Educational institutions face unique challenges. Charged with passing knowledge and skills to the next generation, communication is critical on many different levels. From recruiting enrollees to passing along vital information to parents and students, to keeping students organized with the right organizational tools, schools manage and execute a multi-faceted communication plan with every school year. Meanwhile, time is precious. Communication and printing needs are typically low on the priority list for school administrations who are charged with juggling many roles and responsibilities. So, how can educational organizations like yours ensure your communications are well-executed yet also streamlined and hassle-free? Here are some tips to ensure your educational printing and communications efforts earn you an A+.
GET DOWN TO THE BASICS
It’s best to start off with the basics. Go back to the ABCs of your printing needs and reassess. Is branding consistent across all the essential communications tools such as
letterhead,
envelopes, notecards and
business cards? How is your inventory? It can be easy to overlook these basic elements, but as the foundation of all communication, they are important. Consider implementing inventory check-points for your school or district to assess your inventory on a regular basis and ensure that outdated materials are recycled. This practice will save you money in the long run by avoiding last-minute rush jobs, redundant orders across departments and lost materials.
FIND YOUR SCHOOL BUDDY
Parent/student newsletters… alumni newsletters… school magazines…fundraising letters…sports programs…student directories…commencement programs…parking permits…planners…event materials…open house mailings. Wow! And this list is just the tip of the iceberg concerning school printing needs. With so many communications, how can a school decrease the time-consuming impact of these projects? A working relationship with a reliable commercial print partner like Alphagraphics in Apple Valley can be just the friend your school needs. From figuring out the details of a project, to offering new creative and design ideas, to ensuring branding and colors are spot-on, to keeping projects on deadline and upholding quality standards that ensure your school is reflected in the best possible way, having a reliable resource to hand-off printing projects to can open-up your school administration’s availability for other responsibilities, all without sacrificing quality.
USE YOUR PLANNER
Remember all those communications needs we listed earlier? Just like you encourage your students to plan, so should your school plan out their communications needs. It’s likely that this information is recorded but in multiple spots across multiple contacts. Pulling together all communications projects into one comprehensive communications plan has many benefits. For example, mapping out all the mailings for a school year allows a school to better determine letterhead needs for the entire year and place orders for larger quantities that take advantage of quantity price-breaks. A comprehensive plan also helps the team see the ‘big picture.’ Could two mailings across different departments be combined into one? Is there a particularly busy printing time and could certain items be moved earlier or later to ease the burden? As your teachers always say, preparation is the first step toward success!
LET YOUR BUILDING DO THE TALKING
What feeling do new parents and students get when they walk through your school doors? Welcoming, warm, inspiring and clean or worn-down, drab and underwhelming? Your school’s environment is perhaps the most visible communication tool you have. Do you want your school to look its best, but lack funding for a major remodel? Consider new
banners,
window graphics, new
signage or even
floor graphics to refresh the look of your building. Ideas such as placing fun floor graphics that help lead new Kindergarteners to their classrooms to window graphics that communicate your school’s core values to banners that welcome students in the fall are an incredibly economical way to revitalize the image of a space, creating a more positive and engaging learning environment and promoting school spirit.
YOUR TWIN CITIES EDUCATIONAL PRINTING SERVICES RESOURCE
From take-home folders to school
calendars, to certificates to
yearbooks to
brochures and programs, schools have a wide range of printing needs. It pays to work with a professional printing company who knows the ins-and-outs of printing and how to use your budget wisely. AlphaGraphics of the Twin Cities, with locations in
Apple Valley and downtown
Minneapolis, is a professional commercial print, design and marketing partner with extensive educational & school related printing experience. We understand that a successful communication plan depends on efficient operations and quality results. Our expertise and experience enable us to help you find cost-efficient and time-saving solutions to your printing needs, whether you represent a single school or an entire school district. We strive to make your day-to-day job more manageable with our Apple Valley educational printing and Minneapolis educational printing services.
Contact us today to set up an appointment with our team to discuss your communication goals and how our high-quality production, quick turn-around, and impeccable beginning-to-end service can benefit your organization.