Celebrate Young Life Camp Sign Ups:
We need to do a better job of celebrating Young Life summer camp sign ups as leaders, areas and a mission. Celebration can be a momentum builder and can also inspire other leaders to get kids signed up for summer camp.
Here are some celebration questions to ask:
- How are we going to celebrate new camp sign ups in Club?
- How are we going to celebrate new camp sign ups as a Young Life area?
- How will our celebration strategy help promote camp to other kids?
- Is our celebration strategy both internal (in Club or area) and external (with kids)?
Know the why of Young Life summer camp?
If you know the why behind summer camp with your high school or junior high friends, then you have a higher probability of them going with you to summer camp.
Two questions to ask yourself about summer camp sell:
- Why do I want this specific kid or group of kids to go to Young Life camp this summer? Give three reasons why
- How will this specific kid or group of kids benefit from attending this summer camp trip? Give three reasons why
Give aways for signing up for Young Life camp:
Everyone loves FREE stuff. That is why we enter sweepstakes and contests. If you build in the cost of a hoodie, t-shirt, iPhone case, etc into the cost of camp; then you can give it away for FREE when they sign up. Put a time frame on it, it will help you get them registered by a certain date.
Hot Give away items:
- Young Life t-shirts
- Young Life hoodies
- Young Life Scarfs
- Young Life iPhone cases
- Young Life water bottles
Eliminate Barriers for kids NOT to go to camp:
You want to take away as many barriers for kids to not go to camp. Here are some things to think about:
- Never say I don’t have a summer camp flyer for you! Always have a flyer at Club, Campaigners, Contact Work, etc.
- Have an easy way kids sign up for camp online.
- Know the whys of summer camp.
- Have responses ready to go on the excuses kids will give you why they don’t want to go to camp.
- Have a great camp fundraiser(s) for kids to earn a bunch of money for summer camp.
One of the main reasons kids don’t go to camp is that they have many excuses why not to go. If you have answers to their excuses, before they give their excuses, then you have a higher probability that they will go.
The Top Five Excuses kids don’t go to summer camp:
- My Friends Aren’t Going
- I Don’t Have The Money
- My Parents Won’t Let Me
- I Have Schedule Conflicts
- I’m Afraid Of The Unknown
Link to this article – http://www.scribd.com/doc/93144058/Getting-Kids-to-Young-Life-Camp-Eliminating-the-Five-Excuses
Create the impression of limited spots for Camp:
We never want to deceive kids, but you can create the impression of limited space at camp without deceiving them. I have heard from some of our kids from our area at different times, that there are always spots for camp. Have the right size for your summer camp trip helps in that situation.
Wait lists create the reality of limited spots. If you have more than one Club in your area, have each Club get a certain number of of the overall spots for camp. That way, you are able to create the feel of urgency.
Camp Sell Ideas during Club:
Set up a Photo booth – Have a cool back drop or photo booth and have kids take pictures with their camp deposits in hand. Print the pictures out. If you are away for the summer, send them a picture postcard of the photo as camp draws near. You can also bring the pictures and give them out to your kids during your one on one’s during camp.
Bus Poster – Create a bus and have a picture of each kid taking a seat on that bus. If you have the bus poster up during Club, celebrate each new sign up for camp during announcements.
Link – http://www.younglifeleaders.org/2012/03/fill-bus-creative-camp-sell-idea.html
Have kids that have gone to camp before help sell summer camp – As Young Life leaders we are great at selling summer camp to our friends, but often times their peers are just as good if not better at selling summer camp.
Here are some ways to have kids that have gone to summer camp from the year before, to help sell summer camp:
- Have them give a testimonial of summer camp and how it impacted their lives.
- Have them make a video of their testimonials to show in Club & on Social Media.
Have a leader and/or kid video to sell camp – Video is powerfully. It can be shown in Club, but also have a higher visibility factor through social media. If kids are in the video, you get the opportunity to create it with them, along with the viral impact you can have with them sharing it with their friends.
Get a famous Alumni story form your area about summer camp – If you have a well known alumni from your Young Life area, do a video interview with them about summer camp and how it impacted their lives.
Have a leader and/or kid skit to sell camp – Well practiced leader and/or kid skits in Club can be magical. If you are looking to find creative ways to engage kids and sell camp, do a skit in Club.
Show the Young Life camp promo video – Young Life does a great job producing summer camp sell videos for each Club. Be careful not to over play them in Club. You don’t want to hear kids moan when they come on in Club.
Camp Sell Ideas Outside of Club:
Call the Parents – Call parents and ask them if their kid can go to camp before you ask the kid. If the parent gives you the okay on camp, then asking the kid is much easier. Kids often use their parents as their first excuse in not going to camp.
Send a Postagram – Send kids a postagram postcard inviting them to go with you to camp. If you have pictures of your Young Life kids on your smartphone, send them a postcard with a picture of themselves or even better you and them. You can guarantee that they will punch it out and put it on the wall in their room.
Link – http://postagramapp.com/
Ask kids One on One – Meet with kids individually and ask them to come to camp with you. This is most likely the most powerfully tool we have as Young Life leaders. Don’t let fear hinder you from asking kids. Ultimately God is control.
Text Kids – Text message kids about camp. You will need to know the tension between inviting and annoying. Kids get hundreds of text messages a day. You will need to be creative in how your text messages get noticed by kids.
Use Social Media – Use the Social Media resources at your finger tips. You should be posting to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc each week if you are going to camp as a leader about camp.
Here are some ideas of what to do:
- Post pictures of you and your Young Life kids on Instagram (also push it out to Twitter & Facebook) with tagging your kids in the picture.
- Facebook message your kids your online camp sign up information and/or the camp video for your week of camp.
- DM your kids on Twitter with links to your online camp sign up information and/or the camp video for your week of camp.
- Change your cover area on your Facebook book profile to showcase Young Life camp.
- Tag photos of your Young Life kids on Facebook of previous fall or summer camp trips, with a link to your area’s camp registration for this year.
Download the this in a document here:
Do you have other ideas for summer camp sell? Leave a comment.
In Young Life ministry, we sometimes get trapped on where we invest our time with our leaders. Sometimes we spend more time convincing Young Life leaders to stay, rather than with our best and most talent leaders. We often mistake fairness with value. All leaders are gifted and invested in our Young Life areas in different ways.
