How to sell to schools: private schools first, who decides, and the school-year calendar

To sell to schools, start with private schools, because they decide locally, and treat public school districts as a separate procurement process with bids and board approvals. List every private school in your area by type, contact the head of school or business manager (or the director who owns your category), and time your outreach for spring budgeting and summer installs. Most private schools have a Google Maps listing with a website, hours and reviews, so the list is easy to build.

Private schools or public districts: which can I sell to?#

Private schools buy like a small organization: a head of school, a business manager and a board. Public school districts buy like a government: published bids, cooperative contracts and board approval. Both are real markets, but they need different playbooks.

NCES counted 29,730 private K-12 schools in 2021-22, serving about 4.7 million students, with 482,570 full-time-equivalent teachers. About 6,120 were Catholic schools. That's a large, reachable market of independent buyers. This guide focuses on them. For public bids, the approach in how to get commercial cleaning contracts (registering on procurement portals and reading solicitations) applies to most categories.

Who decides at a private school?#

The head of school sets priorities and the business manager runs the money. Department leads choose in their own areas, and the board approves the budget.

At a small school, one or two people cover all of these. The head of school may also be the admissions director, and the business manager may handle facilities.

What do private schools buy?#

Tutoring centers and daycares buy many of the same things: enrollment software, marketing, cleaning. See tutoring center leads and daycare leads.

How do I build a list of private schools?#

Search Google Maps for every private school type across your area, merge the results and remove the public schools.

1. Pick the area. A metro, county, ZIP codes or a shape you draw.
2. Search several terms. "Private school", "Catholic school", "Christian school", "Montessori school", "preparatory school", "independent school", "boarding school", "Jewish day school", "Islamic school", "private elementary school", "private high school".
3. Check categories. Google Maps categories include Private school, Catholic school, Christian school, Montessori school, Preparatory school, Elementary school, Middle school, High school and Boarding school. The general school categories include public schools.
4. Remove public schools. Public school websites usually sit on the district's domain, so group by website domain and drop the district domains.
5. Search in pieces. One Google Maps search shows about 120 results; see why Google Maps stops at 120 results.
6. Add the edges. Preschools, tutoring centers and after-school programs may fit your product too.

The private school lead list page has the full set of terms and columns.

How do I segment schools with the list's columns?#

What should I pitch a private school?#

Pitch enrollment, safety or staff time, the things a head of school reports to the board. Families pay tuition, so anything that affects what families see, from the website to the front entrance, gets attention.

• Marketing and websites: inquiries, tours and applications. Show one observation about how the school appears when parents search in its town.
• Software: hours saved in admissions and the business office, and how you handle student data.
• Facilities: safety, and a schedule that fits summer and breaks.
• Technology: security and reliability, with support teachers can actually reach.
• Food and services: families' satisfaction and cost.

Student data is sensitive. If your product will hold it, be ready to explain your privacy and security practices in writing; schools will ask.

When is the best time to reach a school?#

Plan around the school year. Winter and spring are when next year's budget is planned. Summer is when work gets done. The first weeks of school, exam periods and holidays are the worst times.

During the week, email early morning before classes or mid-afternoon after dismissal, and call the office outside drop-off and pick-up. These are common practice, not measured results; school calendars vary.

The front office is the gatekeeper. Ask for the business manager or the director for your area by role, and ask for their email. Never contact students.

What should the email say? A short script#

Under 100 words, specific to the school, with a small ask. These templates use Leadraft export columns as merge fields: {{business}}, {{city}}, {{category}}.

Email 1: services or software, to the business manager#

Subject: [category] at {{business}} for next year

Hello,

I work with {{category}} schools around {{city}} on [specific
job]. Schools like yours usually [one concrete, honest benefit].

If you're planning next year's budget, I can send a one-page
summary and a quote so you have a number to work with.
Would that help?

[Name] · [Company] · [Postal address]
Not interested? Reply "no" and I won't write again.

Email 1: marketing, to admissions#

Subject: open-house inquiries for {{business}}

Hello,

I looked at how {{business}} shows up when parents in {{city}}
search for a {{category}}. There are two quick changes that
could bring in more tour requests before your next open house.

Want me to send them?

[Name] · [Agency] · [Postal address] · Reply "no" to opt out.

How many times should I follow up?#

Three or four follow-ups over three to four weeks, with the school calendar in mind. If you hit a holiday or exam week, pause.

What rules apply to outreach to schools?#

US commercial email falls under CAN-SPAM: accurate sender information and subject lines, a physical postal address and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days. Calls to a school's business line are mostly outside the National Do Not Call Registry, but the TCPA's consent rules cover autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones. Contact staff, never students. If your product handles student records, expect questions about student privacy laws. Google's Maps Platform terms restrict scraping and building lists from Maps content, a contract issue separate from these laws. See cold email laws and get legal advice for your situation.

Worked example: private schools in Florida#

The Census Bureau counted 1,785 private elementary and secondary school establishments with paid employees in Florida in 2023 (NAICS 611110), plus 713 exam preparation and tutoring establishments (611691) and 4,651 child day care establishments (624410).

Assumptions, for illustration only: you sell to private schools and tutoring centers statewide, a search returns about 3,500 listings after deduplication and removing public schools, and you take out one checked email for 1,000 of them in the first month.

If you add daycares, or want two or three contacts per school (business office, admissions, technology), Growth at $49 a month gives 100,000 businesses and 5,000 checked emails. Accept-all and invalid grades don't use checked-email credits, and unused credits roll over while your plan is active. See pricing.

If you'd rather not build school lists by hand, Leadraft finds every private school of the types you choose inside the area you pick, with checked emails from each school's own website. Try it on the free plan, or see the columns on the private school lead list page.

FAQ#

How do I sell to schools?#

Start with private schools, which decide locally, and treat public districts as a separate procurement process. List every private school in your area by type, contact the head of school or business manager (or the director for your category, such as technology or facilities), and time outreach for spring budgeting and summer installs.

Who makes purchasing decisions at a private school?#

The head of school (or principal) sets priorities, and the business manager or CFO runs budgets, contracts and most vendors. Department leads such as the technology director, facilities director, athletic director and admissions or marketing director choose in their areas. The board of trustees approves the budget and large projects. Parish schools may also involve the parish or diocese.

How many private schools are there in the US?#

NCES counted 29,730 private K-12 schools in 2021-22, with about 4.7 million students and 482,570 full-time-equivalent teachers. About 6,120 were Catholic schools. The Census Bureau counted 23,201 private elementary and secondary school establishments with paid employees in 2023.

How do I sell to public school districts?#

Public districts usually buy through formal procurement: bids and RFPs posted on the district or state purchasing site, cooperative purchasing contracts, and board approval for larger purchases. Register as a vendor with the districts you want, watch for bids, and build relationships with department heads who write the requirements. A Google Maps list of schools helps with local outreach, but the contract goes through procurement.

When is the best time to sell to schools?#

Reach decision makers in the winter and spring, when next year's budget is planned, so you're in it. Summer is when facility work and technology rollouts happen. Avoid the first weeks of the school year, exam periods and holidays. During the year, email in the morning before classes or mid-afternoon after dismissal.

Sources#

1. National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Facts: Private School Survey (2021-22 counts).
2. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (NAICS 611110, 611691, 624410, by state).
3. Federal Trade Commission, CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business.
4. Federal Communications Commission, Stop unwanted robocalls and texts.
5. Google, Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.