Summer Outreach to Incoming Freshmen

 Different ministries do different things in outreach to incoming freshmen.  Here is a sampling of some on their why, how, and maybe why not.

Adam Venters at the University of South Carolina says, "Research shows that state schools are seeing a growth in residential students coming to campus.  We need to leverage every resource we can towards outreach efforts.  Individual fraternities and sororities will spend close to $50K each on first week of school activities.  Ministries need to pray harder, dream bigger, plan more expectantly, train student leaders more specifically, and communicate to our networks.

There is no silver bullet to doing outreach.  Instead of thinking what are homers and just doing those, I got this analogy from the book, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins.  We need to think hedge hog!  Hedge hogs when under attack will bunch up together and create a rough spiky fortress.   How can we have a myriad of things that are happening that help us to outreach to large classes of freshmen.  What INCREMENTAL things can I do over a series of months to pursue students with the hope of Christ?"

Steve Masters at LSU says, "One of the ways we reach out to freshmen is by sending their parents a letter. Plus, we do personal phone calls, texts, emails, and e-newsletters. In the Parents Letter, we ask them to partner with us helping their son or daughter get involved in our BCM.  We include a blank Parents Survey that they can fill out and email or mail back to us.  We will get about 50 back over the next few weeks.  Some of the responses are from parents whose son or daughter has dropped out of church. You can sense their great concern.  The survey gives opportunity to list things they have done in church and asks for prayer requests.  Plus, there is a place for them to list the names and contact information of other freshmen.  There is also a place for parents to volunteer to help with certain activities. We have recently formed a GroupMe for our new freshmen and so far, 41 have joined it and 25 have posted something about themselves on it and some with pictures.

Ryan Scantling at the University of Arkansas says, We get contact info on students throughout the summer via orientations, camps, and social media.  We text all of those students and send them a small gift in the mail (BCM stickers, bracelets, and a handwritten card from an upperclassman).  Years later, many students say this is the reason they made the decision to visit our ministry for the first time.

As I have indicated in the past, we learned that the students that came to the first two Freshmen Orientation/Registrations tended to be the more gung ho leader types.  We would send each of them an application to apply for Freshmen Leadership Team.

If you cannot afford to do something for all the names you have, do a gift or a special invitation to those whose names were given to you by area churches, certain Orientations, those that are furthest from home, etc, etc.  Is there some way, you can target some of those whose contact info you have and approach them differently?

What do you do and why? Do you do a brochure, flyer, personal notes, phone calls?  Do you offer a free gift? 

Arliss' book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A College Student's Guide to Spiritual Maturity is at Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1.

Week One at Georgia Southern BCM.....by Chris Bryan

At Georgia Southern BCM we do an intro week for new students called Week One.  Week One starts the day students move onto campus, as we have our leadership team helping move students into dorms and then inviting them to come be a part of the BCM Open House the next day (Saturday) and then also the rest of the events during the next week.  

Each day there are different events. Saturday:  Open House/meet and greet, free food, tables set up for different aspects and ministries of BCM (worship team, missions and outreach, men's/women's ministry, intramurals, etc.)  Each of these tables is manned by multiple student leaders.

Sunday: Go to to a local church together.  Church feeds the students after service.  Sunday afternoon, we invite students to meet up with groups of upperclassmen for touring the campus and finding classes, and then invite them back for games/socializing

Monday:  Outdoor game night at RAC on campus.  Reserved a field on campus for organized games.  Great way to get people having fun together, working together, break down walls and get deeper conversations.

Tuesday:  First worship night of the semester.  Free food for students before our weekly worship night.  We also encourage leaders to invite people for volleyball or other games on campus for late night hangout times.

Wednesday:  No activities officially for BCM.  This gives a chance to breathe mid-week but also gives opportunity for students to check out a local church Bible study on a Wednesday night.

Thursday:  Ice breakers and then a "reveal" for family groups.  We put each new student into a "family group" (small group mixed gender Bible study).

Friday:  Color War/Paint war/water games type fun night.  Lots of fun, memorable pictures, easy for people to pop in and out of this event as they wish.

Saturday:  Family group scavenger hunt (starts in the late morning).  Each new family group is a team and will be asked to travel together to Savannah in a vehicle or two, which gives great conversation time in car rides.  Also, they do a lot of funny/silly stuff for scavenger hunt which ends up being memorable for everyone.

Sunday:  Go to another local church together.  We ask all our leaders (BCM Council and all family group Bible study leaders) to all do this as well.    This gives students another chance to see another great local church and also worship together on a Sunday.

We invite students to register beforehand, so that it's easy to place them in family groups and the small fee ($25) helps cover costs for the week for food & drinks, snacks, T-shirts, prizes, etc.  I am also a believer in the theory of people paying a small amount helps them to mentally "buy in" instead of offering it for free and then not seeing the value right away. 

Many students will show up who have not pre-registered.  We try to push it for the first few days about registering officially when people show up.  Most people who are a part of our Week One event will end up registering after they come to an event or two of ours.  Ultimately,, we would neve turn anyone away from any event we do regardless of paying or not paying.

As far as attendance goes, there is an ebb and flow throughout the week.  Usually, Tuesday is a bigger night because it's our first worship night and a free meal.  Wednesdays were something we did up until two years ago.  Those were the weakest attended.  We stopped Wednesday activities also so people could check out local church studies.

One of the bigger things we are pushing throughout the week is Thursday family group reveals, because we know things can lose steam.  But that bigger night at the end of the week helps this out.  Also, the paint wars and waters games on Friday help with that as well.  The attendance definitely ebbs and flows throughout the week though because students are checking out different ministries and activities.  We usually might be missing a few students from earlier in the week, but there's also new students every night as well.

Chris Bryan is the Baptist Campus Minister at Georgia Southern University BCM.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A College Student's Guide to Spiritual Maturity is at Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1.

6 Rules for College Ministry Promo Materials....by Ryan Scantling

 1. Always spell out Baptist Collegiate Ministry because most don't know what BCM is.  Spelling it out is helpful for those Baptist students looking for us.

2.  As often as I can, I put topics of messages on our handouts so that folks know what we will be talking about.  Students sign up for classes based on subjects of interest; I think they will sometimes come to our services for the same reason.

3.  Include pictures that everyone can identify with.  Students will internally ask:  Is there someone there who looks like me who goes there?

4.  I highlight the non-spiritual events as much as our worship services.  I want folks to know that we have fun by doing crawfish boils, going on trips, etc, and don't just sit in circles reading the Bible. (Both are important so emphasize both.)

5.  I avoid using Christian jargon or insider language.

6.  I try to make the material with the person giving it out in mind.  I want any student in my ministry to be able to take it and pass it to their friend without having to explain everything it says.  I want it to help their outreach, not hurt it.

Ryan Scantling is Baptist Collegiate Minister at the University of Arkansas.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A College Student's Guide to Spiritual Maturity available at Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1.

Is Your College Ministry Promotional Material TOO Religious????

 It is that time of year when you are handing out promotional material at Summer Orientations or you are thinking about what to do to send later in the summer or have when school starts  

Let's get honest.....who does your material appeal to?  I see some that looks like it was written to pastors or parents.  Or others, look like it would only connect with super serious Christian students.

Here is the problem:  We know that a bunch of high school students active in churches have stopped being a regular about their sophomore or junior year.  And, we know that lots of students coming to your college are not believers.

So, don't sell out on who you are or do a Bait and Switch....BUT, we know that most freshmen come to college looking for friends and fun.  Does your material look like they could possibly find friends and fun at your ministry?

Since many do not get a religious preference list from schools any more, connecting is more difficult than ever.  I am a proponent of professionally printed posters with LOTS of pictures.  Pictures tell stories and answer lots of questions. Tell about your Bible study groups and your large group worship AND show some pictures that show there all kinds of normal looking college students there…..actually having a good time  

Posters can be stuck all over campus on bulletin boards in classrooms, in places where students hang out, etc.  They can even be texted to students...sure they can.  I met a freshman girl once who blushed when I introduced myself.  She said, "I saw your picture on a poster in a bathroom stall this morning.  I got on an elevator once and saw where someone had just spit on my picture on the poster.  Attractive posters get noticed.  Pay to get it designed professionally or turn some of your super creative, tech savvy students loose on doing it. I do suggest you have input and final approval.

But, here is the more important message:  Make sure whatever you are handing out or hanging up appeals to a wide variety of students......AFTERALL, isn't that who you are trying to reach?  Don't sell out, don't be Bait and Switch....be who and what you are, but do it in a way that just might....just might get noticed and responded to by a whole bunch of students who might not come to campus planning to hook up with your ministry first thing.

I know....I'm not spiritual enough.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.  A College Student's Guide to Spiritual Maturity is at Amazon.com/dp/B0CXTCTNB1.