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?

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Bob VanDerPloeg
IT Director
Discovery Church

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

Thanks for putting this up...I am in the same boat!!!

Is there a magic trick to only getting the receipt to print out without the name tag?  I went in and checked the print receipt check box for the activity and when I try to check someone in the receipt does not print?  What am I missing?

Thanks!  Great idea!

I'm not sure if Peter is taking about Grace Church in Minnesota or not, but that's what Grace did when I was their F1 administrator.  Only they did use nametags.  AND receipts of course.  They just put the whole receipt into the bucket because the receipt code was on the student's nametag.  The student had to be present and wearing the nametag inorder to win the prize. The receipts were drawn at the end of the night.   Each week we had several prizes.  They would vary from anything to a free coke to free MP3 players!  You never knew ahead time what prizes were being offered or how many, but the leadership team made sure it was very motivating! 

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Moe O'Brien
Database Administrator
Eagle Brook Church
Minnesota

That could very well be the case. One of our DM's relayed the story to me and I thought it was pretty cool. We don't use that at my church (too small), but as we grow I will definitely keep this in mind so we can easily track attendance for older youth.

Thanks for chiming in with more details on that, Moe!

Pete, you are correct, but you do NEEd a nametag (there's no way to produce a receipt without a nametag.)

- put the bucket ACROSS the room (get them in there and keep them there)

- do a drawing at the end of the night (I've had churches use Starbucks cards, iTunes cards, and every now and again, iPods.

- I also recommend every pre-determined interval (I like every 6 weeks) running a special drawing for anyone who has attended all prior meetings over the 6 week period.  Those are the ones who get something bigger and better than the ones that just get it for being there for that one meeting

- this one's a little farther out there, but make them do something embarrasing if they're not wearing their nametag (sing a song, dance for 30 seconds...)

 What's important here is to think outside the box.  Yes, we can bribe the kids, but what we have to do is make check-in part of your church's culture.  Once nametags become common place, you'll hopefully have the adolescents to wear them as well, but it doesn't hurt to bribe them til then.

 

Jeff Lewis
Delivery Manager

Jeff,

Thanks your comment "...but you do NEEd a nametag (there's no way to produce a receipt without a nametag.)" As our Student Ministry leaders have begun using F1 for check-in, I was following this thread to have ideas to suggest to them - if they have problems getting the youth to check-in. I remembered the RLC configuration had separate checkboxes for "printing name tag" and "printing reciept". I had thought that since they were separate check boxes, that you could select either option (or both or none) when configuring the RLC. But as you pointed out in your post, the receipt will not print (even if it is checked) without the name tag also printing. (Good system design should probably have greyed out the print receipt option in the event the print name tag option is not checked.)

So...I guess if a church decides not to have the youth wear name tags, but still want to use the raffle drawing idea, one option is to only print the name tag and put that into the bucket for the drawing. Otherwise they have to print both the name tag and the receipt to use the receipt raffle drawing where you have to have the matching "ticket" to win.

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John Schneider
Forest Hill Church

That was my dilemma, I was checking the print receipt checkbox and not checking the name tag checkbox, thinking that it would just print the receipt.   Our youth tend to think they are too cool for a nametag or else they want to try and create their own "nickname" for their nametag.  Thanks so much for all your input!!!