Effective Communication Strategies & Tips: Focus On Young Life

If you don’t tell them, how do you expect them to know?  We understand this phrase from the perspective of ministry, but have we taken it to heart in our communication efforts?  Staff get frustrated because kids and parents miss deadlines or are late to events.  Parents and volunteers get frustrated because they don’t know details for events.  Committees spin their wheels because no one knows who is doing what.  Communities and schools are hesitant to embrace Young Life because they don’t know what it is.  All of this comes down to barriers in communication.

We know you’re busy, so here are a few tips to help you get your communication efforts working smarter, not harder!

Top Tips:

1. Work Smarter With Calendars – Utilize ical or Google Calendars to create shared calendars for your different groups of people.  One calendar is for Area Events.  One calendar is for committee members with meetings, deadlines, and other important dates.  Another calendar is for your volunteer leaders, which includes trainings, meetings, retreats, and team dinners.
   –  Invite people to specific events to make sure they know about the event.
   –  Control the privacy of who can see your calendars.
   –  Link your calendars to public websites (like your Msite) so that you can easily update your    calendar in one spot, but have it update everywhere.
   –  Schedule reminders as if they were an event.  For example, “Remind kids that deposits are due next week” could be an event on your volunteer calendar to help you and your volunteers stay on top of reminding kids.
2. Go To The Cloud – Cloud-based programs like Google Drive, Microsoft One Note, and Dropbox are great for staff to use to keep your team organized, while all in different places.  Committees and volunteers can share spreadsheets or word documents to collaborate ideas for upcoming events, talks, and fundraisers.  We’ve even seen Area Directors create master documents with the semester scheduled out, so that leaders know who schedulee to share at each club.  There’s no excuse too; your team and volunteers can get the information any time and (almost) anywhere.
3. Email Newsletters – Email newsletters have become easier and easier to use and publish as the years go by.  Programs like Emma and MailChimp have easy templates to build newsletters.
   –  A little time planning your mailing lists allows you to communicate with parents, donors, committee, and the public with minimal cost, but great impact.
   –  Reuse templates so that you don’t reinvent the wheel with each new mailing.
   –  Ask a friend to proofread your mailing before you publish it.
4. Social Media – Social Media provides a great avenue to share announcements, news, pictures, encouragement, and the message of Jesus.  “Social is now the top internet activity: Americans spend more time on social media than any other major Internet activity.”  There’s a great opportunity to get parents, kids, donors, and the community excited about Young Life by sharing about who we are on social media.
5. Get Some Face Time!  In a world inundated by digital technology, nothing beats a face-to-face meeting.  Whether it is coffee with a student, dinner with your leaders, or talking to parents at a football game, remember to be intentional with the time you have live with a person. This is the time to hide your cell phone and focus on the moment with that person.

-Valerie Morris

How Are YOU Doing In Your Communication With…?