Experience.FellowshipOne.com

We are looking for ways to boost our check in numbers for our two youth groups.  We have both a Jr. High and a Sr. High group which meet on different nights.  There seems to be a gap between the actual head count number and what the system check in reflects.  The gap is biggest in the high school age group. 

Currently we are not using bar codes or self check in, but do use assisted check in.  We have even moved the check in area to be directly ahead of the entrance doors.  We've tried to build in incentives for those who have checked in as well. 

We are open to any creative ways that other churches have found to be successful. 

Three things to consider.

1. People do things because they want to or becasue they have to. Try to figure out how to make your high school group want to check in. I know you have to build incentives. Keep trying, maybe you just haven't found the the right incentive yet. 

2. Sometimes it doesn't matter what process we change to as long as we change. You said you changed the location. Thats good. Now try the self check in.

3. Do you have genuine buy-in from all your youth leaders about check in?

Along the lines of getting kids to "want" to check in, I seem to remember one customer who had quite a bit of success by not doing name-tags for checkin, but using receipts.  One part of the receipt went into a bowl/box for a drawing later in the evening.  The winner could only get the prize if they were checked in and had their matching receipt.  From what I remember, Nametags for this age range are a pretty big turn-off, but almost everyone's interested in getting a prize of some sort.

-Peter Schott