RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

If you want to connect with today's parents and volunteers, it's important to effectively communicate with them.  The majority of your parents and volunteers use social media to connect and communicate.  So it makes sense to strategically go to them through this venue.

Here's our weekly social media strategy... 

Monday

• Early childhood take home paper on parent Facebook page
• Text message to preschool parents with follow up question from weekend lesson 
• Follow up question from weekend preschool lesson posted on Twitter page 
• Pictures from the weekend of volunteers in action posted along with their name and a thank you note on the volunteer Facebook page

Tuesday

• Elementary take home paper on parent Facebook page  
• Text message to elementary parents with follow up question from weekend lesson
• Follow up question from weekend elementary lesson posted on Twitter page 

 Thursday 

• If there is an event coming up, a reminder text is sent to all parents 
• If there is an event coming up, a reminder is placed on Twitter
• If there is an event coming up, a reminder is placed on Instagram.

 Friday 

• Promo for weekend lesson on parent Facebook page
• Promo for weekend lesson on Twitter 
• If there is a new teaching series starting ,we post about it on parent Facebook page and Instagram 

 Other

• Pictures from events and weekend services are posted on an ongoing basis on parent Facebook page and Instagram (discretion is used when posting pictures of kids) 
• Parenting tips and articles are posted on the parent Facebook page on an ongoing basis
• Volunteer training and tips are posted on the volunteer Facebook page on an ongoing basis    

Do you have a Social Media strategy for your children's ministry?  Share what you do in the comment section below.

One of the most important aspects of children's ministry is partnering with parents...and communicating with them is a big part of this.

What are the best ways to communicate with parents?  Here's 7 ways you can connect with the people who have the biggest influence in the lives of the kids in your ministry.

Text
Did you know that 98% of text messages get read?  This is a sure-fire way to connect with parents.  More about that here.

Talk
Make a point to talk with parents at church.  Want to know where I spend my time on Sundays?  Talking with parents.  Be in the hallways and engage them in conversation.

Two-Minute Window
You have a two-minute window when parents are dropping off and picking up their children.  Be intentional about connecting with parents during this window of time.  More about that here.

Telephone
Call them.  And not just when you need them to volunteer.  Call just to say "hi" and ask how you can pray for their child.  

Take-Home Paper
Send home a communication piece.  Will it get read?  Not always, but you'd be surprised how many parents actually do read it.

Type 
Email still works.  Send out emails about upcoming events, classes and activities.  Or take it to the next level with a digital newsletter for parents.

Training
Offer training classes at key times in parents' lives with their children such as child dedication, baptism, transition into middle school, etc.

How do you communicate with parents?  
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Everything is going smoothly during the service and then it happens.

A 6 month old begins to cry uncontrollably and you can't calm him down.  A preschooler begins to cry for her mom and won't stop.  A 3rd grader throws up.  A pre-teen gets their finger caught in a door.

Time to contact a parent.  How do you do that?  Here's some options we use.

Text.  Take down the parent's cell phone number and let them know you will text them if needed.

Number on screen.  You can put the security tag number on the auditorium screen.

Pager.  Provide the parent with a pager.  This is especially helpful for guest families.  It gives them an added sense of security.

When should you contact the parents?  Read the article at this link for more information.

How do you connect effectively with parents?

You reach out to them through the device they have in their hands the majority of the time.

Their SMARTPHONE.

Today's young parents are digitally connected, with 77% owning a smartphone.  They spend 9.5 hours a day texting, talking and accessing social media on their smartphones.

They spend so much time on their smartphones that they account for 41%of the total time that Americans spend using smartphones, despite making up just 29% of the population.

50% of young parents say that they access the Internet more often through their phone than through a computer.  Mobile is their primary channel of choice.

Some ways you can connect with parents through their mobile device are...

• Text them - I talk more about this here.  We currently connect with over 2,000 parents every week using text messages.  The open rate is 98%!

• Send them links to event sign ups, online resources, parent websites, etc.

• Call them.  Keep a data base of parent's cell phone numbers.  It's always the best number to call if you want to reach them.

How do you connect with a parents through their mobile device?  Share your ideas with us in the comment section below. 

How do you communicate with parents?

Email?
Text?
Facebook?
Website?
Phone?
Take home paper?
Newsletter?
USPS?
YouTube?
Bulletin ads?
Posters in the hallway?
Brochures?
Banners?

No matter how much you try to communicate with parents, each family is unique, so HOW you communicate is just as important as WHAT you communicate.

No one method of communication works 100% of the time.  No one method will reach everyone.

So if you want to connect with as many parents as possible, then diversify your communication.

What tools are you currently using to communicate with parents?  Share with us in the comment section below.

If you want to connect with the parents in your ministry, then technology is your friend.

Here's 6 proven methods you can use to connect with the parents in your ministry through technology.

Twitter.  Create a Twitter account for your children's ministry.  It's a great way to convey a message or interface with parents. 

Facebook.  Start a parent facebook page.   Here's more info. on that.

Text.  Did you know that 98% of text messages get read.  We use text each week to communicate with parents about their child's lesson at church.   Here's more info. on that.

Email.  It may be old technology, but it still works.  Build a list of parent's emails and then use it to send an email with a link to registration for events, a parenting video, upcoming events, and more.

Pinterest.  Create a pinterest page for your ministry.  Post parenting ideas, Bible story reviews, and more.

Mobile app.  You can have your own custom app made for your ministry through companies like Roar.  This is a great way to stay connected with families in your ministry while providing them with a tool to disciple their child.

What other ways can we use technology to connect with parents?  Share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.

Visual information has increased.

• 4000% in literature since 1990
• 9900% on the internet since 2007
• 142% in newspapers

Kids are visually wired.

• 50% of their brain is involved in visual processing
• 70% of all their sensory receptors are in their eyes
• they get the sense of a visual scene in 1/10th of a second

It only takes 150ms for an image to be processed and 100ms to attach a meaning to it.

Kids suffer from information overload.

• kids today receive 5x more information than kids in 1986 did
• they consume 34 gigabytes or 100,500 words outside of school each day
• they only read 28% of the words when visiting a website

Visual communication is more engaging.

• color visuals increase the willingness to read by 80%

Visual communication increases comprehension.

• text only is 70%
• text with pictures is 95%

Kids follow directions with text and visuals 323% better than directions with just text.

67% of kids are persuaded by speakers who use words and visuals vs. 50% who only use words.

Visual communication is easier to recall.

• kids remember 10% of what they hear.
• kids remember 20% of what they read.
• kids remember 80% of what they see and do.

Visual communication is fun for kids.

Kids are growing up in a world that has very few quiet times.  

Mobile devices buzz almost non-stop with texts, email, tweets, or phone calls.  24/7 television channels are on most of the time in our homes.  Earphones plugged into ipods pipe music into our ears.  In the car, we have music, the dvd player, or the radio cranking.  The noise of the latest "viral video" coming from our iPad or tablet constantly catches our attention.  The sound effects from video games can be heard for hours a day.  The audio from commercials or advertisements come at us like a flood.

The other day, I was reading the story of God speaking to young Samuel and something jumped out at me.  When did Samuel hear God's voice?  It was while he was lying in the "quietness" of his bed.  In the quietness, he was able to clearly hear God's voice.
 
I wonder if kids would hear God's voice more often if provided them with more quiet?

It's something you will have to be very intentional about in our busy, noisy culture.  

You'll have to teach kids to unplug from the noise on a regular basis.  And that's not easy.  Because we all get addicted to the noise, don't we. 

You'll have to help kids find a quiet place.  Somewhere away from the noise.  Maybe in the backyard under a tree.  Maybe in their room.  Maybe in the living room with the tv and computer off.

You'll have to teach kids how to get alone with God.  Alone is where they'll find the quiet place.  

And the quiet place is where they'll hear God's voice as they spend time with Him.