Services
How I Work with Schools
I partner with schools to implement and improve their use of school management systems (SIS/LMS), with a particular focus on Blackbaud Education Management. My work is hands-on and practical, whether addressing immediate challenges or supporting long-term system health.
Every engagement follows a clear, structured process designed to identify issues, improve workflows, and ensure your systems effectively support daily operations.
If you’re looking for Blackbaud-specific services, visit the Blackbaud page for more.
Initial Engagement; Complimentary Consultation
The first step is to meet with the school to understand what their needs and goals are. This call is free of charge and an opportunity for the school to highlight priorities, pain points, and a vision for what they hope to accomplish through our partnership.
Health Check; Audit of Systems & Processes
After the initial introduction, engagements with schools begin with me taking a “deep dive” into their systems and processes to get a thorough and clear understanding of their current status and framework. This approach supports a healthy partnership and ensures we are on the same page and speaking the same language.
I refer to this process as an “Audit” or “Health Check” and it is a valuable step whether you are a school beginning a systems implementation or have been using one and are looking to improve processes, increase engagement, clean data, train staff, or leverage more of your solution’s tools.
Audit Guidelines
Cost: $2500
Timeframe: Approximately 10 hours
Scope of Work
Full review of your system including current workflows, use of tools, data cleanliness, roles and permissions, and system setup and configuration
A meeting with your team to review my findings discuss goals, and create a plan to accomplish those goals
6 hours of consulting following review
If a school is unusually large or the state of the system requires significant review, the cost of this service may be modified accordingly.
Post-Audit Pathways
Most clients proceed with either hourly consulting or an annual subscription model.
Annual Subscription
This model is ideal for schools seeking a long-term partnership. Support is billed in equal installments aligned with the academic year.
The scope is based on your school’s needs and may range from a few hours per month to several hours per week. This structure focuses on a defined scope of work rather than hourly billing, allowing support to increase or decrease naturally as school needs change throughout the year.
Annual engagements typically range from $6,000 to $30,000, depending on the level of support required.
Hourly Services
This service is appropriate for schools with short-term goals or temporary needs.
Rates vary based on the scope of the engagement, with smaller projects typically billed at a higher hourly rate than longer-term work.
Most hourly engagements fall between $150 and $225 per hour.
If you feel your school’s needs don’t align with either of these options, I would love to meet with you and discuss a possible customized model.
“I have worked with Matt for over five years. Beyond being exceptionally knowledgeable, skilled and efficient regarding all-things-Blackbaud, he is also patient and kind. When I have felt as if things were in crisis, he is quick to respond, to resolve the issue, and provide peace of mind. He is such an asset to any school.”
—Mike Peller, Head of School, Vermont Academy: Saxton’s River, VT