As February ends and March and Spring Break arrive, the outreach to high school graduating seniors begins to be more of an issue. So, what works and what can the ministries with limited budgets do?
Two Tools:
Post Cards: I continue to be a huge proponent of the value of handwritten notes. One well known Head Football Coach who is known for his success in recruiting requires his staff to write five (5) postcards every day to athletes they are interested in to possible come to their campus. That is FIVE A DAY! You may say our ministry does not have many names yet. First, start in by writing any that you have. Second, write a card to a student as soon as you get their name. It is easy to throw them in a folder and pull that folder out in July.
If you meet a high school senior and they indicate they MAY come to your school, write them a note encouraging them to connect to a ministry wherever they may go. Another great thing about sending a student a postcard is usually their parents will see the mail arrive and know that you are interested in and being helpful to their son or daughter. I think the "Five a Day" indicates that these prospective athletes get MORE than one postcard over a period of time. Of course, we do not want to over contact, but getting two or three cards over a two or three month period is not over contacting.
Texting: One College Minister on a large nationally known campus is a really good speaker and spends time preparing to speak. He said that a College Minister ought to spend an equal amount of time texting students inviting them to an event as he or she does preparing to speak for that event. Do you spend four hours preparing to speak? Do you spend four hours texting and inviting? What is your ratio to prepping and inviting?
Some Text Facts: One company marketing their services and different tech aids shared the following.
90% of text messages are opened and read within 3 minutes.
45% of text messages get a reply.
Who are you texting? Who are you writing postcards to? If your ministry is supported by churches, has each of those pastors gotten a handwritten thank you postcard from you? If you are a Church College Minister, has each of your adult volunteers gotten a handwritten thank you postcard or note from you? Why not? Have your student leaders gotten a thank you text from you...not asking them or reminding them to do something, but just saying thanks? Why not?
What is your ministry or church giving to high school seniors? Check out "Tips for College Freshmen: 124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades" at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.
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