In my previous blog in regard to Freshmen Orientation/Welcome Table Ideas I shared what three different campus based College Ministers are doing at their tables this summer. One question that comes up either in planning for them or evaluating them is what to give away and what can you afford. There are two categories of giveaways. There are those that everybody receives and those that are won and used as an incentive to sign up or fill out contact information.
SIGN UP INCENTIVE GIVEAWAYS:
-I mentioned in the first article that last summer we drew each Orientation week for a $25 WalMart Gift card from everyone that filled out one of our Info Cards. All religious groups joined in this effort at our invitation with each group receiving the entire list.
-Free lunch for a year form Chick-Fil-A for one winner. (I don't know if they had worked out some sort of deal with a local Chick-Fil-A or if they simply paid the cost of this in some way.
-A Hammock - One church ministry prominently displayed at their table the most popular high end hammock and did a drawing at the end of the summer for one winner.
-A campus based ministry gave a Gift Basket to one drawing winner each week.
-$5 Gift Cards to Starbucks were given to a variety of people
GIVEAWAYS FOR EVERYBODY:
-Pen with a website or weekly event name and time on it.
-Bottles of Water with a label on them with the ministry message...website, ministry name.
-Pop Sockets
-Sunglasses
-Koozies
-Flashdrive
-Bumper Stickers for the school with ministry insignia on it
-Phone Charger
-Can Opener
-Free Tickets to the first Lunch Program with a description of the event.
-Do Not Disturb Door Hanger with the Welcome Week Schedule on one side in addition to ministry info. Another did the Door Hangar with a list of places giving student discounts. Another listed important campus dates from home football games to last day to drop/add a class, etc.
-Sarah Farley at the University of Georgia indicated they give away a popular candy, Ring Pops, which no one else is offering and that students see others with them and come to request them.
-One ministry has a huge bowl of all the most popular chewing gums and invites students to pick out their favorite.
-Tee Shirt for everyone that fills out an Info Card...or the first 50 as Chad McClurg at Louisiana, Monroe indicated.
-One ministry set up on campus with cold drinks about mid-way through the route for the campus tours that all groups took which came with their promo card.
-Another ministry set up a Coke Wagon at a location outside of a building where students were waiting for their new schedule to be printed out.
None of these may fit your situation or budget. However, they may stimulate an idea that will work for you. What can you do that NO ONE ELSE is doing? Our third in this series will be more general thoughts on doing a Welcome/Info Table well. But, I still am glad to share new ideas for giveaways, if you will pass them along.
Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook format for 99 cents each at amazon.com. FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY is also available in paperback.
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