Tech Toolbox
Ever think about advertising?
By Terry Morawski

As budgets continue to be cut in districts throughout the state, school leaders are challenged to come up with ways to create new revenue streams. Many districts are looking at a revenue source that some educators consider taboo: advertising. Although it’s becoming more common to see advertisements in schoolrelated communications, there’s still a philosophical leap required for school leaders, board trustees and communities to understand the need. There are many ways districts can generate revenue through advertising, so for simplicity in this column, I’ll focus on website advertising.

Get a handle on your analytics. Start the process by getting a handle on the traffic your district website generates. You can do this through web analytics, or stats. Some website management systems have built-in

stat counters. If not, you can install the free Google Analytics program on your website. This will enable you to see which pages receive the most hits and how much traffic your site receives. To advertisers, these numbers will matter.

Find out who is advertising. Peruse websites that are popular in your community to see who is advertising on them. Also, scope out the advertisers in local publications, on billboards, on television and in direct mail. This will give you an idea of who is spending advertising dollars in your community. Most likely the businesses already advertising online will transition the easiest to advertising on your site.

Draft a set of advertising policies and procedures. The immediate concern most administrators and school boards have about advertising is whether the advertising companies will adhere to guidelines concerning products and content. The good news is that you control the content on your site, including what types of businesses advertise there. Draft a set of policies and procedures to help screen out inappropriate companies and content. Include a clause that gives the school district permission to reject inappropriate advertisers or content.

Hold a policies discussion with school leaders and board trustees. After drafting your policies and procedures and outlining a strategy for how ads will be incorporated on the website, set up a meeting with the administration, the board and the community to discuss the policies and game plan. Be prepared for negative reactions from the public, as some people aren’t comfortable with the idea of school districts selling advertising.

Ultimately, advertising may not be a good fit for your community.

Advertise your advertising efforts. Be sure to explain why the district chose to sell advertising and where money will go. If the advertising revenue will be used to pay the utility bill, let people know. If the advertising

money will fund an innovative program, then share that information. Once people hear what the advertising revenue will support, they often warm up to the idea. In addition, advertisers also get excited to hear their money will be used for a specific target.

If ads aren’t selling, talk to potential advertisers. Businesses often will be very frank with you about why they have chosen not to advertise. Maybe they think it’s too expensive. Maybe they weren’t aware of what their advertising dollars will fund within the district. Integrate their feedback into your advertising strategy.

Regularly review your web analytics and stay up to date on advertising trends in your community. Then repeat and refresh. It’s always a good practice to re-evaluate your plan regularly to ensure your strategy is relevant to advertising trends in your area.

Advertising can be a great tool for school districts to generate revenue. Your website is a great place to start. Once you’re comfortable with web advertising, you can expand that same strategy to other areas, such as enewsletters, billboards in high school gyms and stadiums, event sponsorships, and more.

To see a few examples, visit my district’s site at www.mansfieldisd.org or our friends in Carroll ISD at www.southlakecarroll.edu.

 TERRY MORAWSKI is the assistant superintendent of communications and marketing for Mansfield ISD. He writes online at www.communicationsjetpack.com. He can be reached at terrymorawski@gmail.com.