21 Apr Three Things to Do NOW That Help You Better Plan a Big Event

Church functions are both a blessing and a challenge. From Christmas gatherings to summer hangouts, effective planning and execution takes time and effort. Just coming up with ideas can be an enormous task, and it’s essential to start with a good strategy. As a leader in the church, your community is looking to you for organization and leadership.

Churches have to be able to put on events that span several generations. If a church wants to stay healthy and diverse, then they need to have something for the older folks and something for the kiddos. But don’t let that discourage you! With the right processes in place, planning events can manageable—and even fun!

1. Planning Your Church Event

DON’T DO IT ALONE

You may feel it’s your responsibility as the leader to come up with all the great ideas or to create all the processes that will help your event flow smoothly. But that’s not the case at all. Almost every great idea arises through collaboration. Get a core team together and start meeting regularly.

SET DEADLINES

When planning events, it’s easy to think that the day-of is a long way out. But it’s coming faster than you think, and you never want to take the chance of letting it sneak up on you. As a good practice, you should start planning around 4-6 months before the event. This helps to ensure that you can be thorough and that you don’t have to scramble toward the end of the planning phase.

CHOOSE AND PREPARE THE SPACE

Sometimes church functions are held off-site, at places like amusement parks or botanical gardens. These “field trip”-style events can be great fun, and they help keep things interesting for a variety of members. But holding most events at your church location is a good rule of thumb. There are two big reasons for this. The first is the money you’ll save. Renting a different venue can cost thousands of dollars, and in many cases, you already have all the space you need. Second, you may be able to get more participation and better attendance because people appreciate convenience and familiarity.

As you consider how to prepare and decorate your space for a given event, think outside the box. Here are some inspirations to help you visualize possibilities.

2. Coordinating the Day Of

ESTABLISH A POINT OF CONTACT

The point of contact for the day-of is critically important for the overall success of the event. If you don’t have someone designated as the primary point of contact, it can be easy for people to get confused and not know where to turn when they need direction. Vendors, volunteers, and guests will all need questions answered. Having a volunteer leader also takes some pressure off pastors, so that they don’t have to focus on the day-of quite as much.

SOLICIT VOLUNTEERS

Most people think the hardest thing about planning an event is getting volunteers, but we’re here to say that’s not always true. Something that can be even more difficult is delegating and keeping everyone on task. ReachNow from mobileAxept is a great tool that can be helpful for churches of all sizes. This solution allows you to reach out to your congregation and let them know about important updates as well as request volunteers to serve at your event.

3. Raising Funds

PROMOTE GIVING

Big events aren’t free. Food, entertainment, and party supplies cost money, but they’re all elements to a great event. If you’re planning a big event, you’ll need to allocate funds to help make it happen.

mobileAxept can set you up to accept donations via text and/or online—before, during, or after the event. It’s a simple, secure way for your members and visitors to take action immediately, in those moments they feel most engaged.

For more information or to get started, contact sales.