timeline

Pray: Ask for God's vision and help for reaching out and welcoming your community through this Event.

Purpose: Lay out your goals for the Event. Who do you want to reach, and what are the results you want to achieve? Determine what your objectives are and figure out how to approach them. Do you want your Event to introduce people in your community to your church (cultivating)? Do you want to utilize this program for planting seeds in the hearts of your attendees? Do you want to give a complete message with a mechanism for responding (reaping)?
Plan: Make a list of everything you'll need for the Event. This guide will give you many helpful suggestions. Do you need to make travel arrangements for the performer? Will you serve any refreshments at the Event? Where will you hold the Event? How many people will you need to accommodate? How many volunteers will you need to help out before, during, and after the Event? Will you need to prepare response cards or surveys for newcomers to your church to fill out? What about tickets, posters, publicity?

Prepare: Determine what your resources are and estimate your budget. Then look over your list of needs and figure out how to meet each one with the resources you have. Will you sell tickets to offset the cost of the Event, or do you have the budget to absorb the whole cost? Check out Easy Budget Boosters for more ideas.

Parcel Out the Jobs: Don't do everything on your own! Gather a list of people who are willing to help. Check out our list of volunteer job descriptions. Look over your plan and make a list of everything that needs to be done, complete with deadlines. Then, assign jobs to names. Delegating out some of the work will make planning this Event manageable. BUILD YOUR Event TEAM.

Procure: Make sure you have everything you need lined up and ready to go. Do you have a suitable location, and will it be available when you want it? What about decorations and food? Call your entertainer(s), your volunteers, your location (if not on your organization's property) and any other suppliers. Be sure to get travel and hotel arrangements for the performers taken care of in advance. If you have delegated these jobs to others, call to make sure everything is on track.

Promote: Let everyone know what is going on. Get your members involved in getting the word out to their unchurched friends and neighbors. Send out the invitations, fliers, memos, etc. Make sure everyone knows the who, what, where, and when. Get your posters up where they will be seen, put an insert in the bulletin and make sure announcements are made. Have your Senior Pastor announce and endorse this Event from the pulpit. Outreach Inc. offers a variety of cost-effective tools to promote your Event. Check out everything from banners & posters to mailings & door hangers to websites & invitations.

Publicize: Investigate ways to inexpensively get the word out to your community: can you get a public service announcement on the radio? Have you tried calling the local newspaper or TV station to do a feature story on your Event? A well-written press release may be your best ticket to getting the media to send your information out for free! In addition, put up posters in your community, and mail out fliers to non-members.

Preview: Double check everything the week of the Event. Avoid any last minute stress by prEventing problems before they occur. Call your volunteers or send out reminders, call the caterer, the performer, and anyone else involved to make sure that things are in order. Double check dates and times to make sure there has been no miscommunication. Check your list of things to do and make sure you haven't left anything out. Take the extra effort now to confirm everything so that you can relax later.

Pitch in: Be at the Event as early as possible in order to oversee the set-up and other preparations. Be on hand for any last minute questions and lend a hand where needed!
Party! Your hard work will pay off. Enjoy the moment and appreciate the memories of the Event. It's a great feeling seeing something you planned become a huge success.

Post-performance follow-up: Compile names and contact information so that you can get in touch with all of the non-members who attended the Event. Whether you distributed a door prize form, registration card, review card, or a survey to fill out, gather them all into a comprehensive list and make sure you follow-up through calls and mailings. Also, get your volunteers to fill out a review and get their input and suggestions for follow-up or for another Event next year.

Team debriefing: Hold an Event debriefing with your team. Ask them what they liked and didn't like about the Event. Use their ideas and insight to plan how your next Event can be even better.