When you get a chance to hang out with new students, do you have a process of making sure you can follow up with them? Do you follow up with them?

If you don’t have a process, you won’t follow up with students.

Here’s my suggestion to you and it’s in three parts:

Get Their Info

Every time you meet a new student, get their information. You need four things:

First and Last Name

Grade

Gender

Contact Info

What contact info do you need? That depends on you. What are you more likely to use to follow up with a student? Their phone number? Email? Street address?

Whatever you use, get the same thing each time. And determine HOW to get that info as well. Is it a card students fill out? Is it an online form they scan with a QR code?

In our ministry, I had students fill out a card and they got a big candy bar from me when they turned it in. You may want to give them a cool t-shirt or even a gift box, but that’s totally up to you!

Whatever you do, do the same thing each time because of step two.

Have a Plan for Follow-Up

Do you text every student after they come to youth group? Do you send them an email with links to next steps? Do you send them something in them mail?

Whatever you do, have a plan! It’d be best if you had students know that you are glad they showed up and let them know they’re welcome back anytime!

It’s totally fine to have a prewritten text or email or letter to send out to students. You can make it personalized with a few extra words or not. That’s up to you!

Put Follow-Up on Your Weekly To Do

Following up with students SHOULD be important. But if it’s not on your weekly list of things to do, it won’t get done.

Make it happen at the same time each week. Like every Thursday after youth group night. Or every Monday after Sunday is over with. Whatever you do, make sure it happens each week at the same time.

That will help you recognize when you have visitors and when you don’t. Knowing that will let you see if your group is inviting in friends or if they aren’t.

And if they aren’t, then you can learn what you can do about it!

Any extra thoughts? I’d love to hear them!