond.

    Where to find volunteers and how to reach them

    You can find volunteers almost anywhere. They could be among your donors and participants, in your broader community, or online. The following strategies will help you reach potential volunteers in all of these places.

    1. Reach out to donors and patrons

    The first place to start looking for volunteers is among the people who already use or donate to your programs. Here are a few methods to try:

    • Include a call for volunteers in your newsletter or email marketing
    • Post a callout for volunteers on your social media accounts
    • Print it on your programs, handouts, or donation receipts
    • Put up posters in your lobby
    • Make announcements before classes, performances or events

    Leverage you and your staff’s networks

    Ask board members, staff, and current volunteers to spread the word about your volunteer opportunities. Make it easy for them by providing a handout, text for an email or social media post, or link to your website.

    Post on volunteer placement sites

    You can also use volunteer placement sites and job posting sites to help spread your call for volunteers far and wide. Consider posting on:

    The community connection app Nextdoor offers free volunteer job postings. Other social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn might also help you reach a wide audience.

    Add a “Volunteer With Us” page to your website

    Don’t forget to post your call for volunteers and volunteer job descriptions on your organization’s website. That way, anyone who visits your site can quickly learn about your organization’s needs. 

    Partner with businesses, schools, and service organizations

    Businesses are often looking for group volunteer opportunities, so reach out to businesses in your community when you have events or big projects. Smaller businesses may also be strong partners in other ways, so building a link here can be doubly valuable! 

    Universities often help connect students with both group and individual opportunities that can be resume builders. Don’t forget about fraternities and sororities!

    Service organizations may be willing to host presentations to their membership by a representative from your nonprofit. These presentations may help you recruit their members as volunteers or bring in donations. Examples of service organizations are: Kiwanis, Elks, Eagles, Masons, Rotary, 4H, Knights of Columbus, or the American Legion.

    Remember: Volunteer retention is as important as recruitment

    Getting people to volunteer is just the first step. Just as you put in effort to retain staff, you also need strategies to keep volunteers happy and engaged. Proactive volunteer management is a good first step.

    Simple and clear procedures can also improve the volunteer experience. That’s one of the many reasons nonprofits that offer classes, camps, and workshops rely on CourseStorm. Our impossibly simple class registration software streamlines administrative tasks to lighten the burden on staff and volunteers. Get in touch with our team to learn more.

  4. Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations: A simple guide

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    Nonprofit directors make hundreds of choices on behalf of their organizations every day. Smart directors don’t make these decisions off the cuff. Instead, they’re guided by a strategic vision to ensure every choice moves the nonprofit closer to its goals. 

    Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations is a big job. It’s easy to feel like you don’t have time for long-range thinking when you’re dealing with daily challenges. But the most successful, scalable nonprofits have clear strategic plans that guide every aspect of their operation. 

    If your nonprofit doesn’t have one, or if you think the plan you have might not be robust enough to meet your needs, this guide will help. We’ll show you why strategic planning is essential for nonprofit organizations and offer a six-step guide for how to do it.

    The difference between a strategic plan and a business plan

    Your nonprofit may already have a business plan, so why do you need a strategic plan as well? The quick answer is that a nonprofit business plan meets a different need than a strategic plan. Business plans look at organizations as they are right now. It covers the short-term needs of the organization, and is often completed when the organization is founded. 

    Meanwhile, strategic plans lay out how the organization can grow and evolve over time. It sets the long term vision for the organization with strategies to achieve it. If you want to scale your nonprofit or meet a growing need, strategic planning is an essential task. 

    To be totally clear, your nonprofit mission statement and vision statement aren’t replacements for a strategic plan. These statements are usually short, aspirational, and public-facing. They talk a lot about what you hope to achieve, without the nitty-gritty details of how you’ll get there. By contrast, a strategic plan is all about the gritty details.

    The benefits of strategic planning for nonprofit organizations

    There are several key benefits to strategic planning:

    Plan for growth and expansion. Nonprofits often have to meet complex needs with a small team and limited budget. Daily work is mostly focused on the challenges each day brings. Strategic planning gives you the opportunity to look ahead at what the organization hopes to achieve. 

    Unite everyone toward common goals. Daily challenges make it easy to get lost in the weeds. A clear strategic plan brings staff and volunteers together toward common goals.

    Create reliable ways to track progress. Setting measures of progress is a key part of strategic planning for nonprofit organizations. This helps you check that you’re moving in the right direction, and makes impact reporting easier too!

    Ensure resources are allocated appropriately. Efficiency helps nonprofits do more with less. Shared goals and strategies guide resource allocation so you can make the most of what you have.

    6 Steps for developing a strategic plan for your nonprofit

    Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations is similar to the process that businesses go through. The difference is that you have some unique stakeholders and a slightly different focus. While businesses are driven by profits, you’re focused on impacts. 

    The six-step process below will show you how to develop a strategic plan that positions your organization for growth and efficiency.

    Step 1: Assess your current situation

    Start by looking at your organization as it is today. Consider what is going well and where the organization may be struggling. You might want to use some business assessment tools like a SWOT analysis, which measures four aspects of an organization: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

    Example of SWOT Analysis for an arts and education nonprofit:

    • Strengths: small but committed group of frequent students; high student satisfaction scores; proactive and engaged board
    • Weaknesses: cumbersome class sign-up process; difficulty finding and keeping volunteers
    • Opportunities: new grants are available for programs like ours; potential partnership with the new art store in town
    • Threats: rent is increasing; donations are decreasing throughout the industry

    When identifying your threats, be sure to take potential competition into account. It might be uncomfortable to think about competition in the context of nonprofits. There’s plenty of room to do good in most communities. Yet, most nonprofits face some form of competition. 

    Your theater may be competing with internet streamed movies and sporting events for entertainment dollars. Arts classes are competing with online course platforms and even Youtube tutorials. Part of your strategic plan should address how you differentiate yourself from these competitors. 

    To inform your analysis, you can collect patron and student feedback and gather insights from staff, volunteers and instructors. Take a hard look at your financial standing and how your organization is viewed by the community. Understanding is power when it comes to strategic planning.

    Step 2: Outline your goals and objectives

    In this step, consider what you would like your organization to achieve in the next three to five years. You might start by reviewing your mission and vision statements. Take into account the student and staff feedback you collected. Did it reveal opportunities for growth, or even a direction that sounds promising? 

    The majority of your goals should be SMART—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. In other words, “grow our student list” isn’t a clear enough goal for your strategic vision. You’re better off with something like: “grow our active student list by 20% by 2030,” where active students are identified as students who have completed a class in the last six months.

    Step 3: Identify current capabilities and gaps

    Your capabilities could include resources, knowledge, skills, processes or systems that can help you reach your goals. Resources might be your beautiful theater or the charitable trust you benefit from. Having clear Standard Operating Procedures is a capability. So is a seamless class registration and payment processing system. 

    Gaps are those areas where you know the organization is lacking. If you’re thinking, “we may not be able to meet that goal if we don’t have x,” then x is a gap you need to fill. 

    Common gaps arts and education nonprofits might face are: 

    • Need more volunteers to support organizational growth
    • No or inadequate standard operating procedures
    • Need part-time staff to support marketing efforts
    • Lack of truly useful software solutions
    • Struggles with marketing and getting the word out about programs
    • Funding shortfalls

    (If you’re looking to fill a gap in your class marketing and registration process, CourseStorm might be the solution your organization needs.)

    Step 4: Develop an action plan

    Consider each of your goals and identify a few key actions you can realistically take that will move you toward them. Your first action items will most likely be things that help you fill the most critical gaps you identified during the previous step. 

    For example, if you want to increase overall enrollment, you might start by offering classes that are more tailored to your community. 

    The best actions help you achieve multiple goals. For example, you might partner with local businesses to help you expand your offerings and improve your connection with the community.

    Your action plan should include a timeline for starting and completing each item as well as a list of the resources needed for each. 

    Step 5: Set measures and metrics

    Each big-picture goal and action item should have a corresponding metric—a way to measure progress and know when you’ve hit your goal. If you can’t figure out a way to measure any particular goal, you might need to refine it a little more.

    If your goal is to improve the student experience, you might set a metric that measures the number of complaints received. But a more thorough approach might be to share a satisfaction survey now, and then redo the survey in six months or a year after you’ve made some thoughtful changes to your process.  

    As you can see, there are often multiple ways to measure progress toward a goal. Take some time to pick a thoughtful and representative measure. 

    Avoid “vanity metrics” that look good on paper but don’t actually tell you much about your progress. For example, the number of flyers you post around town could impact whether people know about your program, but it doesn’t tell you much about the success of your marketing campaigns. A better measure might be the percentage increase in first-time students. 

    Step 6: Document and share your strategy with staff

    Your strategic plan is most useful when it’s shared with everyone in the organization. Create a document that includes your goals, action plan, and metrics. Then circulate it to staff and volunteers. Don’t forget to share it with your teachers too!

    Remember that it’s helpful to revisit your strategic plan often and show your team how their efforts align to that plan. There should be a cascading effect: Your strategic plan drives your short-term (and long-term) goals and objectives which drive day-to-day efforts and tactics. If your staff understands how their day-to-day links to a bigger plan, they’ll stay more focused and motivated!

    Bonus: Your strategy for a thriving arts education program 

    If one of your strategic goals is to make your arts education program more profitable, learn how your program can thrive and become the key to growth and stability for your nonprofit. 

  5. How nonprofits can meet community expectations with limited resources

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    When you’re managing a non-profit, the vision is often big, but headcount (and budget) might not be. This tension between available resources and community or organizational expectations is one of the biggest challenges facing nonprofits. It can sometimes make growth seem risky, even when students are lining up to enroll in your classes or camps. Fortunately, limited resources don’t have to reduce your impact. 

    With efficiency and time saving tools, nonprofits can meet public and organizational demands without overextending their current resources. And we’re not just talking about software. Nonprofits also need internal structures and policies that liberate small teams to do big work in their communities. 

    Based on our decade of experience helping nonprofit arts and community education organizations register students and grow their programs, we’ll share our top advice for maximizing your limited resources so you can meet (or even exceed) community expectations.

    Keep your team happy and effective despite limited resources

    Your team is your most valuable resource. It might also be the most limited. More than 74% of nonprofits report job vacancies, predominately in public-facing positions. Yet, every employee and volunteer brings a deep well of experience and contacts to your organization. Set your team, and your organization, up for success by following a few key guidelines: 

    • Encourage restful time off through both policies and actions
    • Provide training and perks that show you value staff
    • Offer as much flexibility as you can with remote work, flex schedules, and cross-training
    • Model healthy work habits so employees will follow your lead
    • Take time to praise and thank your team members for a job well done

    You don’t need showy gestures or lavish gifts to keep your team happy and avoid nonprofit burnout. What really matters is the culture and policies you create. Those have a direct and daily impact on team output to help you meet community expectations.

    Create processes and procedures that grow with you

    Establish standard operating procedures and document processes so team members don’t waste energy figuring out how to do tasks. Writing SOPs gives employees and volunteers more independence. It empowers them to get work done and frees up valuable energy for more creative projects so you can use your limited resources wisely.

    The following questions can help you identify tasks that need SOPs: 

    • Is this a task we do daily? Weekly? Monthly?
    • Is the task basically the same each time? Ex. registering a student for improv camp
    • Is this a task that only one person on the team knows how to do?
    • Do most new hires or volunteers need to know how to do this?
    • Are there rules, regulations, or laws that govern how this task can be done?
    • Do staff often have questions about this task? 
    • Would the organization struggle if everyone stopped doing this task?

    If the answer to any of those questions is yes, that task probably needs an SOP. Our guide to how to write a standard operating procedure can help.

    Engage across your community to build a support network

    Nonprofits exist to help their communities, but the support flows both ways. Nonprofits also gain valuable volunteer hours, in-kind donations, financial gifts and other resources from their communities. 

    There are at least three areas every nonprofit should consider when building a community support network. 

    1. Local businesses. Partner with local businesses through community sponsorships, venue partnerships, and speaking opportunities. Working together helps to weave your nonprofit into the broader community.

    2. Volunteers. Your volunteers can provide more than time. They often have contacts, talents, and resources they’re willing to share. All you have to do is ask!

    3. Current participants in your programs. Patrons and students have their own web of helpful connections. They have friends, families, and coworkers who might also be interested in participating, volunteering or donating to your nonprofit. The best way to get referrals is to ask. So make sure you have a system in place to ask for referrals from current participants. 

    Your nonprofit is better prepared to meet community expectations when it’s fully enmeshed in your community. Look for opportunities to build connections wherever possible.

    Invest in tools that automate and simplify processes

    Community members expect your services to be available when and where they need them. Meet that expectation by making common processes like class registration online accessible and mobile friendly. CourseStorm can help. Our robust yet simple class registration and payment processing software automates everyday processes like: 

    • Registration: Empower students and parents to register one person or a whole group with an online, mobile-friendly class registration process.

    • Taking payments: Payment processing is integrated into the registration process, plus automated payment plans mean you never have to chase students for payment.

    • Marketing emails: Automated class marketing emails let registrants know about upcoming programs that are similar to those they’ve enjoyed in the past.

    • Class cancellations and refunds: Cancel, reschedule, and issue refunds with a click of a button. No phone calls required.

    • Waiting lists: For growing programs, automated waitlist management is critical. With CourseStorm, waitlisting kicks in the moment your class fills and automatically notifies list members when there’s an opening.

    The more you can simplify and automate, the more time team members have to work in and with the community. With mobile friendly systems and integrated payment processing, you meet community members where they are and when they need you.

    Resources may be limited but your nonprofit doesn’t have to be

    Balancing community expectations with limited resources can feel like a big challenge. But if you put into practice the strategies outlined here, you’ll increase your organization’s capacity by leaps and bounds.

    The right tech can be a major help. If your nonprofit runs classes, camps, or events, get CourseStorm to simplify the registration process for your community and save 100s of hours for your staff. Connect with our team and learn more here.

  6. How to increase enrollment: A guide for arts ed programs

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    Your arts education program has big goals—to make the arts accessible to everyone, to build emotional connections with the arts and our organization, and to strengthen your community.

    “Education isn’t a passive experience. It’s a really active engagement with your organization. Someone who is [learning] with your organization is going on a personal growth journey … and that is a really deep connection with your organization—to be a part of their personal growth.” – Brian Rahill in “How your education program can fuel your organization in 2025”

    Education is a powerful way to connect with your patrons, which means when you increase enrollment, you amplify your overall impact. But it all starts with getting students through the door. To help your program act on its mission, we’ve gathered some of our best resources on how to increase enrollment. Put even one of these 10 tips into practice this season, and watch your program grow.

    1. Offer classes that engage

    Your program serves a unique community. Whether you’re in rural Maine or the heart of Los Angeles, your program can thrive by offering classes rooted in culture and place. Unusual and fun classes make your course catalog more robust and show students you understand their interests. 

    • Think about what sets your region or community apart
    • Tap into what’s trending in your community and on social media
    • Offer classes that take advantage of seasonal changes or explore local industry needs

    You naturally increase enrollment when you learn how to tailor classes to fit your community and engage local students.

    2. Improve your student experience 

    What happens in your classes is important, but it’s just one small part of the student experience. Students are customers too. They expect an easy registration process, responsive customer service, and relevant communication. Make sure they get what they expect with: 

    • Online and mobile-friendly registration options
    • Autoresponders that let students know how quickly they can expect a response to customer service queries
    • Customized marketing communications that match student interests and enrollment history

    Keep in mind that most people won’t complain if the experience doesn’t meet their expectations. They’ll just find another class somewhere else. So even if everything seems fine, it’s worth considering how you can improve your student experience.

    3. Focus on learner retention 

    When you think about how to increase enrollment you probably think about bringing in new students. That’s a good start, but don’t forget about your existing students. CourseStorm customers have found that 35% percent of arts students return for another class. If you maintain a good relationship with them over time, they may enroll again and again. 

    In addition to a positive in-class experience, here are a few ways to retain learners:

    • Make registration easy and convenient 
    • Highlight connections between courses so students know what to take next
    • Ask students to opt-in to email marketing about upcoming courses

    These and other student retention strategies do more than encourage students to re-enroll. They also create a community of learners who are happy to recommend your program to their friends and family. 

     4. Encourage word of mouth marketing with promotions and campaigns

    Your existing students can help increase enrollment in your program through word of mouth. You might think you don’t have much control over whether your students talk to friends and family about your programs, but there are actually several things you can do. 

    • Reward students with promo codes that discount their class if they bring a friend
    • Include a “send to a friend” prompt in your promotional emails
    • Make sure group registration is easy on your website
    • Host special bring-a-friend events or open houses

    These are just a few of the ways you can ask for referrals from existing students. They’re well worth implementing since 81% of people say they trust the advice of friends and family over marketing messages. 

    5. Partner with a local business 

    Partnering with a local business whose goals overlap with yours can interest a whole new group of people in your classes. It’s a mutually beneficial way to promote both your program and their business. You can work with a local business by: 

    • Bringing guest speakers from the business into your classes
    • Mentioning them on your advertising in exchange for funds to cover supplies or classes
    • Holding classes at the business’ location. 

    To get started, choose the right local business partner in your community and approach them with a proposal for how you might work together.

    6. Make class registration mobile friendly

    A mobile-friendly class registration system is convenient for students. It allows them to register while sitting at their kid’s soccer game or during their break at work. Adding this level of convenience means students are more likely to register since they don’t have to wait until they’re at their desk to do it. 

    Mobile-friendly course catalogs and registration pages: 

    • Keep customers engaged by improving their experience
    • Break down access barriers
    • Rank higher on Google search results

    The quickest and easiest way to make sure your class registration works on mobile is to partner with a mobile-friendly class registration software provider, like CourseStorm. 

    7. Hit the right price point 

    Class pricing is a delicate balance. You need to cover your costs, but also keep classes accessible for students. Set the price too high, and enrollments may suffer. Too low, and your program may struggle with sustainability. 

    There’s no perfect system for pricing, but we’ve found a simple strategy that works well for most programs. 

    • Step 1: Calculate your overhead plus profit margin
    • Step 2: Review the market
    • Step 3: Consider the value your class offers learners

    These three steps should give you a good starting point for class pricing. From there, test and see what works for your program and its students. For a more in-depth look at how to price your classes, check out our simple class pricing guide.

    8. Offer lead magnet classes 

    Speaking of pricing, there are some good reasons to consider offering at least a few classes for free or at a lower than usual cost. These “lead magnet” classes lower the barrier of entry to encourage new students to take a chance on your program. 

    • Pick an introductory or general-interest class
    • Make it free or half-price
    • Follow-up by offering related classes at full price

    These classes may not be money-makers in the short term, but you can think of them as an investment in a longer-term relationship with students. Free classes can really pay off for your programs. 

    9. Promote classes as gifts 

    Most of your marketing is probably designed to speak directly to students. If so, you may be missing a valuable market. Parents, partners, and grandparents who are looking for gifts may be persuaded to try gifting classes instead of stuff. Here are a few tips to get you started:

    • Lean into the idea that classes are a great last-minute gift option
    • Show how they’re more eco-friendly than physical gifts
    • Highlight how classes build lifelong skills — a gift that “keeps on giving” 

    Once you’ve convinced people that classes are great gifts, you have to make it easy to purchase and give them. Learn how to make it easy for people to give your classes as gifts. 

    10. Simplify your registration system 

    A simple registration system can help you get more enrollments. No more inconvenient phone registrations or registration and payment systems. Free your team from manually managing registrations via spreadsheets and the overselling or unnecessary cancellations that come with it. Simple registration systems eliminate all these headaches. 

    Look for a registration system that: 

    • Integrates registration and payment in one easy, online process
    • Simplifies administration so you never misplace a registration
    • Is custom made for classes (not events or retail sales) 

    The registration experience can either invite students in, or drive them to go somewhere else. If you think your current class registration system may be holding you back, here are some tips on How to convince your nonprofit board that you need class registration software.

  7. 4 Summer camp trends to maximize your marketing in 2025

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    The rush begins in just a few short months, so now is the time to prepare for summer camp registration season. That time of year can be a high volume, high reward season for many community and arts education programs if they’re well prepared. Create better offers and marketing plans by learning about summer camp trends for 2025.

    Based on consumer research and our years of experience in course and camp registration, we’ve identified four key trends that matter for anyone planning, marketing, or registering kids and teens for camp.

    Trend #1: Cost conscious parents weigh return on investment

    Parents will likely continue to be cost conscious as we head into the 2025 camp registration season. The consumer price index keeps going up, and that means parents may need to stay cautious with their spending.

    At the same time, costs are rising for programs too, leaving little room to reduce registration fees. That means marketers will need to make an extra effort to share compelling impact stories that convince parents their programs are worth investing in.

    Action plan:

    • Collect feedback from former campers and their families.
    • Craft social media posts, blogs, and other marketing around these stories.
    • Set up payment plans that make programs more affordable.

    CourseStorm makes it easy to set up automated payment plans with just a few clicks. There’s no need to chase parents for payment and no extra work for busy camp staff. Learn about everything summer camp registration software has to offer.

    Trend #2: Mental health matters for kids and teens

    Both parents and teens are focused on mental health right now. The CDC and other experts have sounded the alarm on youth mental health. Although the last available data shows a slight increase in youth mental health, the overall trend has been downward for a decade.

    Parents, teens and lawmakers are taking note. There’s more mental health information on social media, a greater push to share resources like the national 988 crisis lifeline, and even government funding for this issue.

    The good news for camp administrators is that summer camp includes many elements that support mental wellness, including socialization, self expression, and getting outside. Make sure parents and campers know about them!

    Action plan:

    Showing parents you take mental health seriously, while still offering a fun and enriching environment, gives them confidence in your program. It shows them they can trust you with what is most precious in their life, their children.

    Trend #3: A growing focus on sustainability and nature

    Speaking of health, consumers named “the health of the planet” as their number one issue of concern. Young people are particularly invested in combating climate change and preserving the ecosystem. Camp programs that focus on sustainability and outdoor activities may be especially attractive to today’s youth and parents. 

    Teens spend an average of less than 11 days outdoors per year. Many teens cite the lack of outdoor spaces, suburban living, and highly structured lives as reasons why they don’t spend more time outside. Simply giving kids the opportunity to get away from their phones, socialize in the real world, and connect with the natural world can make a world of difference.

    Action plan: 

    • Share how your programs get kids outside and away from screens
    • Showcase art projects that use recycled materials and elements from nature
    • Highlight your efforts to go green, like moving to a paper-free registration system

    Sustainability is more than a summer camp trend, it’s a movement with teens leading the charge. Your program is probably already making green choices. Make sure your campers and parents know about your efforts. Talk about it in marketing emails, social media posts, and donor letters.

    Trend #4: Transformational experiences wanted

    Consumers of all types are seeking transformational moments and memorable experiences. Parents want this for themselves and their children. Keep in mind that the customer experience doesn’t start when the child arrives at the first day of camp. It starts when the parent or caretaker first begins searching for a camp or class for their child. 

    Programs succeed when they offer a positive user experience from their course catalog through registration to the last day of camp. 

    Action plan: 

    • Build an informative and easy to navigate camp and course catalog
    • Streamline class registration and payment processes
    • Offer shopping carts, group registration, and user accounts
    • Deliver a fun and informative camp experience

    You already have an amazing summer camp program. Get a registration system to match. CourseStorm can help you communicate with and register customers on a streamlined platform that’s easy to navigate. Parents can easily find classes and register one or all of their children in a single transaction.

    Summer camp trends come and go, but parents’ desire to easily register their child for camp never changes. Give them a positive experience year after year with the right summer camp registration software.

  8. Grow your impact with a thriving arts education program in 2025

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    Your arts education program thrives most when it’s profitable and fully integrated into your nonprofit’s offerings. Of course, achieving profitability and integration isn’t easy, especially when your organization is under pressure from funders, partners, and community members to prove your impact. Yet, the consensus from the panel of experts at our recent webinar is that education programs can be more than profitable: They can be the key to growth and stability for your arts nonprofit in 2025. 

    Our own Brian Rahill, CEO of CourseStorm, joined with Laura Wong, partnerships manager for technology ecosystems at Fundraise Up and Samantha Bagwell, client relations lead for the US and Canada at Spektrix, to dig into the challenges and opportunities that arts nonprofits are facing in 2025. They shared their expert insights on why education programs are critical, and how they can thrive in the coming year.

    Read on for highlights from the webinar, or access the recording to hear directly from our education and fundraising experts.

    Arts organizations face challenges and opportunities in 2025

    Arts organizations face challenges and opportunities heading into 2025. The speakers on our panel talk to these types of organizations daily, and are noticing some trends: shifting audiences, fewer funding sources, and smaller donations.

    For example, one CourseStorm customer, American Stage in St. Petersburg, FL, saw an influx of young families during the pandemic. While previously their offerings were focused on retirees, there was suddenly a real community need to serve young people. This created a challenge, but also an opportunity.

    “Organizations are feeling pressure from all sides – financially (certainly), but also from their local community, patrons, and board,” shared Brian Rahill, CEO at CourseStorm.

    Under these conditions, growing and maintaining interest in the arts to increase donations and impact becomes a top priority. That’s where education programs really shine. 

    Why education programs are critical for arts organizations

    According to Samantha and the Spektrix team, 54% of all audiences were first-time ticket buyers in 2023. They anticipate the numbers will be similar as they come in for 2024. This has prompted many arts and theatre organizations to find ever more innovative ways to connect with new audiences and turn them into repeat patrons. 

    “Education programs are critical for their own sake … But in terms of revenue, they’re also a critical way to connect with new audiences and build their loyalty to your programming,” Samantha explained.

    Samantha pointed out that this opportunity makes it even more important to integrate data from your education programs with your central CRM, marketing, and ticketing platform. Teams working with CourseStorm and Spektrix can instantly invite participants along to their mainstage shows, building a multilayered relationship across their organization.

    Brian seconded Samatha’s point, saying, “A thriving education program is a unique opportunity to connect in a new way with the community.”

    This is particularly evident in the story of one Fundraise Up client, Bric Brooklyn. This cultural organization has built education programs to address the limited representation of marginalized voices in mainstream media and remove barriers to entry for aspiring artists and creators. Toward this end, they have developed workshops, courses and mentorship opportunities for different skill levels, all in collaboration with local schools, organizations and artists.

    Programs like these represent a major opportunity to increase organizational impact. It takes both vision and dedication to build them.

    How arts education programs thrive

    Most arts organizations are focused on making art and theatre more available to more people. Arts organizations can fill the gap left by a lack of arts resources in school systems and poor accessibility within communities. But they only thrive when they have the right technology to streamline administration and operations.

    Garrison Art Center in NY is a great example of an education program thriving with support from CourseStorm. With 85 classes on offer, they were using a shopping cart that was designed for physical products. Students had to fill in shipping info to register for a class, which just didn’t make sense. Staff were wrangling multiple spreadsheets for class rosters which led to mistakes and canceled classes. There were so many manual processes, it limited their growth. With CourseStorm, they saved time and effort. 

    Other examples of thriving programs include Sacramento Philharmonic in California which uses pipeline tools in Spektrix to map engagement with school districts. Wolverhampton Grand in England is building long-term relationships through community ambassador programs and creative projects. Their work pays off with larger, more diverse audiences at their events. 

    Increasing registrations and ticket sales is just one piece of the puzzle. To thrive in 2025 and beyond, your arts education program also needs to support fundraising efforts.

    Fundraising is storytelling: Craft a narrative that moves donors to action

    Fundraising is always top of mind for nonprofit organizations in the arts. Our experts offered key insights to put forward your most compelling fundraising story in 2025 and beyond.

    Laura from Fundraise Up put it succinctly: “Ultimately, people give to people.Fundraising is an emotional process.” 

    Organizations need to capture a donor in that emotional moment. Fundraise Up makes this easy, by automating the daily tasks that don’t require a human touch so you can focus on nurturing relationships with storytelling. But what does it take to emotionally compel people to make the donation? 

    “Be transparent – tell your audiences exactly what their donations fund.” – Samantha Bagwell

    Bridport Arts Centre does a fantastic job of this on their support page. At each membership level, instead of listing benefits, they list what that gift amount funds – like providing a free ticket for a carer to accompany an audience member with a disability to an event or subsidizing a full term in their Youth Theatre for a local young person. 

    One CourseStorm customer, Karamu House in Cleveland, OH offers all their classes on a sliding scale based on income so they can be sure to keep education accessible for a broad audience. This decision is an impact story generator.

    Importantly, these organizations also collect demographic information in their checkout process so they can report back to funders the impact of their donations. Highlighting those impacts and telling stories will create a powerful message that inspires donors.

    Ways to integrate your education program within your organization

    “To make education programs work for growth, nonprofits really need to tie them closely to their mission so it feels like a natural part of what they do, making the impact clearer for supporters.” – Laura Wong

    Education programs enable organizations to round out their offerings and provide a rich and complete experience for their community. None of this happens in a vacuum. 

    Our experts offered some ways to integrate your education program as a core part of your organization:

    • Collaborate with fundraising and marketing to tell stories
    • Partner with schools, business and groups to expand your reach
    • Engage the community with events and workshops 
    • Use customer engagement data to make relevant, tailored donation asks

    For an example of this integration in action, we look to Spectrix client Z-arts. This arts centre in the UK, runs a membership model that gives access to classes, school holiday activities and discounted tickets. This creates a holistic experience for the whole family, which drives revenue and attendance. 

    It’s critical to see the complete picture of any engaged community member. Spektrix, FundraiseUp, and CourseStorm are working together to integrate and share data so that organizations can use the best technology for their needs and have a single system to see a complete view of a patron’s participation.

    Key takeaways to start planning for 2025 today

    Each expert panelist had key takeaways to offer for arts organizations that want to build their most effective education programs in 2025:

    “Focus on the whole person. People want to be entertained, they want to support and they really want to connect and participate,” Brian offered. “A thriving education program helps round out the ways people can engage with your organization as a ticket holder, supporter, and participant in an arts community.” 

    Laura added, “Right now is prime time for planning holiday appeals or end-of-year fundraising campaigns. Use the success of your education programs to tell compelling stories and show donors how their contributions can make a lasting impact next year.”

    Finally, Sam summed it up with “Stay connected.” Connect your education teams with fundraisers, marketing and box office. Connect your education program participants with your mainstage productions. And, connect your registration software with your central customer relationship management tools, to keep that conversation going in real time, capture powerful stories and statistics, and build lasting links with some of your most enthusiastic patrons.

    Want more? Watch the full on-demand webinar to get all of the juicy insights and takeaways from our panel of experts.

  9. How to tailor fit your arts classes to your community: 6 fun ideas

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    Making your courses stand out is a challenge for any education program but unusual and fun classes can help. The trick is to choose classes that appeal to people in your community and fit their unique interests.

    Classes chosen with care can show students you understand and value them. They make your course catalog more robust and set you apart from others offering classes in similar subject areas. Plus, they create great entry points for new students to get acquainted with your program and its offerings.

    How to tailor classes to fit your community

    Even if you offer classes online, the majority of your students are likely to come from your local community. That means it’s worth figuring out what people in your community value, and what they might like to know more about. These six strategies can help.

    1. Root classes in place

    Classes tied to your city, town, region or state can add unique flair to your course catalog. Consider what makes your area culturally distinct from other parts of the country. This could be art, music, dance, historically significant events, or even the homes of famous people.

    The Reeves Downtown School of Music in Elkin, North Carolina offers a class in Appalachian Folksongs and the Stories Behind Them. This course is perfectly suited to Elkin’s place near the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Yadkin River. Courses like these celebrate what is unique and beautiful about your community.

    2. Consider broader cultural trends

    Pay attention to what’s trending on social media and in your community. Cultural trends influence how your students think, interact and spend their time. So your program may benefit from riding that wave. 

    Might your students like a class in finding your style with inspiration from Taylor Swift? Maybe they’d rather figure out how AI could impact their lives. Or maybe they’re part of the growing sober-curious movement and would appreciate a Mocktails Class like the one offered by Allerton Folk School.

    3.  Explore local industry needs

    Look around at the industries that are growing in your community. Alternative energy, medicine, and computer-related jobs are all on the rise nationally. But what’s going on in your region?

    Think about how you can help train professionals of the future. These classes may be directly rooted in the industry, or designed to build more general professional skills like business communication, leadership, or emotional intelligence for the workplace.

    4. Think seasonally

    Tie courses to seasonal changes, whatever those look like in your area. For example, Augusta Adult Ed in Maine offers Introduction to Nordic Skating and Ice Safetyto help people prepare to safely enjoy the Maine outdoors in the winter. 

    Think about the weather, food, and foliage as you brainstorm ways to create seasonally inspired classes rooted in your region. In other words, what do people feel, eat and see as the seasons change in your region. Each of those presents multiple opportunities for classes.

    5. Set the stage for a long-term relationship

    Classes for kids can be the start of a lifelong learning relationship. MoCA Westport, they offer a range of summer workshops that might not sound like your traditional art museum camp experience. Customizing Sneakers taps into something kids like to foster a love of art. Ditto with their Storytelling through Graphic Novels, Comic Books and Manga Class. Classes like these help kids discover a life-long love of art.  

    You might also attract a small group of very enthusiastic adult students by offering something unique and specific like a Bob Dylan Poetry appreciation class. But ideally, you have even more to offer. 

    Think about how these offerings fit into your course catalog to keep students coming back.  For example, might these students be interested in a more general poetry writing or music appreciation class? How about a songwriting workshop? 

    6. Ask your students!

    The absolute best way to tailor fit classes to fit your students is to ask students directly. What are they interested in? What do they want to know more about? How can your program help them? Here’s how to collect and use student feedback to build better programs.

    More programs with fun classes to inspire you

    Of course, selecting courses that are rooted in place, consider cultural trends, and shift with the seasons is easier said than done. Here are three programs that are doing it well. 

    • Art Camp 504 in New Orleans has tons of cool classes, like Mardi Gras headpiece workshops. Their 2024/2025 season has the theme: Journey into Space, including holiday camps for kids with titles like Alien Horse Races and Build the Spaceship.  highlight the sense of place/local community aspect of their classes
    • In addition to Appalachian Folksongs and the Stories Behind Them,  Reeves Downtown School of Music offers music classes for people of all ages and experience levels. From Elkin JAM (Junior Appalacian Musicians) to Song Structure Deep Dive, they encourage musicians of all ages while maintaining strong roots in the community. 
    • The Farms: An Allerton Folk School is built on the idea that members of the community have valuable knowledge to share. They offer everything from Fall Migration Bird Hikes to Beginning Mountain Dulcimer to Chicken Freezer Meals 101. 

    What all of these programs have in common is a commitment to offering classes that uplift their community and engage local people. You can take the same approach with your classes.  For more on creating classes that drive registrations, check out How Cultural Trends Can Help You Create Popular Classes.

  10. How creating standard operating procedures helps your ed program thrive

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    Creating standard operating procedures may not sound like the most fun ever, but good SOPs can revolutionize your administrative process. While there’s plenty of room for creativity in education, creativity can only happen if you have a strong operational foundation. It’s easy to put off establishing and documenting processes when there’s so much to do, but you can save staff so much time and frustration with this simple step.

    Whether you’re depending on paid staff or volunteers, SOPs make every member of your team a little bit more independent and potentially a lot less frustrated. This simple guide to creating SOPs gives you everything you need to standardize procedures across your education program.

    What is a Standard Operating Procedure for an ed program?

    A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a document that describes a process step-by-step so everyone on your team knows how to do it. They may include screenshots, photos, or links to help any staff member follow a process. Education programs use SOPs to make sure the people on their administrative and instructor teams can figure out how to complete everyday processes like registering students, or occasional tasks like issuing a refund. 

    SOPs are often stored online or in a shared folder where all members of the team can access them. Some programs also choose to create a printed copy, but keep in mind that SOPs are living documents. They can change with technology, as needs change, and when someone discovers a more efficient way to do things.

    Why education programs need SOPs

    Every organization can benefit from SOPs, but they’re especially important if you have a small staff, or work with volunteers who may come and go. Nonprofit burnout is a real threat, and you want people to be able to take vacation without fielding dozens of phone calls or leaving the office unable to function. 

    Imagine a big storm is expected in your area and you need to reschedule all of Thursday’s classes. You shouldn’t have to call Betsy, who happens to be at her daughter’s wedding in California, to figure out the process for doing that. Instead, you can just open up your SOP document and be guided step-by-step through the process.

    Then, of course, there’s staff turnover to consider. You shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time someone leaves your team. And productivity is lost if new employees need to be taught step-by-step how to handle each task, or worse, are left to muddle through and hope they did it right.

    Education program procedures that need SOPs

    You can create SOPs for almost any process that happens in your office. The need for specific ones varies depending on your program and its procedures. However, there are several processes that every program should standardize.

    1. Posting classes to your course catalog
    2. Registering students over the phone
    3. Canceling a class
    4. Rescheduling a class
    5. Issuing a refund
    6. Waiting list administration
    7. Creating a new student profile
    8. Emergency response plans

    The good news is that if you already use a quality class registration software like CourseStorm, some of these procedures may already exist. Just visit our knowledge library to get step-by-step instructions for many of these processes.

    How to write a Standard Operating Procedure

    The process of creating SOPs will require some upfront effort, but you’ll save tons of time and headaches in the long run. Having a standard procedure means there’s no guesswork and tasks get done right the first time. Here’s our SOP for how to create an SOP. 

    1. Title your SOP with the name of the task
      ex. Add A Class to The Course Catalog

    2. Include the scope and purpose. In other words, what is the goal of this SOP? Are there other SOPs that might be similar? Make sure your team understands when they should use this one.
      Ex. Add a single course to the course catalog. Procedure for adding multiple courses at once can be found here.

    3. Work step-by-step through the process, noting each step as you go. Make sure you list all parts of every step and include enough detail for someone who has never done it before. Don’t assume the reader knows what library you use for stock photos or how to set kids class age restrictions. Include any images, screenshots, or links that help clarify each step.

    4. Share it with the team to make sure you’ve covered all of the essential steps. Ideally, you should get feedback from someone who does the process regularly, and from someone new to it.

    5. Include a revision date. Everytime you update the procedure, change this date. That way people know they have the most recent version.

    6. Share the SOP with your team. An SOP only works if everyone knows where to find it, so make sure each member of your team has access to the place where SOPs are stored.

    Following these steps will help you make useful SOPs that save time and improve the quality of customer service that students can expect from you.

    What to do if your procedures are too complicated

    Sometimes writing out a procedure can help you realize that the processes you have in place are just too complicated. When that happens, look for opportunities to simplify. You may be able to automate some steps: like waiting list management or introduce the right technology to simplify your process. 

    Learn how the right enrollment tool can save you time and effort.