2026 Survey of Private School MarCom Leaders
Give Us 20 Minutes.
Get a Report You’ll Use Time and Time Again.
And You Could Win $150!
The Private School MarCom Survey is recognized as the most complete examination of marketing and communications at private K–12 schools.
Since 2017, its reports have been the gold-standard benchmark for this crucial area of school operations.
Its findings answer such questions as marcom’s most common duties in schools, the tools and qualifications necessary for those tasks, and how effectively they reach the right audience at the right time.
From staffing to storytelling, budgets to branding, photo shoots to professional development, the Private School MarCom Survey examines it all.
Who’s It For?
The MarCom Survey is for people who direct marketing and communications at an independent or parochial school in the United States and Canada, regardless of title.
If you personally lead or manage marketing and communications at your private school, this survey is for you!
The 2026 MarCom Survey is open now and will accept responses through September 30.
The survey informs our Private School MarCom Survey Report, coming out in Spring 2027 to serve marcom leaders, their direct supervisors and Heads of School.
Completing the survey is the only way to ensure that your school’s data is part of this industry overview.
What’s In It For Me?
Why fill out the Private School MarCom Survey? Because you’ll benefit from both the questions being asked and the answers that you and others provide.
Our survey asks what marcom leaders don’t often hear in schools, such as:
- What duties are you personally responsible for?
- Which skills would you most like to improve?
- Who gets the lion’s share of marcom’s attention and time?
Such questions prompt useful reflections about your own work and may drive immediate adjustments.
All submissions are anonymous; there is no way to tie responses to a given individual or school. So we invite your complete candor.
In appreciation for your time and thoughtful answers, we will randomly choose five directors who complete the survey, awarding each a $150 Amazon gift card.
With the Survey Report, you’ll gain:
- A fuller understanding of private schools’ most common marcom practices
- Accurate comparisons with your peers, informed by the most complete dataset in our field
- The ability to advise school leaders about where your school excels in marcom and the opportunities for improvement
- Greater knowledge about your comparative strengths and weaknesses within the industry
FAQs
Any individual who leads marketing and communications at an independent or parochial school in the United States and Canada, regardless of title. Whether your school calls you director, manager, chief or something else, if you oversee marcom, we want your perspective!
About 20 minutes.
No, we’ve got you on this: If you leave your survey tab open, you can step away from your computer and come back to the survey later. You also can click to a different browser tab without losing your progress. Just don’t close your survey tab before hitting “Done” on the final page.
You can, although it will be easiest to navigate on a desktop, laptop or tablet computer.
Yes, we have no way to tie responses to a given individual or school.
The final page of the survey includes a link to a separate SurveyMonkey form (thus protecting your anonymity) and a password you’ll need. Click that link, type in your school email address and the password, and hit “Enter.” That’s it — you’re in the pool!
Any other questions? Reach out to us!
Acknowledgements
The Private School MarCom Survey was the brainchild of Rob and Liza Norman, founders of InspirED School Marketers and Turnaround Marketing Communications. The Normans created and distributed the first survey in 2017; they produced follow-up questionnaires in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024.
In 2026, as the Normans retired, they turned over management and production of the Private School MarCom Survey, along with its data archives, to Fine Point Communications.
Fine Point is responsible for the current list of questions. We are deeply grateful to Rob and Liza for their many contributions to independent school marketing and communications. Their dedication made our industry wiser, stronger and more aligned.