Dalton Richardson Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

New York, United States

Key member of the senior administration team of this K-6th grade special education school serving as a thought leader for all advancement, communications and digital marketing initiatives. Oversee the school's Annual Fund and responsible for planning and executing events to raise $XXX,XXX annually. Act as a proactive and strategic partner for the administration, faculty, staff, and the Board of Trustees including providing reports and key insights. Report directly to the Head of School.Advancement Initiatives▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Work closely with the Admissions Department to expand visibility of the school and attract new prospective parents to exceed enrollment and retention goals.✔School photographer responsible for capturing, editing, organizing, and sharing all photos.✔Graphic designer responsible for creating school flyers, graphics, and marketing materials.✔Established partnerships with digital marketing agencies to further expand the school's visibility with prospective parents through strategic SEO and SEM development.✔Cultivated a new relationship with Niche.com to further expand the school's unique brand identity and visibility with prospective parents.✔Oversee, manage and serve as primary lead for the school's Annual Spring Benefit which raised $XXXK in 2022 and $XXXK in 2023.✔Created new systems and connections between the Admissions and Advancement department to further marketing and enrollment initiatives for the school.✔Helped create and implement the school’s first-ever Pride Celebration which is now an annual tradition.* continued below *

New York, New York, United States

* continued from above *Communications and Marketing▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔ Receive department project requests and coordinate the creative production elements of a wide range of projects from concept to completion.✔Ensure all deliverables are proofed, on-brief and approved prior to delivering to various audiences and constituencies.✔Manage design aspects of print production process including liaising with designers and printers to spec out projects, delivering print-ready files, answering technical questions, reviewing proofs, coordinating approvals, and ensuring deadlines and expectations are met.✔Oversee and manage creative freelancers, as required, to ensure a seamless and successful collaboration with the entire team.✔Develop a communications and content calendar for the school website and social media accounts, as well as share content through various channels to ensure a strong web presence for parents, alumni, alumni parents, staff, prospective parents, and students.✔Provide editorial direction and manage the development, design, production, distribution, and maintenance of all print and electronic communications including, newsletters, brochures, website, etc.✔Developed a holistic marketing program with a consistent communications strategy that captures the unique school experience and brand the school as a leader in progressive education. ✔Provide strategic counsel to the Head of School, Board of Trustees, and leadership team on communications matters.

Promoted as a key member of the leadership team, serving as a thought leader for communications, responsible for ensuring the excellence of all internal and external communication, marketing, crisis communications, and technical communication systems. Emphasis on modernizing, progressing and transitioning marketing communications to digital and online mediums. Acted as a proactive and strategic partner for the administration, faculty, staff, and the Board of Trustees.Technical/Technology Systems▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Created an Admissions Portal of the VCS App, allowing for prospective parents to log into the app to get a glimpse of a day in the life of a VCS parent and also to access admissions materials. This allowed for a full shift to paperless materials and made the delivery of information more readily and easily accessible.✔Served on the Crisis Communications team and assist with emergency communications including COVID-19 notifications, school closures, and real-world responses. ✔Assisted in data integration and management of new medical health records system, Magnus Health.✔Shifted previous school database to new database, Blackbaud Student Management System. This officially launched in September 2021 with seamless data integrity.✔Oversaw and managed shift to new communications system and new forms system in Finalsite. This allows for the collection and organization of information from constituents in a variety of capacities.✔Conducted research and gathered information on best practices for a more modern, design-forward website. ✔Coordinated webpage maintenance, ensuring new and consistent information (article links, stories, and events) is posted regularly.Ensured school website had an interactive parent and faculty/staff portal and was mobile compatible.* continued below *

* continued from above *Marketing Communications▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Researched, interviewed and hired new graphic designer and photographers to set VCS up for a rebranding initiative. ✔Received department project requests and coordinated the creative production elements of a wide range of projects from concept to completion.✔Ensured that all deliverables were proofed, on-brief and approved prior to delivering to various audiences.✔Managed design aspects of print production process including liaising with designers and printers to spec out projects, delivering print-ready files, answering technical questions, reviewing proofs, coordinating approvals, and ensuring deadlines and expectations were met.✔Oversaw and managed creative freelancers, as required, to ensure a seamless and successful collaboration with the entire team including photographers, graphic designers, freelance writers, printers, etc.✔Developed a communications and content calendar for the school website and social media accounts, as well as shared content through various channels to ensure a strong web presence for parents, alumni, alumni parents, staff, prospective parents, and students.✔Provided editorial direction and managed the development, design, production, distribution, and maintenance of all print and electronic communications including, newsletters, brochures, website, etc.

Promoted to be responsible for ensuring the excellence of all internal and external communication, marketing, fundraising, and PR efforts. Marketing Communications▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Developed, implemented, facilitated, and measured the success of a comprehensive marketing, communications, and public relations program working at both strategic and tactical levels.✔Effectively enabled volunteers and staff to articulate the School’s success stories and value, vision and direction to both internal and external audiences.✔Represented the School effectively with stakeholders, outside agencies, the media, and other constituencies.✔Oversaw the editorial direction, design, and production of all content, to ensure the creation of dynamic, engaging materials across channels and constituencies that accurately reflected the core values of VCS. ✔Planned and executed a media strategy to raise the profile of the institution and the Head of School.* continued below *

* continued from above *Technical/Technology Systems▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Developed and launched the VCS App, allowing for parents and staff to more easily access information on the go from mobile devices. ✔Updated numerous communications systems to more modern, advanced communications platforms allowing for more detailed analytics.Shifted form submissions from paper to online.✔Designed, developed and launched the School’s new website with multiple new interactive capabilities for students, parents and faculty. Alumni Relations/Fundraising/Events ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Worked on capital campaign which raised over $XXMM and assisted the Office of Advancement in areas including communications, fundraising, events, and more. ✔Supported a client service ethos in the Office of Advancement, offering proactive and strategic communications support and leadership to VCS departments throughout the institution.✔Helped to establish and mentor the Genders and Sexuality Alliance Club for middle school students.* continued below *

Promoted to be accountable for supporting philanthropy and fundraising initiatives. Responsible for special events, public relations, marketing, organizational branding initiatives, community outreach, and volunteer coordination. Managed and trained incoming departmental associates as the senior tenured member of the team.✔Supported Director of Advancement in cultivating and stewarding major gifts to the school and nurturing a culture of philanthropy. ✔Integral role in generating more than $XMM in fundraising for the Annual Fund. ✔Developed and implemented short- and long-term advancement plan to meet established advancement goals and objectives. This included strategic communications for securing major gifts, donations to the school’s annual fund, enhancing special fundraising/cultivation events, and developing new approaches to supporting traditional advancement initiatives.✔Organized and managed all school social events such as the Square Dance, Fall Festival, Annual Auction, etc. Led events through all aspects from program planning to onsite execution. Contacted and booked 3rd party vendors and coordinated parent volunteers.✔Engaged in marketing and communications activities and set up materials for our Major Gifts and Campaign meetings.✔Clearly articulated the organization’s vision to generate significant fundraising donations.✔Worked on feasibility and case studies for the Head of School.✔Integral part of the team who worked on capital campaign materials for our new initiative to raise money and build a new building by 2020.

Initially hired as a Communications Associate and promoted within the first year to be a key member of the marketing and communications team. Responsibilities encompassed assisting with writing, editing, and designing digital and print publications produced by the Office of Advancement, as well as all aspects of web development and maintenance. Emphasis on community outreach initiatives, public relations and driving school enrollment objectives. Reported directly to the Director of Advancement. Marketing Communications Production and Creative Execution▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Integral role in promoting the School, both internally and externally. Communications audiences include students, parents, teachers, Board of Trustees, attorneys, prospective parents, Independent School Association of New York (ISAAGNY), New York School Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS), alumni, and parents of alumni. Edited and standardized all communications to school standards.✔Created signage for school events including announcements, meeting and directional signs, schedules and calendars, etc.✔Produced and presented compelling, creative content, while maintaining the highest levels of editorial integrity and quality of material. Administrative & Academic Website ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬✔Served as the ongoing Webmaster and the main point of contact for the VCS website. Utilized Finalsite for design and maintenance. ✔Implemented a new Attendance Taking policy and conducted training to faculty and administration on new policies.✔Instituted a new afterschool program and sports registration module. Managed administrative, academic and extracurricular calendars.✔Served as the key liaison with DiamondMind for online payment submissions and data integration.