The study of 108 strategic plans that my colleagues Drs. Aimee Hosemann and Rob Zinkan conducted this year couldn’t be more timely. Their review of plans from public and private colleges and universities representing all 50 states occurred during one of the most disruptive years in world history, and certainly one of the most pivotal…Read more
Author: Rick Bailey
Imagine Voraciously: A Brief Excerpt
Here’s an introduction to Rick Bailey’s latest book, Imagine Voraciously, to whet your appetite for more. This new workbook dives into the beauty of imagination, offers inspirational insight and includes a variety of questions and exercises to explore by yourself or with your team. Books are available through RHB and you can own one by…Read more
How to Have Tough Conversations With Your Board
Ready for your board meeting? Part 1 of 3 Examine the vitae of most everyone at RHB and you’ll discover that we share the experiences of being practitioners on campuses around the country prior to coming to RHB. We’re fortunate to be able to counsel from having walked in your shoes—or at least your colleague’s.…Read more
Relationships, People! Focusing on Personal Relationships Yields Revenue
Either because of or in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, this academic year seems to have flown by. I’m finding it difficult to believe we are just weeks away from fiscal year’s end. Because I began my career in the development office of my alma mater, my heart still races a bit the closer we…Read more
Advance Your Higher Ed Brand with Storytelling Confidence
The Five C’s of Coherence We hear, more than ever, the line “we need help with our story” from prospective clients. And by “help,” they generally mean a compelling articulation of what makes them worth enrollment or donation. Our practices are designed to discover how the experience you deliver is one-of-a-kind. Our work is a…Read more
The Three R’s for Post-pandemic Success in Higher Education
Relevance builds Relationships build Revenue You may remember the Three R’s as Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic. These subjects formed the core of early education for many years. I’d like to introduce three R’s that will help you navigate your marketing efforts for years to come. In order to achieve your goals—to make your higher education…Read more
Ten Temptations in Tough Times: 2020 Edition
Given how this year has played out, you may have forgotten to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Great Recession. I remember 2010 all too well; it reshaped our business. As traumatic as it seemed at the time, the effects of those dreaded days yielded great benefits in terms of our focus, our fine-tuning and…Read more
Higher Ed’s path to a post-post-COVID life
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the disruption of 2020 has forced the development of new capacities, capabilities and constructs in higher ed. I compared the process to learning to write with your secondary hand. It’s difficult to write with your left hand if you’ve been writing with your right hand your entire…Read more
Becoming Ambidextrous
As an industry, higher education has been generally perceived as a huge ship that moved at a very slow pace. Nimbleness wasn’t a word we associated with higher ed; we thought change was nearly impossible. Whether it was processes or people who weighed institutions down, higher ed seemed not to be able to move swiftly.…Read more
Four Thoughts on Purposeful Change in Higher Education: Lessons from Moldy Raspberries
I had to throw out an entire pint of fresh raspberries this morning. I was bummed. I love fresh raspberries. But we’d waited too long. We didn’t eat them quickly enough. They responded as raspberries do; they got grey and moldy. I tried to pick out a handful of good ones to no avail. They…Read more