I’m getting ready to go to our Christmas Presentation at our Church this evening. I was part of the development team, helped write it and planned the set design. It’s always a fun time to watch everything come together. There are so many people involved, a bunch of preparation/practice and fortunately the Holy Spirit brings the “glue” to fashion the 90 minutes into an amazing, touching event.
I’m sure your church has a similar event.
After it’s all over, then what? Here’s 3 things every Church should do in the next few weeks — or do better next year:
- Followup: You did get the names, phone numbers and/or emails of all the visitors right? Be sure to followup in an non-offensive way. A phone call is fine, but make sure you don’t take too much time unless they want to talk. An email is nice, but consider giving them a gift — or something that they’ll appreciate (or desire). They should dread the follow-up. Be creative!
- The “Next” week: Check to see how many visitors returned for future services. Be sure to mention the performances in the service and Thank everyone appropriately. Try to find out why visitors returned — this can help you identify opportunities for next year. It’s also a great time to change your website to greet those coming to your site because they came to your performances.
- Thank You Notes: Have you ever thought about writing a personal thank you to every person in the production? These are your “internal” audience. Keep them happy and you have instant “word-of-mouth” advertising. They invest countless hours to help the Church!
Any other thoughts? It’s a lot of work if you’re only doing your production for the people in your church. Be sure that next year it’s a MAJOR outreach event! Make it so appealing that everyone in the community wants to attend. Oh, and be sure to promote all your special Christmas services and New Years’ series during the Christmas events!
