The Fortify Foundation Podcast

Map, Compass, and Calling - An Extensive Conversation on Strategic Planning

Dr. Brian Simmons joins us in today's podcast to share what he's learned over his 40+ years of experience in Christian education. How important is strategic planning? He's come to the conclusion that "a board cannot fulfill its primary responsibilities and a head of school cannot effectively lead the day-to-day operations of a school without a strategic plan!" Why is that? What difference does it really make? This episode takes a deep dive into answering these questions along with so many more! Every administrator and board member could glean some incredible wisdom into effectively fulfilling their roles and leading their schools more effectively!  As promised, here are the...  Book / Chart Recommendations: Dr. Simmons' Flow Chart / Strategic Planning Model: https://www.fortifyfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Strategic-planning-model.pdf [https://www.fortifyfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Strategic-planning-model.pdf] "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey (Urgent / Important Matrix) "Master Planning: The Complete Guide for Building a Strategic Plan for Your Business, Church, or Organization" by Bobb Biehl Bobb Biehl's Strategic Planning Arrow Sheet: https://tools.bobbbiehl.com/products/strategic-planning-arrow-24x36-planning-sheet [https://tools.bobbbiehl.com/products/strategic-planning-arrow-24x36-planning-sheet] "The 4 Disciplines of Execution" by McChesney, Covey, & Huling "SMART" Goals chart by George Duran "Rethinking Sustainability" by Alan Sue

Getting Back to the Mission! Building an Authentic & Impactful Christian School

If someone were to ask you, what is the framework by which your school operates? What would you say? God has given Christian educators an absolutely incredible mission, but a lot of times the day to day challenges keep us from more fully accomplishing it. How can we change that? In this episode, Todd Clingman shares his framework through the 5 P's and how keeping them in the right order can transform schools into thriving, Christ-centered communities. Regardless of your role, this conversation offers some incredible insights and a renewed call to ensure you are accomplishing your mission in impacting students for eternity.

Building an Effective Fundraising Strategy

In this episode, we discuss the key elements to an effective fundraising strategy. Sometimes it can be the simple things that often get overlooked. What is the reason for fundraising and what kind of impact is it really having? Are we effectively utilizing our team and keeping cohesion so we don’t miss out on donor connections? What does our communication plan look like? Do we even have one? We provide a few key nuggets to help you and your team make the most of the opportunities God has given you.  This conversation continues the momentum from Ruston Pierce’s recent Fortify Insights article on creating an effective fundraising plan. 🗞️ Read the article: https://www.fortifyfoundation.com/2026/02/12/7-steps-to-creating-an-effective-fundraising-plan/

Can Events Still Help Our School?

What type of events has your school been running and are you being as effective as you can be with them? We explore several  opportunities that your school could be implementing and evaluating to maximize impact. Often, we do great at the planning pre-event and execute well at the event. What does the post-product look like? Publish the numbers and move on to the next? You might be missing some great opportunities to expand your mission through what you already have on the calendar!  Subscribe to our Digital Magazine below! https://mailchi.mp/fortifyfoundation/fortify-email [https://mailchi.mp/fortifyfoundation/fortify-email]

Setting and Evaluating Tuition Rates in Christian Schools

We all know the importance tuition has on our overall budgets. But when is the last time you truly evaluated your school's tuition rates? Was the conversation geared towards increasing tuition or was there ever a consideration of decreasing the rates? The only way we could ever consider a decrease is if our overall budget is more than satisfied, right? Randy Sadler and Bob Arritt of Padeia Academy share some incredible and transparent insights of their personal discoveries when they stepped back and assessed some of their financial metrics in tuition setting. This is a great conversation to help all schools take a more detailed look at their current rates and the impact it might be having on their bottom line.