k-12 education
​47%
$3,677
of private schools surveyed cited competition from other schools as a cause of declining enrollment
median cost to enroll a single new student at a K-12 school
Source: NAIS, EMA & NBOA Cost-Per-Enrollment Study, 2022.
You're losing students you worked hard to enroll
Demand for Christian education is strong, from private K-12 classrooms to online degree programs. But schools and colleges alike are losing the students they already won. Families and students aren't leaving because they stopped valuing Christian education; they're leaving because nobody met them in the moments that mattered.
THE RETENTION PROBLEM
colleges & universities
56%
$2,795
of adult students (25+) who start college don't come back for a second fall
median cost to recruit a single new undergraduate at a private college
Source: RNL, Cost of Recruiting an Undergraduate Student Report, 2022.
Identify the moments that matter
invest in marketing technology
design proactive engagement campaigns
Students don't need you to be impressive, they need you to be their guide.That should show up in the way you communicate - acting with empathy, competency and warmth.Â
Your job is to meet the students and families in their highs, their lows and the moments in-between. Document their journey, scenarios and what matters to them.
Do you have the technology to communicate effectively and efficiently? Are you leveraging data well? Are you implementing AI? If you're not, then you're losing the battle.
Don't wait until you get the third red flag to finally communicate. Design engagement campaigns that meet students and families along the way - triggered by data and offering clear value.
MAKE THE STUDENT THE HERO
SO HOW DO YOU FIX IT?Â
YOU NEED A PROACTIVE RETENTION SYSTEM
Retention starts before the first day of class. You have to earn the next "yes."Â
The schools and institutions that are keeping students engaged have four common elements.Â
one year, two possibilities
WHERE arE you losing students?
What is retention marketing?
Most education marketing is admissions marketing: attract new students or families, accept them, enroll them, done. But enrollment is not one decision. It is a decision families and students make over and over. A K-12 family re-enrolls every spring. An online student re-registers every term.
Retention marketing is the discipline of earning that next yes. Instead of a process that ends at the first deposit, we build a communication ecosystem that covers the whole journey: welcome, belonging, progress, struggle, and renewal. The result is fewer quiet exits, steadier enrollment, and a budget that stops leaking.
You already market to get students. Retention marketing is how you keep them.
THREE SIMPLE STEPS TO BETTER RETENTION
We'll help you identify where your retention gaps are, clarify your messaging using the Storybrand framework and then design campaigns and an ecosystem to deliver it.
DESIGN YOUR SYSTEM
Students stay
With clear communication and smart systems in place, families stay engaged, students stay enrolled, and your team stops drowning in manual follow-up.
We start with a complimentary 30-minute conversation to understand your school, your biggest communication gap, and whether Southpaw is the right fit.​
Discovery Call
SILENCE IS WHERE THEY DECIDE TO LEAVE
K-12: Every family that leaves takes years of tuition with them.
A family that withdraws after 2nd grade doesn't cost you one year of tuition. It costs every year they would have stayed. Most heads of school find out in March, after a family has already decided.
Higher Ed: You paid to recruit them. Attrition takes the return.
Every student who doesn't re-register next term walks away with the recruiting dollars you already spent, plus every remaining term of tuition. Most enrollment leaders find out at census, when it's already decided.
THESE ARE COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS, NOT ENROLLMENT PROBLEMS.
THEY SAY YES AGAIN.
EVERY TERM. EVERY YEAR.
communication problems are fixable
Analytics platforms and administrative systems are good at reporting the problem. None of them talk to a discouraged parent in October, or an online student balancing a full-time job while deciding whether to register for spring term.
​
Southpaw builds the communication that reaches people before they decide to leave.
we've sat at both tables...
we know what silence costsÂ
We've lived the late-spring scramble to fill seats. We also know how to build the messaging and follow-up so you never have to survive another one. Â
Our team stats
Forty-five years of combined experience in ministry and education.
Forty-two combined years building marketing systems and communication.
Nothing gets lost in the handoff.
we're certified guides, too
.png)
STORYBRAND
Southpaw uses the StoryBrand Framework to help schools craft a mission-aligned, student-centered message, positioning the student as the hero and your institution as the guide.
PRIMAL QUESTION
Southpaw uses the Primal Question framework to help schools identify and answer the core emotional needs of their students, building deep trust and ensuring every family feels secure in their decision to stay.
HIGHLEVEL
Not only to we walk your communications team through effective messaging, we also build the systems that keep that messaging where and when it's needed most.
ten percent, given away. every year.
Ten percent of all our profits go to community causes we believe in, including TeachHaiti, Compassion International, and Direction 61:3.
Â
When your school keeps a family or your program keeps a student, part of that win keeps going: to disaster relief, to children in poverty, and to foster youth aging out of care. Success at Southpaw goes beyond business growth, it builds on shared mission and a global impact.
a few partners we've helped
what they say about us
"Bringing in outside help can feel like more work than help. Southpaw was the opposite. Ryan and his team rebuilt our nurture workflows and re-engaged audiences we'd written off as cold.
Â
Then they built an email design system our teams still use every day to create emails people actually open and click. They earned our team's trust fast, fit right into how we work, and delivered exactly what they promised. I'd recommend Southpaw to any education team."
Â
Molly | COO | TEFL Academy
"I knew what Design Futures could do for education leaders. I just couldn't say it in a way they heard. Ryan walked me through the StoryBrand framework, helped me find the words, and built our website around them.
Â
Now when we sit down with education leaders, the conversation starts in the right place. Less explaining. More partnering. If you need education leaders to understand your mission, talk to Ryan."
BRIAN Â |Â FOUNDERÂ | Â DESIGN FUTURES
 "We were struggling to lock in on our message and were getting bogged down in marketing we didn't want to do. Ryan and the Southpaw team helped us clarify our message and build a more mature digital marketing ecosystem in GoHighLevel. They're also great people with a heart to really serve their customers."
justin | founder | fortified mindset