It’s the day after Halloween…are you in a sugar comma? Did you find crushed M&M’s in your car this morning? Maybe you’re wondering…where did that set of teeth come from? Well, for me yesterday was the “Day After” – the “Day After” Trunk or Treat!
Here at Gulf to Lake Church we hosted our Trunk-or-Treat event on Sunday afternnoon in our church parking lot. One of the great things about Trunk-or-Treat is the opportunity to involve so many people that are not normally part of your ministry. Inviting people to decorate their cars and hand out candy is an easy ask with a one time commitment. Our people had a great time decorating and hanging out with the kids. There were also a large number of people who donated candy to the event…my office was filled and it smelled great!
As you can see by the picture we had an incredible turn out for the event. One of our goals for the event was to collect contact information from those in attendance. My perspective is that if you are going to have a large number of guests on your campus find a way to make a “second touch” after the event. We used a simple drawing to collect the contact information. The drawing was for 4 bicycles – a large and a small bike for boys and girls. Wow! It was almost overwhelming.
Well, we have the info so now what? Monday morning we separated the entries into Regular Attenders and Guests. By Monday afternoon we had sent an email Thank You to every guest family. Included in the email along with the Thank You was an invitation to our Sunday morning kids program The Fun Factory and a “coupon” for a gift for each child who attends.
Next, we will create mailing labels for every child who entered our drawing along with a postcard invitation. The invitation will include a brief description of The Fun Factory and a duplicate of the “coupon” for a gift. These postcards will be in the mail by Thursday afternoon.
That’s our plan for followup. It’s great to host a Community Outreach Event but it’s critical that there be a followup plan in place. Did you host a Trunk-or-Treat, Carnival or similar event this past weekend? We would love to hear about your event and the followup! Share it with us by leaving a Comment below.
