St. Clare Catholic School operates under the umbrella of the Belleville Diocese. Our school exists to provide an education that is faith-based and one that is strong in academic excellence. Our organization uses print and direct mail to highlight our students, faculty/staff, and school, especially with the use of postcards with QR codes that encourage participants to sign up online. We have found this to be effective and efficient for our school and while we are reaching a younger generation, we are consistently aware we are communicating information to parents and grandparents who prefer mailed information and/or reminders.

In the past, we have also used printing companies to print school newsletters for informational purposes to request donations for our annual gift giving campaign. We utilize these newsletters to keep our school community engaged in what is happening at school.

Additionally, we use print and direct mail to communicate to our donors through newsletters and letters detailing specific events. For instance, we are promoting our school auction that will be both in-person and online in early March 2021. The newsletter we are printing explains how donors, including companies, can get involved.

We plan to continue to use print and direct mail in the ways mentioned above and any additional ways our teams deems creative and engaging to our St. Clare community. For instance, we have considered adding more signage to parents, parishioners, and potential families unfamiliar with St. Clare School, especially during registration, open houses, etc. We are striving to become better communicators of what is taking place at our school and finding ways to do it more efficiently. Simply incorporating signs (vinyl banners and others) around the school will help things move more smoothly.

Our Marketing and Developing team has also agreed that we will commit to two newsletters each school year, banners around the school campus for open house, and signs in school families' yards.

As a new principal of St. Clare School, I will purchase business cards and prayer cards to encourage people to pray for us regularly and to have my contact information close. I anticipate this will be another area of printing we will continue to use in the days ahead. It is our school's mission to make the O'Fallon community aware of what St. Clare Catholic School has to offer. We want to set ourselves apart from other Catholic schools in our Diocese.

As a non-profit organization, especially one with a smaller budget, it is important to find creative ways to connect with donors and parishes to remind them of what is taking place at St. Clare School. Without print and direct mail, especially for our older community, many would no longer be engaged with what we do. Printing helps us to stay connected, to remind people of opportunities to volunteer in the ministry, to invite others to attend events, to give and support us financially and more.

We understand the importance of meeting the needs of our younger and older community. We look forward to working with Conquest Graphics to meet all of our needs.