College Ministry Outreach and Statistics!

Adam Venters, BCM College Minister at the University of South Carolina, as a result of his own experience and talking with other College Ministers, said that he believes the response rate to contacts of students attending following a contact is 10% to 12%.

Another BCM College Minister that I spoke with who heard Adam say this went back and checked his contacts and the response rate of incoming freshmen signing up for an event he has promoted and he said, "It was 11.4%.  

So, what is the bottom line?  It is what we have always assumed, but here it is in figures:  To reach more, we must contact more.  Getting names and contact information is key to our ministry!  Are there MORE and NEW ways to get lists or contact information of incoming freshmen?

Venters says, "If you want 200 at an event, you must contact 2,000."  Obviously, that is a bit daunting when put in those terms.  It tells us something we have always sensed, but this puts it in more concrete terms.  The number of freshmen contacts we have pretty much determines the size of our freshmen response.  

You may say that this does not take into account Personal Invitations by upperclassmen and you would be correct.  Or, does the same 10% to 12% apply to personal invitations????  While I have no "evidence" to back it up, I would say the response rate to a personal invitation is much higher.

Here are some reminders of figures of which you are probably aware:

20% to 30% of emails are opened.

97% of Text Messages are opened with 90% read within 3 minutes.

One former College Minister who was an excellent speaker and known for having large crowds at his worship events said, "You should spend as much time personally texting and inviting students to the event as you do preparing to speak at it."

Does your experience bear out the 10% to 12% response rate?

What if you have NO Contact Info for incoming freshmen???  That increases the necessity of excellent training of your upperclassmen and getting them to buy into making personal contacts and individual invites of new students during the first couple of weeks of school.

Can you give your upperclass leaders 4 or 5 contacts to text before your first big event of the year?

Check out Arliss' book,  A College Ministry Formula, Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP and Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades is at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.