The Value of Calling through Your Database Yearly

At the start of every fall there are lots of opportunities for your student ministry to start fresh and build momentum that can last all year long. You can do great promotion, prepare your leaders to engage students and and make sure your kick off event is top notch done with excellence. While all these are very important, a sometimes overlooked opportunity to build momentum in the fall is to call through your student database.

If your student ministry database is anything like the one we have at my church, it will be much bigger than the amount of student active in your youth program. In addition, it is likely to be filled with out-of-date information.  That is why you need to update your roster and the fall is the perfect time to do so. And, when you do it in the fall, you have the opportunity to build momentum for your upcoming school year.

This is what we did. We divided up our roster to where different leaders called through an equal amount of students. When they called they were to identify themselves as student ministry leaders, and then say they were calling for two speciifc reasons. Those reasons were to update our database for the new school year and invite the student to the kick off party we were having that upcoming Sunday. It was awkward at times, we got a lot of voicemails BUT we got a chance to talk to plenty of parents and students. And that was the real win.

Calling through our database was of value for us that created a win and helped us gain some momentum for the Fall. And here is how it can be a real win for your program as well:

• It connects you with parents. When you call through the list, you are likely going to get a lot of no answers and incorrect numbers. However, there will be a chance for you to connect with parents. When you are able to talk to parents they get to hear from you and you give them a chance to ask any questions of you while you are talking. This can go a long way for a parent to feel like they can trust you. And, once they trust you, they are more likely to let their child come to a youth event, especially the kickoff event.
• You can get important info out to people. Whether you leave a voicemail or you talk to an actual person, you are able to share with them an upcoming event that you have coming up in the student ministry. For us it was for our Fall kickoff event. We would leave all the necessary info and website info on their voicemail so they could look it up.
• They feel like you care. Students can sometimes feel like they are a warm body and they don’t matter, especially if they aren’t one of the “cool” kids. When you call and try to connect with them, students can feel like you care about them and parents feel like their child matters.

We called through the database, made lots of connections and, at our Fall Kickoff Party, we had a bunch of new faces that have either never been or rarely scene before. I do think we would have had a really good event had we not done the call-through, however, I strongly believe that because we made all the calls, the turnout and excitement was much better. It helped us start the fall with some real excitement and momentum we can build upon. And, when you call through your database it can help produce similar connections and results as well.

What do you think? Have you ever called through your database? If so, how did it help your ministry? Share  your thoughts or experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you post.

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