Why you should follow up

The event’s due date passed and my numbers were bleak.

Worse, I simply hadn’t heard from the majority of people in my youth ministry.

Were they not interested?

Did they have plans?

Had they simply forgotten to turn in the forms?

That night, I debated what to do. At what point should low numbers keep you from doing a big, overnight event?

The next morning, I woke up and decided to give it one more shot.

I went through our roster and systematically followed up with families. I e-mailed parents, told them about the event, and asked if their kids would be interested in participating. I texted students and personally invited them to join us. I told people that I wanted THEM to participate. I also name dropped and let them know their friends had already signed up.

By that night, our numbers had doubled, giving us the critical mass needed to make the event worthwhile.

As I watched our numbers grow, I was reminded that low numbers don’t always reflect a lack of interest in participating. In my follow up with parents, what I heard again and again from people is: “Oh! Thanks for the reminder! We meant to turn in that permission slip but it’s still sitting on the counter with all the other forms!”

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