The final stretch of the school year is here! It’s a season filled with a powerful mix of celebration, reflection, and anticipation. As you honor the extraordinary work that has unfolded behind the scenes, it’s also the perfect time to set a thoughtful, intentional pace for the months ahead.
Speaking of pace, I have been a member of Orangetheory for about seven years, where every class is designed around three distinct effort levels — Base Pace, Push Pace, and All-Out — to train your heart across different zones and maximize fitness improvement:
In the same way, organizational leadership benefits from intentional pacing. As you head into the summer months, consider applying this framework with your team. What priorities should remain at a steady Base Pace — important efforts that deserve consistent, sustainable progress? Where can you lean into a few Push Pace initiatives — areas requiring focused energy to accelerate momentum? And where might an All-Out sprint make sense — a short, intense burst to launch or complete something critical before the new school year begins?
As you calibrate your organizational pace, be sure to explore May’s Trend Tracker and Pulse Perspectives.
In this month’s Trend Tracker, we highlight the following signals and trends. Within each area, a number of clickable resources are available to research with your team.
01 Change Fatigue02 Gen Z AI View03 Rethinking ADHD04 Raising the Education Bar05 Demographic Shifts06 Hidden Feedback07 Hiring Strategy08 Alumni Engagement
Reflecting real-time perspectives representing the voices in our association, we solicited feedback from SAIS advancement professionals and marketing and communication professionals in April to complete a pulse survey focused on effective strategies, top challenges, trends, and professional development priorities.
Among advancement teams, the most successful fundraising strategies were annual fund campaigns (over 75%), major gift cultivation (over 60%), and event fundraising (over 50%), while alumni engagement and planned giving were seen as underutilized opportunities. Notably, 92% of advancement respondents indicated that philanthropy is either essential or important to their school’s financial strategy. Marketing and communication professionals reported digital advertising (over 55%), social media marketing (over 50%), and website optimization (over 40%) as their most effective tactics, with 79% citing balancing daily demands with strategy as their top challenge. Across both groups, there is a strong interest in professional development focused on alumni engagement, brand storytelling, data and dashboards, and leveraging AI tools.
See slide deck for full results.
During the 2025-2026 school year, SAIS is bringing the Blueprint Sprint to six cities, sub-regionally across our association. As leaders juggle with the urgent and the important every day, the Blueprint Sprint is a two-day intensive designed to help independent school leadership teams move from vision to execution. This hands-on experience will provide practical tools, a structured blueprint, and dedicated time to work on a pressing strategic initiative for your school.
November 6-7, Charlotte, NCNovember 17-18, Atlanta, GAJanuary 26-27, Nashville, TNFebruary 2-3, Birmingham, ALMarch 16-17, Orlando, FLApril 20-21, Charleston, SC
The energy and impact you and your team bring to work each day will echo far beyond this season. Thank you for leading with purpose, strength, and grace.
Dr. Brett JacobsenSAIS President
