There are great things happening in your schools. We help you tell the story.
Learn how we can help you engage your stakeholders, increase transparency and compete in an increasingly complex public education world.
Your School Communications Partner
A Full-Service Approach
The Donovan Group focuses exclusively on education, delivering school district communications services that help you reach your marketing, public relations and stakeholder engagement goals. We leverage our expertise in communications and apply it to K-12 schools and districts.
Education is our Passion
We’ve become a national leader in school district communications by staying on top of emerging best practices. We come from an educational background and are well-versed in state and federal policy, changes in teaching and learning and new forms of competition.
Proud Partners
You gain access to school district communications services that include everything from consulting and coaching to high-quality deliverables. Our clients are large, urban districts and small, one-building rural schools. We also deliver communications and consulting services to state and national associations.
Services Tailored to Your School or District
Communications Planning
Working with you, your team and your stakeholders, we develop a cohesive communications plan that guides your efforts well into the future. This includes identifying stakeholders, creating messages and formulating a clear monthly roadmap.
Referendum Assistance
We believe that a successful referendum or bond measure is one that both passes and fosters a greater sense of trust between a school district and its community. We assist with all facets of a referendum effort, from defining needs through election day.
Surveys
Through surveys, you can gain valuable data and feedback from your staff, parents, students and community members. We provide surveys to establish baseline data, seek residents’ input in advance of a referendum and help guide our planning efforts.
Media Relations & Training
We understand how the news media works. (In fact, several of us are former journalists.) We help you and your team prepare for media interviews, while offering professional development on how you can work with reporters to advance your narrative.
Crisis Communication
When a crisis situation hits, you must communicate in a clear, accurate and timely manner. We are available 24/7 to take action, helping you gather facts, reach your most critical stakeholders and respond to media inquiries quickly and effectively.
Communication Support
We give you the back-end communications assistance you need via content creation, web and graphic design, copyediting, surveys, reports and more. We advise you on how you can best tell your school or district’s story each day.
Communication Audits
We conduct thorough audits, asking the right questions, launching surveys and doing comprehensive research to examine your current communication efforts. We determine what’s working well and where you need to improve.
Content Creation
Our highly skilled education writers and editors create exceptional content tailored to your stakeholders and key messages. We write articles, news releases, web copy, reports, parent letters, brochure copy and more. You can also turn to us for proofing and editing.
Web & Graphic Design
We staff several talented graphic designers who take your branding and create crisp, attention-grabbing brochures, reports, mailers, postcards and more. We also assist with rebranding efforts, logo creation and web design.
#SchoolPR Insights
Communicating Before an Iowa PPEL Vote
The concept of a voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) is unique to Iowa education. It allows school districts to raise the local levy to fund project and improvements related to facilities, buildings and grounds. In most other states, districts may need to...
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A School Communications Checklist for the Start of the School Year
The weeks leading up to a new school year tend to be incredibly busy for school leaders. There's a never-ending list of items to check off to ensure the start of classes is as seamless and successful as possible for your students, staff and families. It's also a time...
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Ensuring Board-District Alignment in Your School District Communications Planning
Among the reminders we continually provide to school communications professionals, superintendents and principals is the need to ensure alignment in their communications efforts. While being proactive is certainly important, ensuring that everyone is communicating the...
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Getting Started with a School District Rebranding Effort
In an era of open enrollment and charter, voucher, virtual and private schools, public schools and districts must have a distinct brand if they hope to compete among the wide variety of options available to families and students. This makes school district rebranding...
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Effective School Referendum Planning is About More Than Pass or Fail
When we think about what it means to have a successful school referendum planning process, our goal is to do much more than ensure 51 percent of community members vote in favor of the question on the ballot. Instead, we consider a well-executed referendum effort to be...
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Report Sheds Light on Parents’ Emerging Expectations for School Communication
Data from Blackboard's recent Trends in Community Engagement Report indicate that schools and districts must strike a balance when communicating with parents. The report included data on communications trends from more than a half-million parents, students, teachers,...
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