If you have been in ministry long enough to see the annual ‘cycle’ of holidays, you have probably identified a few times a year, when you are pretty much guaranteed to see an increase in your weekend attendance. High volume weekends typically can be expected at the beginning of a New Year, Easter Weekend, Back to School time in the fall and Christmas.
Individuals feel compelled to give themselves a fresh start. Families settle back into their routines. Holiday traditions include attending a local Easter or Christmas celebration as part of the routine.
Your church probably has some things you do to encourage these guests to make your church the place they visit.
What strategies do you have to encourage guests to return AGAIN in the following weeks?
Kids can be incredibly motivating to their parents. That is the core thought process for all of these strategies. Get the kids BEGGING their parents to come back. In my experience, most parents will oblige kids who are begging to come to church. Not many people want to deal with the parent guilt of saying ‘no’ to church?! (Please know, parents also often give in when the kids are unwilling and pushing back hard about NOT wanting to go to church. Make sure you don’t fall into the latter.)
How can we re-engage 1st time guests so they return for a second (or third+) visit?
There is a significant difference, in the volume of return guest when follow-up is left up to chance versus when we implement some targeted strategies. A healthy goal for the teams I have led has been to see 50% or more of our 1st time guests return within 4 weeks of their initial visit.
Here are 5 targeted strategies to motivate families to become repeat attenders.
FIRST – are you new family friendly? We often create ‘welcome’ experiences catered to adults, but it also works for kids!
- ‘Welcome Team’ – have a couple elementary students that are friendly, outgoing and reliable to ‘buddy’ up with first time guests. (This can work in older preschool environments as well.) Look for kids who are ministry minded and want to be part of a ‘welcome team.’ They will show the guest the ropes, introduce them to other kids and help them ‘NOT FEEL ALONE.’ This ‘buddy’ will also give a personal invitation for next Sunday. (I’d recommend making an introduction when the parent comes to pick up so the parent can help remind their child the following week that there is a friend waiting for them on Sunday.
SECOND – first time guest gift with a catch. Kids LOVE presents and surprises. (If I am being honest – SO DO I!) Give a quality gift that represents the quality of your ministry. (Quality does not have to be expensive.) INSIDE or attached to your 1st time guest gift – include a business card sized invitation. Something that says ‘bring this back for a PRIZE on your next visit.’
THIRD – drop a postcard in the mail from your kids ministry team. Prep in advance if time and personnel resources are limited. “Thanks for visiting [Kids Ministry] on Sunday. We loved having you with us. Can’t wait to see you next Sunday!” (This is a great opportunity for someone to be able to serve as part of your team who may not be a great fit for engaging directly with kids. Create a team to help write postcards!)
FOURTH – GIVEAWAYS. Use a series of giveaways during high volume attendance seasons, to encourage return visits. There are two ways I have used this strategy:
- Giveaway for ALL kids. Talk it up & send home a business card size reminder with every family. NEXT SUNDAY EVERY KID IN ATTENDANCE WILL LEAVE WITH A SURPRISE! I will share in another post specific ideas for this.
- BIG giveaway for 1-2 kids. Talk it up & send home a business card size reminder. Everyone gets a ticket + an extra ticket if you bring a friend. NEXT week, we are giving away a family prize pack! (Make it movie tickets, or mini golf, or Disney (go big or go home?!)
*Make sure to listen at the door as kids exit – if you talked this up enough – you will overhear kids already BEGGING their families to bring them back next week. Remember to blast a reminder out to families towards the end of the week.
FIFTH – personal phone call. Families are busier than ever and their time is spread thin. When you call – keep it short and sweet. “Introduce yourself…Thanks so much for coming to check us out…I was hoping to hear what you thought about (Kids Ministry Name) on Sunday and see if you had any questions at all or anything that I can help with?”
Parents LOVE the personal contact. I think back to the seasons in life where my kids have had their school teacher call before the new school year. It really put my mind at ease. Even more than that though – the fact that they took time to make personal contact really communicated to me that they cared about my child.
*This contact also provides firsthand information of any major problems as well as draw attention to anything you might want to do to improve your first time guest experience. THE BEST thing you will hear though will be stories. You will hear how your church, ministry and team made a difference. You get valuable stories for you and your team that will be a source of encouragement and a reminder of WHY what you do matters.