Developing the IT Factor

In the International Child Resource Institute's thinkpiece, "Why Early Childhood Programs Succeed, Why They Fail," Ken Jaffe proposes that centers needed to develop the "It" factor:

"Every program, no matter what its size or breadth, wishes to assure that it will be full for each new year with a waiting list....  Further, each program wishes that its program will be seen in its town, city, region, or state as the top program in the area.  The 'it' factor will only be gained if a groundswell of parents who are highly engaged in the program begin to naturally spread the word that this program is the best in the area.  No amount of publicity, whether paid or unpaid, will do the trick.  It is only those who are the potential clients of the program who will create that cache that leads the program from success to greater success.  Those programs that have the 'it' factor will not need to carry out any paid advertising.  On the first day of enrollment and at any open house for those enrollments, the 'it' factor programs will have a line stretching down the street waiting to come in to compete for the few open spaces for the following year.  Our own programs are now harder to gain admission to than the University of California down the street."

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