Youth events are an essential part of what we do in student ministry. Whether it is a regular youth group event or a massive outreach event, you want them done well. We’ve all been there before. We plot and plan for an amazing youth event and one of three things happen. It could be amazing, it could end in disaster or it could end just ok. There might be a few options in between but you get the point.

What do you do to make sure you have an amazing youth event rather than just an ok one? Here are a few tips and steps you can take.

Check The School Calendar

While this doesn’t go to directly impact your planning, it will help to determine if students can show up for your event. For example, I had a student minister once plan a huge fundraising night on a Friday night in the Fall. The problem with that is that there were some high school football games being played that night and a lot of high school students like to go to those games. So, you can imagine the event was not very well attended. So look at the school calendars of the high school(s) in your area to make sure there isn’t something major happening the night you want to do your event. You may not be able to plan around everything but having an idea will be able to help you. 

Get Student Buy In

To have an amazing event, you need students to show up. The number of students does not matter as much because you have different events that serve different purposes. Some events are designed to be smaller or bigger than others. Regardless of what type of event you are having, you need students to have buy in. It has to be something they are going to want to come to. In order to have this happen, you need to get students buy in and input. The more they are involved in the process, the more they are going to want to come. 

Get Leaders On Board

Leaders are great and will support you and the ministry. But if you want them to fully buy in and promote it to students and get some excitement going, you need to get them on board. Involve them in the planning process and give them real roles and responsibilities (not just set up or clean up). The more you can get your leaders on board and involved the greater the chances you’ll get great new ideas and involvement. 

Details, Details, Details

The devil is in the details always. While they are tedious, they are so important. The last thing you want to do is to have yourself moments away from the event starting and you have forgotten something (been there done that, it stinks!). Make sure, when you are planning, to cover all the details and make sure everyone knows who is doing what and when. 

Follow Up Is Crucial

While planning all the things leading up to the event is so important to the event’s effectiveness, having an effective follow up strategy is just as important. If the students did in fact have a wonderful time, you want to make sure you can get them more information about what is coming up so they can keep coming to activities. So, have a way to capture information from every student and have something to promote to invite students back to. 

Having an amazing youth group activity has little to do with the actual event and everything to do with the work you put in before and after the event. Work hard to plan ahead by getting leaders and students involved. Get all the details ironed out before the event happens. Also, make sure your follow up strategy is finalized so that when the event is over, you can connect with new students. The more you can get these logistics worked out the higher the chances are that your event will be a success.

What do you think? What do you do that helps make youth events amazing?