Servant Leadership

In this episode of Twelve Wicker Baskets, Dr. Dan Ryan, President of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, discusses the transformative power of servant leadership in Catholic education and fundraising. With over two decades of experience in Catholic school leadership, Dr. Ryan has served in roles ranging from special education teacher to diocesan superintendent. Since 2017, he has led Dowling Catholic through strategic enrollment growth, expanded diversity initiatives and a visionary capital campaign. His leadership is rooted in collaboration, humility and a commitment to forming students not just academically but spiritually and communally.

A devoted Catholic often described as a servant leader himself, Dr. Ryan emphasizes that leadership grounded in mission and trust can inspire both institutional change and generous support. “It’s really not a lack of funds; it’s a lack of vision or storytelling,” he explains, reflecting on how authentic relationships and student-centered narratives drive meaningful donor engagement. With servant leadership woven into Dowling’s mission and graduate profile, Ryan champions a model of education that forms confident, Christ-centered leaders prepared to serve the common good.

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Transcript

Christopher Beaudet: I'm Christopher Beaudet with the Steier Group. In the Gospel, Jesus fed 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. After the crowd was satisfied, there were 12 wicker baskets left over. It seems that whenever you and I set to work and do our part, God provides the abundance.

In each episode of this podcast, I'll explore with pastoral leaders and development professionals from across the United States and Canada all the many ways God meets the spiritual and temporal needs of our parish communities, our Catholic schools and the diocesan church and not only meets those needs, but provides in abundance. You're listening to Twelve Wicker Baskets. Thank you for joining us here at the end of July for another episode of 12 Wicker Baskets. Hopefully you're finding some time this summer for vacation and rest. We're grateful that you're taking some time to join us today. Today I'm speaking with Dr. Dan Ryan, who is a nationally recognized Catholic educator and administrator with more than two decades of leadership experience at every level of Catholic schooling. Currently serving as President of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Ryan oversees the formation of 1,400 students and 150 faculty and staff. Since taking on the role in 2017, he has launched and led a visionary capital campaign, strengthened enrollment management strategies, increased student body diversity to 33%, and raised 14 million in tuition assistance to ensure access and equity. Prior to Dowling Catholic, Dr. Ryan served from 2009 to 2017 as Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Sioux City, where he spearheaded diocesan wide strategic planning, launched a principal development program and led statewide advocacy to expand Iowa's tax credit program and introduce educational savings accounts. He also co-founded grassroots efforts across the state through his leadership as President of the Iowa alliance for Choice in Education. Among his many innovations, he implemented financial projections for every diocesan school, created the Where Values Matter enrollment campaign, and partnered with Creighton University and Notre Dame's ACE program to boost outreach and Latino enrollment. Dr. Ryan's earlier roles include serving as a Pre-K through 8 principal at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School in Davenport, Iowa, where he expanded enrollment, oversaw facilities upgrades and guided student performance to the 93rd percentile nationally. He was also high school principal and Pre-K through 12 lead administrator at Aquinas Catholic Schools in Fort Madison, where he introduced block scheduling and expanded early childhood programming. His background includes teaching special education and general education in both public and youth correctional facilities in Colorado. Dr. Ryan holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Superintendent certificate from the University of Northern Iowa. He earned a Principal certificate from the University of Phoenix along with special education certification from Adams State College. He holds both master's and bachelor's degrees in history, with a focus on military history and a minor in philosophy from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Beyond administrative leadership, Dr. Ryan has contributed to national conversations on Catholic education, governance and sustainability. His work has been featured in publications such as Momentum and Catholic Education A Journal of Inquiry and Practice, and he is co-author of A Catholic School Governance Handbook for a New Era. He has presented nationally on strategic board development, especially in rural dioceses, and most recently served as a presenter in Loyola Marymount University's Board Development series. Through all of his roles, Dr. Ryan has remained committed to strengthening the mission, governance, and viability of Catholic education for future generations. Dr. Dan Ryan, thank you so much for being our guest today on Twelve Wicker Baskets. It's really a delight to have you.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Well, thank you, Christopher. It's great to be with you today.

Christopher Beaudet: Dan, I always like to invite our guests at the outset here to share a little bit about yourself. I know I just discussed your, your bio and you have an extensive experience in, in education at all, all sorts of levels and education not just of the mind, but formation of, of the whole person. Discuss with you today, but a little bit about, like, where you're from and what, what, what captured your heart to get into education a little bit. Maybe highlights of your journey to, to bring you where you are today.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Well, great. Well, I grew up in a small city in Iowa and, but actually outside on a, on a, a small farm and cradle Catholic and my mom was very influential in that and went to Catholic, you know, in my senior year I had a great, a great senior year. I had a strong influence from one of the priests that worked there. And, you know, I had some good realizations about myself and it really helped propel me into college and to succeed at that level and wanted to seek higher education beyond just my bachelor's degree.

Christopher Beaudet: Did you go to a Catholic school for grade school and then high school or, or no?

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yes. It was a K-12 Catholic system, so it was all different buildings, but all really joined together. 

Christopher Beaudet: Sure. Okay, got it.

Dr. Dan Ryan: So yeah, so that was a very positive experience.My wife also went to the same K-12 school and we started dating a month before I graduated and one year to go for her. So best decision my life 32 to 34 years ago. I don't, I'm not good at keeping track of those things. She's very forgiving.

So she followed me to college. Eventually we, after we graduated, both of us got into education and ended up in Colorado, you know, to live someplace besides the Midwest. And we were both working in public schools in some different settings. And our own daughter was starting to reach school age. And it became very apparent to us that Catholic education was important. So we came back into Iowa. I had gotten into administration after just a few years of teaching and found some opportunities in some small rural schools and eventually a larger parochial school with about 550 students in Davenport, Iowa. Had a great experience there. Our family was growing, in fact, finished growing there to. We had our four children. But at that, at that school, St. Paul the Apostle, I had a wonderful pastor who had been a school administrator, and he was very fundamental in helping me understand the ins and outs of Catholic education. And then went on to become a superintendent for eight years in the Diocese of Sioux City. And then now I've just finished my eighth year here at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, where we have about 1400 students, growing to about 1500 students.

Christopher Beaudet: Wow, that's a large school. That's great.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yeah, it's a blessing. Tremendous foundation laid before us. And then we're trying to add to however we can.

Christopher Beaudet: Well, you know, I always think about how we touch other people's lives in our journey. And we're formed. We form them, but they just as much form us. And no doubt the students you've taught, the families you've known, the positions you've held, you've mentioned that pastor in Davenport and so many others who've influenced and formed you. There's lots of different models of leadership, some of them in accord with the Christian faith, others not right, and history has seen them all. And I'm sure your own vision of leadership, how you want to lead, where your skills are in leadership, have been formed, have been molded by all of these figures in your past to bring you to who you are today. If someone were to ask you, like I guess I am now, how you would define servant leadership in the context of Catholic education, or really, I guess, in any context. But given who you are and your role, how would you speak about servant leadership?

Dr. Dan Ryan: So, especially in the Catholic world, you know, I've come to the realization that probably the best example of servant leadership is Jesus Christ and what he did and sacrificed, but then helped others grow, grow, saw, and then what they couldn't see, obviously had incredible vision to understand what needed to take place to help bring us our salvation. So I always use that as the best example of why. Why would you want to be a servant leader in the Catholic Church? Well, that's what the boss did.

Christopher Beaudet: Work for the Lord. It's probably a good idea for us.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yeah, yeah. So let's try and do that. Beyond that, you know, servant leadership is a part of the literature and it is research based and it is based on faith. It was a Quaker, I believe. It's Robert Greenleaf who really thought this idea through in the 70s and 1970s and moved that forward.

And it continues to be, you know, there's a center for servant leadership on the east coast and those sorts of things. So I would say to them then, you know, you need to understand the characteristics of reading of it. How do these characteristics come together? You know, for example, humility is one of those that they talk about commitment to the growth of people, accountability. And a lot of that is about accountability to yourself and to others. Empowerment, stewardship, collaboration. And,

and there's, you know, they would list out 12 components of that, but, you know, that's a lot. You know what I mean? And you got to take that in and work through it over time.

Christopher Beaudet: And I'd be hung up on step one with humility. That one would be hard enough for me, much less the others.

Dr. Dan Ryan: You know, it's, it is. And sometimes, you know, there's that old saying, if you just want to get something done, don't care who gets credit for it. Right, right, right. You know what I mean? Yep. And so that is. And to a certain degree, that is a really good example of. And, and this might be one of the harder parts of it. Are you comfortable enough with yourself? Are you confident enough that if the, if the recognition comes or it doesn't come, you're still satisfied because you wanted that outcome?

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah.

Dr. Dan Ryan: You know what I mean? And, and I think that's, that's a challenging part of it. And, but that's when you know you really have your true north. Yeah. And when your team,

like my. I'm going to use this term today, admin team, that's my principal, my assistant principals Director, Advancement, Business operations, Buildings and grounds, because it's a, it's a big complex, all start to accept that. That's when the magic starts to happen. Right. You know, when the whole. The term we use is the common good, which again is in the literature. And those things is that when everybody suddenly focuses on that. Well, this is harder for my team because it's going to create more work. But you know what? The benefit is worth it. Right, right. And that's where, you know, if you Want to boil it down into really quick nutshell here. That's, that's why it becomes so powerful.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. I would think that servant leadership might be paradoxical to a lot of people who first hear it thinking that while servants don't lead, they, they take orders, they, you know, they're not in control, so to speak. Maybe, maybe that's it. If you regard leadership first in the, under the rubric of control or power, then servanthood is elsewhere. It's the passive part of the equation.

And to your point, the Lord surprise, surprise, took a cross and made it an instrument of salvation. Talk about a paradox. So that, that servant leadership is really, I think that when one takes on intentionally the posture of servanthood, it presumes that there is something to, and someone or some community to be served. And the fact that you've done it intentionally is a really very powerful, very strong position to take. I mean, it is such a bold. I don't want to use power because I just used it negatively, but it's really very beautiful and can be very impactful, I think is what I'm trying to say.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Certainly. And, and scary too.

Christopher Beaudet: And there's that.

Dr. Dan Ryan: You know, I, if I were going to say I have a devotion, I would say I have a devotion to the Holy Spirit. And, and that's also difficult, you know, because if you're praying for presence of Holy Spirit, then you got to recognize it or, you know, or wait for the answer, you know. And I think many of us that are in the field who say, yeah, I've waited for an answer for six months, I don't think it's arrived or it's the one in front of us and we don't like it too much and we're. Or, you know, because I definitely do that as well. But I think the power. And I'm. So let me go back one more step. Certainly this is not about the accumulation of power with one person at the top of the pyramid. Right. All right. And it's about a lot of self realization of what are your strengths and how do they interact with others. But it is also about what are their strengths and what do they bring to the table. So there's a gentleman I work with and he has this saying, if you want to go, go fast, go alone. And if you want to go far, build a team and institutions. Right. Especially like this. What I take so seriously. This school is over 100 years old. And you know, I'm just one part. You know, my predecessor was here 17 years. His predecessor was here 21 years. You know, you see what I'm saying? Like, this is a legacy situation and you don't want to mess it up. Right. But if you, if you want it to last, it's gotta be about the systems, it's gotta be about the teams, it's gotta be institutionalized in a good way. Right, Right. Yeah. We take that word as negative. And so if you're, and just. I, I've been better in the last few years of saying this to our students. So. Yeah. You are serving leaders. It's not about your power. It's about knowing yourself and then knowing the others and then where, where are we going? Right. And that even starting to come back into our, our mission statement, which I'll, I'll mess up. But you know, we're creating leaders for life, centered on Christ. That's the one everybody knows. But it's the following sentences where students will discern their God given talents and cultivate them to make positive change in the world.

Christopher Beaudet: There it is. It situates the, the I in the context of a we.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Exactly. Yeah. Because it, you know, so much of today's world is. It's about you.

Well, we certainly personalize our education and we care about you,

but guess what? It's not. Right. You know, and you're probably going to be a lot happier,

fulfilled if you're part of whatever that common good is. Right. I don't know what it's going to be for every one of these students, but. Right. Yeah. Fulfilling God's plan.

Christopher Beaudet: And that immediately sets up education into the context of like, formation and less of a commodity to be bought.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right, Right.

Christopher Beaudet: Because I think that can be a risk with, with private education, Catholic or otherwise, even at university levels. I mean, students can get upset they didn't get an A because they paid a lot of money to go there.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Like. Well, right.

Christopher Beaudet: You're not buying an education.

Dr. Dan Ryan: You're, you know, so we're, we're investing together in you or with the parents. We're investing in your child. Yeah. Partnering. Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: You said you're a cradle Catholic. You had some really positive formators and your parents and influence your community from early age. Was there a particular mentor or a moment in your, maybe your education, formal education, or your experiences of being an educator and administrator that helped you understand leadership from the servant perspective?

Dr. Dan Ryan: So, yes, I was, when I was serving as superintendent, I would go to more national items and, you know, had relationships, friends there that we helped me grow and see other things or realize other things or just share our woes. And I was connected with a gentleman, Dr. Sabatino, Anthony Sabatino, or Tony Sabatino, as we called him. And he had served. He grew up in Chicago and served in California, many order schools and principal and president roles. And so he was then, at this point, a professor at Loyal Marymount University in LA and got connected with him. And we were doing some different writing projects, but he would point out to me, and I didn't know what he was talking about. You're really a servant leader. And I'm like, thanks, Tony. What does that mean? You know, and, and so we would talk about it. And then I can honestly, I actually just occurred to me, I was in Chicago and I was getting in a plane and somebody left a newspaper there, and it was a business section. I was talking about business servant leadership. Oh, really? And yeah, so I've never really put that together. I've forgotten about that little bit of Holy Spirit moment there. And so then, you know, I started doing more reading and talking with him. Unfortunately, he died about 10 years ago, very unexpectedly from a heart attack. But, you know, it was something that pushed me into doing more reading and understanding. And then. And then I guess just with the job and then your daily prayer and doing those things of, you know, how does this continue to develop in yourself? And then starting to feel more comfortable sharing it with others.

Christopher Beaudet: You mentioned reading about servant leadership. You mentioned daily prayer.

Do you think servant leadership is a mode of leadership that needs cultivation and fostering and attention? Because otherwise it's easy to maybe devolve into a different vision of leadership?

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yeah, yes, definitely. There's a couple different things there. I think, as you're developing in a leader. Okay. When I was developing as a leader, you start with tactical things,

you know, talk this way, use this prompt, you know. Right. Avoid this situation. Don't you know what I mean? Ask questions. Don't you know what I mean? Don't lead with this is what we're doing. Right. And. But then I think for me personally started evolving more philosophical. And that's where I think the difference is a little bit with servant leadership, it does have tactical things. Obviously, you know, if you're having integrity or collaboration as a major part of what you do, but yet putting them all together is that philosophical and your role in that. And so I think that's continued to definitely develop for me. And then the more you interact or you talk to people, and I think I was purposeful in emphasizing. We've always emphasized leadership here, but more of the servant leadership. So you know, working with our chaplain on writing a new prologue for the handbook. You know, here's the framework. I want. I want servant leadership. I want this to come out. I want this to be common good. Now you. You write that. And, you know, that was. That's a helpful piece that's kind of institutionalized in some of our vision document that we have some tools that we use from business and different places.

And we have on one page all of our vision pieces. And very purposeful, making sure servant leadership was put in there. And now this last year, we're creating a profile of a maroon at graduation.

That's our nickname. Yeah. And so one, there's gonna be six characteristics. Well, one of those is gonna be a servant leader. Okay, well, and so when I. When I sat in on that and the facilitator's like, well, you like that a lot. You take that section. I was like, well, you gotta come up to characteristics. I was like, okay, Google, you know, green leaf, this cut face. Here we go. All right. It's that, you know, so, so, yes, I think those things all have to be nourished and developed, and I think you see them more. And as I'm have more and more experience, you're more usually comfortable with some of those things or explain. See it happening or being patient. I'm not well known for my patience.

I am more patient than I used to be because I do like to get things done. But I've also,

And I would attribute some of that to the Holy Spirit as well, that sometimes you just got to let things percolate, let them work out, let people come back to the table, and let's see how this goes.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. I had a spiritual director say to me once, and I might have mentioned this in a previous episode too, but he said that the fruit of prayer is not clarity, but trust.

And that did not sit well with me because I guess I'm like. And I'm sure every servant leader, right.

Will have some aspects of servant leadership that will be easier and other aspects that just are going to call out growth. You know, whether it's patience or humility or, I don't know, I mean, whatever else, collaboration, there might be some things to just come more naturally. But to your. To our. To your point a moment ago, like, you know, we're that daily prayer, trust in the Holy Spirit. We're sowing seeds, you know, sometimes we're harvesting what two predecessors ago sown. And yeah, and you never know what will. What fruit we'll be bearing down the road.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yes.

Christopher Beaudet: You know, there's that old expression, you can't give what you don't have.

And if you want students graduating from Dowling to have certain characteristics, the presumption is that those forming them have it themselves to give, to cultivate. Right. How do you understand your role as a servant leader to specifically your community? You got faculty, you've got staff, you've got parents, you've got all these kind of constituents and groupings that maybe have a different angle on the success of Dowling Catholic High School. And they kind of all run together for good or for ill, at your desk. And you want to be a servant to that. How do you model servant leadership for your own faculty and staff and ultimately students?

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yes, I, you know, of course, first you've got to come to a place where you're comfortable with it or you're growing in it and realizing there's going to be bumps in the road. I think here the growth in. And it would have been slower in my first few years, and now I feel like if things move much more quickly, which is, you know, encouraging. But it was with the admin team, you know, like I said, my principals, my assistant principals, buildings and grounds, and all of them. And a lot of it was about how we interacted together and the, the trust levels that have been built through some of these interactions and knowing we are focused on the common good, knowing that at times we all mess up and we, you know, we apologize. And there's other times we'll argue very vehemently that your point's wrong, but there's still that sense of trust underlying that.

Christopher Beaudet: To be able to say that.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yeah, yeah. And I think once they became comfortable with that in the last few years,

where, you know, safe space. So as people like to say, then I think it made it a lot easier for that to start going out. And at first I think it was going out more in our communications or in what we're saying to people, but now it's in that graduate profile. Now we'll be we're considering, is there a training on servant leadership for students as we do this graduate profile? Everything that's in there has to be proven that it happens. Right. As a training to the students. So now all these things that are going to be in there, the teachers are going to be introduced to in a much more thorough way. They've heard me speak about it. Right. We all know what a servant leader is in theory, but I think it's now getting very tactile. They can start to Understand that we can start to see, where do we do this in the curriculum? What years do we do it? So I'm very pleased to see that kind of coming full circle of like, we're not just talking now, we're actually doing so. And I think the key thing is with all of those, everybody, tons of people do a graduate profile. Right. And tons of people do a visioning day or strategic plan. But what's different is this isn't one more thing. It's one thing we're going to interweave and everything we do. Okay. And so I feel very good about that. And I don't think it's viewed as much as a burden, you know, of something we have to do. Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: Not another program or on a busy schedule already, but an approach to going about what you do already and doing it better.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Probably. You're probably doing a bunch of it already.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right. Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: Because people get into Catholic education, teaching, et cetera, because they've already got some kind of heart for mission.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right.

Christopher Beaudet: You know. Well, you know, what I'd like to do is we're going to take a brief break right now, and what I'd like to do is when we come back, kind of shift the conversation a little bit. Applying servant leadership to fundraising. Because as president of the school, you know, you're in many ways dowling out to. To outdo, represent the school out and, you know, to the community and kind of fundraiser in chief, vision setter, et cetera, donor engagement, point person. And I know you've done some fundraising in terms of capital campaign and your vision. So I'd just like to explore a little bit about that with you when we get back. So wonderful. Okay, great. So don't go anywhere. I'm speaking with Dr. Dan Ryan, President of Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa.

We're talking about servant leadership. We'll be right back.

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Christopher Beaudet: Thanks for staying with us. I am speaking with Dr. Dan Ryan, President at Dowling Catholic High School, about servant leadership. And Dan, before the break, we were talking about the practical ways that servant leadership, which can be hard to understand in theory, and even once you do understand it in theory, can be hard to implement. And so you've begun to put together a plan at Dowling to do that. Another practical application, I think, of servant leadership can be in the way you go about engaging with the constituency of donors, of benefactors and supporters, because that's probably about as practical as it gets. Paying salaries, keeping the lights on, buying everything you need. How has servant leadership influenced the way you approach fundraising and donor relationships? Or has it?

Dr. Dan Ryan: I think it certainly has. And as we've been going, preparing and now we're in a significant capital campaign, maybe it's something I've realized a little bit more in retrospect, and as we were talking about this podcast gave me more opportunity to look at. But I think the thing is, whatever your leadership style, it tends to always lead the way. And so whether you're talking to students or you're talking to teachers or you're talking to constituents, it tends to bleed through.

And, and what I think happened with this preparation was going back almost five years ago,

another great practice, probably most of the listeners do, is they have a strategic plan. Right. Nothing revolutionary there. But when you empower those people, and we had a significant group of 75 people over nine months and big meetings and small meetings and data and all those sorts of things, and having them share with each other, some really great ideas emerged. And certainly we knew we needed to do a campus campaign. I mean, my athletic director, like on day two of the job was like, we need to do something here. You're like, well, I know, but, you know, we kind of got to do some leg work here. Right? So. But what, what happens when you involve other people and you're honest with them and you're really listening, and they did bring a lot of, you know, they're experts in areas I don't have any training in. Sure, yeah. And when you really listen, A) you form relationships, B) the strategic plan is way better. And different ideas emerged that I had not thought of. So a newer concept to us, and by that I mean five years, is the concept of student life. You know, everything that contributes to students being successful in their faith and academic journey. And, you know, we really focus on involvement. And so that really emerged from that strategic plan as an eye, an area that we did a lot of good things in, but we want. Wanted to be more focused. And then that bled into the campaign way more than I would have ever expected. So that's why I think that, you know, looking from that, from others, listening, bringing in the student stories and the data helped do that. One of the things we did out of that is we created a campus plan. We're on a 66 acre piece of land, which maybe sounds significant, but currently, you know, new high schools in our area are built on 200 acres.

More and more kids drive cars. Right. We need space, so we have to be very careful. Circle. That campus plan was really influenced by student life and what we were going to do. And suddenly we had this concept of, you know, a student union, like a college, you know, open from 7am to 6pm Monday through Thursday, you know, a gathering space. We emphasize involvement. We have lots of clubs, so it gives them a space. So that's kind of how that came together. And I just find that with the timeframes that we had, we had some things that we had to wait for to get done before we could launch our planning study in those. It just gave me opportunities to really bring literally 100 different individuals in over two years. Look at this plan. What do you think? What's good, what's bad? And the plan changed because of what. Of the feedback they shared with us. Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: You listened. Yeah, yeah, that's. You know, you mentioned your athletic director indicating pretty early on, like, we've got some real needs here. And it's, I think, an easy temptation in fundraising to lead with just the need.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right.

Christopher Beaudet: Rather than situating the need. And this is what takes the time and the legwork, you're talking about situating the need in the comprehensive vision of mission and purpose and identity and all of the rest. Because donors are going to want to know that, like, well, lots of people have lots of needs. I mean, take a number. I have lots of needs. But what's what moves the heart and therefore what people want to give to. Of. Of, you know, money is their time, it's their work, it's their livelihood. Giving money is giving your heart to something that has moved it. And that's what,

that's what that mission can do has there. Do you have any stories that you can think of or encounters a fundraising effort that became more than just a financial or transactional experience along these lines of the heartstring and connecting with mission?

Dr. Dan Ryan: I think we have a lot of them. I'll share one of the most significant. So you're exactly right to say you need more. You need a bigger weight room. You know, okay, fine. But the weight room is a tool. The, the student union. The, the kitchen is a tool. Right. Our kitchen is very outdated. Doesn't ada. All right, you know, how fast can I serve students all those things? So I think what you're saying though, if it's just a tool, well, what's the outcome? Right, right, right. Oh, we can, we can keep a closed campus. So our students are here all day now because of this. Oh, great. Okay. You know what I mean? But, but better examples are which I've. One of the things that's already helped me is put our students out front, talk about what the problem is or talk about what the success is or what you experienced here. And suddenly I have alumni who graduated 20 years ago. I remember that issue. I remember how I felt as a maroon going through and how it made me better. You know what I mean? So both ways, if that makes sense.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Dan Ryan: One of the. Well, the most significant gift or lead gift on this campaign came from the county family. And Jim was I believe a 64, 66 graduate. And you know, he will always say the best four years of my life were d and he did very well and his family's done very well and they've stayed in the Des Moines area and his grandchildren are now coming here. And Jim was very athletic focus and I fully expected him to support us. But you know how and where. And as I worked with him and his family and the union concept emerged and there's going to be a softer space, maybe a Starbucks or something, you know what I mean? Those kinds of things. And it's also the heart of the school and it's where they socialize in the morning. It's where they're going to be doing homework after school or grabbing a snack when they're waiting for practice at 4:30. You know, we're, we're not a neighborhood school. I mean the whole community. We're the only Catholic high school in Des Moines. Got it right. So people are driving 25 minutes. But what surprised me both was suddenly the families was allured to this student union concept and I could see that emerging. And I was surprised by that. And then, then when we started to talk about the lead gift and what emerged was the family gave us by far our biggest gift, a $10 million lead gift. And I think. I don't. I know that space wouldn't have first been the most natural space for them and that new entrance for safety, but as they understood what it was going to do for the students, they could see, like, the heart and the soul.

And I think that that really resonated with him and his experience there. And I don't think have gotten nearly the size of gift if that connection hadn't been made. Right, right. So it's a very proud feeling and a very heartfelt moment for all of us, including the family. Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: No, that's wonderful. And no doubt a gift like that and seeing everything come to fruition is going to bring them so much joy and seeing. Seeing the students.

Do you have an active alumni network?

Dr. Dan Ryan: We do. It's got strengths and weaknesses. We certainly, we've done much better on our data in the last eight to nine years. And that took a lot of a year or two of really hard work and getting updates. And we have good communications that go out, you know, alumni magazine, so to speak.

Christopher Beaudet: Friends, impending capital campaigns tend to expedite data cleanup, let's put it that way.

Dr. Dan Ryan: And we were. We were well ahead of that.

Christopher Beaudet: Okay.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Doing a better job of doing a lot of data trees on Razor's Edge and those things and then having some outside work there. You know, as we were going along with this, I'll be honest, we had worked with Steier before, and there were times when I called people there that I knew of, like, am I doing the right things right now to get ready for this? And, you know, you know, because I knew it would be a significant campaign. But now here on the back, shortly this month, we will hold our first alumni gathering in Chicago that's probably happened in 10 or 15 years.

Christopher Beaudet: Oh, great! Great. That's great.

Dr. Dan Ryan: We, you know, we have to throw this out there. You know, Caitlin Clark graduated from Dowling, and so we're doing it around a Fever Watch party in Chicago. So we've got. We got 100 or so that are coming. So that's always a nice, helpful basic. Okay. But then we're doing in Twin Cities, Kansas City, Omaha, because, you know, of course, we're not that far from any of those. Right. And. And we've really been, you know, it's just a fun event. It's just a friend maker. But I'm really pleased by the reaction we're getting to try and tie them back in and eventually, hopefully they'll support the annual appeal, they'll support the campaign, you know, know what we are today.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, that's fantastic. Because I think those maintaining relationships like that, you know, sometimes when, when we work with clients, they, they have a sense of capacity that's out there from folks and, and maybe put too many eggs in the basket that those folks are going to give once they hear about this campaign, when there may not be any historic giving from those donors. And that's when you realize pretty quickly that a capital campaign is one dimension of development rather than the opposite.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right.

Christopher Beaudet: Development's the longer-term habitual relationship cultivation. It's these events in, in these various cities, you know, you're not, they're not mini capital campaigns. They're friendship, there's engagement later when you, you know, you have needs now, you have people to go to, they know who you are, et cetera. So I think, wow, that's, that's fantastic. I mean, what is that a word of advice or what word of advice, I guess, would you give to other Catholic leaders trying to embody servant leadership in their own development work?

Dr. Dan Ryan: I think that the stories, storytelling about your current students or recent graduates is such a powerful tool. I was, you know, there's a lot of constituents and one that had supported us very strongly in a way and not as much in another way. And I knew some of his passion areas and by chance I was interviewing some of our graduates who had now graduated from college for a program called Survey Feed him that we worked with on him. And it's kind of a Bible study for students, has been very successful here outside of the school day. And when I sat down with him for the interview and heard their faith stories in college, I just felt proud, you know what I mean? And going as their parents as much as anything, but those kinds of things. Um, so I took those two students to have lunch with those, that couple, you know, and you can just see, you know, his heart warming and those things. So, you know, to see the product come there. And then the other piece of advice is those alumni love to come together, but they also love to hear what's, what the students are experiencing now at Dowling, you know, in essence, like, do you want to know what your money is going to,

you know, here's today's version. We recognize that foundation our school is fortunate. We, we're about 33% diverse racially and ethnically and, and socioeconomically as well. And I, you know, a Lot of those people love to hear that story, that we're still a Catholic school for everyone. Yep, yep.

Christopher Beaudet: Which is the. The principle. Well, I don't know if it's the principle, but certainly a fundamental whole element of Catholic. The mission of Catholic education is to. To bring education to people can't otherwise have it.

Dr. Dan Ryan: So. Yes. Yeah, that's our history.

Christopher Beaudet: Just as an aside, I went to Notre Dame and I remember as a student there, alumni kind of hovering around the dorm till around, I think it was 10am is when the guests could come in. And I used to, you know, they'd look around and this used to be my room and now I'm one of them. But it's a. It's a woman's dorm now, so. Cavanaugh hall and, And Cav. As if Notre Dame didn't do enough fundraising, I now get appeals from Cabinet from the girls of Cavanaugh Hall. And I gotta say it, it makes me think of, you know, the good old. The water gun fights I had and hiding in the elevator and all. Anyway, so.

Dr. Dan Ryan: So it's. And isn't it great when. And, and when we're looking at these alumni events like in the Twin Cities, they. There's a lot of advancement in medical tools and things like that. We have some alumni that are in that area and they've told me vocally said, I need employees. I'd love to hire young Dowling people that came up here to St. Thomas.

Christopher Beaudet: Totally.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Can you help in that? Yes. You know what I mean? So it's a practical thing, too, of course.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yeah. And then if Dowling helps make that connection, I hope you feel fondly about us.

Christopher Beaudet: Right, Exactly. Give back something you've received as a result of that.

Is that. What's your hope for the legacy of your school? I guess in the last few minutes here, I mean,

obviously, growth and strength and an ongoing formation, servant leadership. How would you articulate that as you look down the road for Dowling?

Dr. Dan Ryan: Simply speaking, we want to leave Dowling Catholic stronger than we found it. You know, I think I feel very positively about our faith formation efforts. And this is going to sound really strange, so please listen to the whole statement. You know, I. One of our legacies is I hope we're keeping as many of our graduates Catholic until the age of 22, because there's research that says if you make it to 22, you're going to stay and if we don't exist, to create the next generation of Catholics. I'm sorry, I mean, I understand we're Trying to save everyone's soul. But, you know, I mean, I like to have a more to find. I can survey somebody at age 22. Right. And find a reason, you know. Right, right. Yeah. So I would love to see that. I, I definitely want to keep, develop, I think in today's world with everything that's happening, having a servant leader mindset that is somewhat unique and very, very needed. And so I do honestly believe in that. And I hope that we're creating students that walk out with a confidence and ability to be comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes resiliency, working through things, because it's never going to be easy. So I hope that we're just helping employ them with the tools to succeed in college. We're a college prep school. We measure college graduation rates, you know, those things. And then, you know, I want to leave the school financially strong, well-staffed. I mean the people make all the difference and the tools to do that, which generally are the buildings and the found, the endowments and those sorts of things.

Christopher Beaudet: It sounds like you're, you're well on your way and in, in all of those things.

I last thing I'm thinking of here is if you could give, you know, a word of wisdom. I guess. What's one thing every Catholic school leader should remember when stepping into a fundraising role?

Dr. Dan Ryan: Yeah. There's so many things I've ended up doing professionally that when I was in college, I would have said I wanted to do anything but that. Right. I don't want to be in a job that's political and I don't want to raise money. I fail. Yep. You know, I, I, as I think about this, one of the things that makes it easier for me and I've grown much more comfortable in this in the last 10 years is,

you know, I, I feel like I can be bold because of our mission and the fact of we're creating the future.

Whatever. What other industry gets to say that? What other area? And if you're not excited about helping create the future. I know I probably. We don't want to work together. Right.

Christopher Beaudet: Right.

Dr. Dan Ryan: We're not the right, we're not the right people for each other. And that's okay. Yeah. But I've, I've definitely said that to people. And if you're helping create the future, it's, it's very probable that people do want to hear your story. I, I would, I've also had others say to me, and I, I, I think about this and I don't, I hate speakers who say, this is a silver bullet. So I am not one to say there's silver bullet or make it all sound like it's all positive, because we're very blessed in Des Moines. Overall, it's a very strong financial center. But I would say a lot of times it's really not a lack of funds, it's a lack of vision or storytelling. And if, and if, you know, and again, I do a lot of things in math problems or business mindsets. It's like, if, if you don't have, have a vision of where you want to go with this, why would I part with my hundred thousand dollars? Right. I can do something else with it.

Christopher Beaudet: Right, right.

Dr. Dan Ryan: And, and especially individuals who tend to accumulate that kind of wealth do think that way. And so you've got to relate to them and make them understand what it is you're trying to do.

And, and, and then everything in this is about relationships. You know, when you have, you know, I certainly get nervous going into certain meetings.

Christopher Beaudet: Oh, I'm sure, yeah. It's normal.

Dr. Dan Ryan: And there's some, that. There's some individuals I work with. I never know what the heck is going to happen in that meeting. It goes all kinds of ways. But when I was at a meeting with someone who's a little more like that, and he suddenly says, I like you, and I'm like, well, we've. We've crossed an important bridge. Right, Right. You know what I mean?

Christopher Beaudet: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Dr. Dan Ryan: It's not about me, but I'm kind of the vehicle that this all has to go through.

Christopher Beaudet: And then I ask you, you know, how should leaders in Catholic schools go about their fundraising role? I'm hearing you be yourself, be bold, articulate your vision and your mission well, and then kind of leave it up to the Holy Spirit. I mean, people will give if they're going to give. You're not trusting, trying to browbeat or.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right.

Christopher Beaudet: Hoodwink somebody into giving. You got to be honest with the mission, honest with yourself.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Right. Well, if, if you're doing high quality work, there's this old saying, if you build a house of quality in the woods, the world will beat down your door. And I think that is very true. You know, if you're doing really good things, I mean, you do have to go out and tell your story, but people will be attracted to it and they'll want to have a relationship with your institution and you, so.

Christopher Beaudet: Well, Dan, I hope this, this podcast episode reaches folks who, you know, may have heard of Dowling Catholic and are edified by the conversation, or if they haven't have discovered something really fantastic happening there in West Des Moines. And thank you for your own servant leadership, for all the ways that you responded to the Holy Spirit's making you more patient or making more bold or whatever it was. Whatever gifts you needed for embracing them and the good work you're doing, please continue to do that. And it's been a privilege for us at the Style Group to partner with you guys. So exciting things happening down the road. So thank you for the gift of your time.

Dr. Dan Ryan: Thank you, Christopher. It's been really enjoyable talking about this and always gives me time to reflect and think more about my practice.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, thank you. My thanks to Dr. Dan Ryan for being our guest today and speaking from his considerable experience as a servant leader in Catholic education. It's not a lack of funds that makes fundraising challenging, but a lack of vision, he reminds us. Being bold and sharing the mission and its real impact on people's lives is what moves hearts and financial support to follow.

For more information about Dowling Catholic high school, visit www.dowlingcatholic.org. and if you've enjoyed today's conversation, I've got good news. We've got many more like it to come, so please subscribe so you won't miss a single one. And invite your colleagues and friends to subscribe as well.

Thanks again for joining us and be sure to check us out out again at the end of August here on the Steier Group’s Twelve Wicker Baskets.