The isolation of the pandemic is slowing down, and many churches are ramping up their event planning efforts.
Churches are always looking for reasons to gather as a group and do so by planning great church events!
Ministries know that events allow members to socialize, engage with each other, and enjoy fellowship with other believers.
Most ministries are really good at planning, gathering volunteers, and hosting church events. However, after an event is over, we often move on to the next project.
There are always things that are learned when facilitating a church event. And the event coordinator is responsible for finding out what worked, what should be repeated, and what needs to be improved at the next event.
What Does A Church Event Coordinator Do?
Church Event Coordinators are responsible for making sure the event achieves its goals and operates as planned.
The event coordinator hosts a debrief after an event so the planning team can learn how to improve how the event is organized, improve volunteer training, or get the event set up and torn down efficiently.
When we capture those valuable tidbits of information, we can use them to improve the next event – which is a great way to continually improve church events.
Debriefing from a big event captures the moment and takes advantage of the combined knowledge and experience of everyone involved.
Church events continually improve when those involved in the event are allowed to share feedback incorporated into future church event planning.
6 Questions To Ask After A Church Event
1. What Lessons Did We Learn?
I like to compare the planning of a big church event to building an engine.
The planning builds the parts, organizes them, and puts them all together. Then, on the day of the event, you simply turn on the engine and watch it operate.
Through this process, there are inevitable things that happen behind the scenes that need to be managed. An event coordinator takes note of those opportunities to provide valuable information for the planning team.
Lessons learned include capturing fresh information by asking the questions, “what worked” (that we should continue to do), and “what are the opportunities for improvement’ (that we can make a note of), and consider for the next event.
2. How Well Did We Manage The Event Budget?
Every event should have a budget that includes every aspect of the event.
Budget items include things like marketing, decorations, food, entertainment, miscellaneous supplies, event admission fees, or staff hours. Every event is different, and this list is just some of the things that should be considered when putting together an event budget.
It is important to review how well the event met budget and look at some of the expenditures that could be cut or perhaps budget dollars that should be added to the next event.
The goal is to keep that event budget at a break-even point to ensure compliance with the overall church budget.
Most church events are not intended to make money, but they should at least pay for themselves. Proper management of the budget helps to achieve that goal.
3. How Effective Were Our Volunteer Leaders?
Events should be managed through a hierarchy of volunteer leaders. These leadership groups help to manage and oversee event volunteers.
A debriefing session is a great time to review all volunteer leaders and evaluate their effectiveness in overseeing a process or a team of volunteers.
Effective volunteer management uses events as an opportunity to observe volunteers, note those with strong leadership abilities, and identify those that may need additional mentoring or training.
4. How Effective Was Volunteer Training?
It doesn’t matter how big or small an event is. Training is critical to its success. A detailed training program helps to ensure that volunteers understand the event’s goal and how what they do supports that goal.
Volunteers also need to know practical steps for performing their volunteer job description duties.
This detailed training may be as simple as showing volunteers how to collect admission tickets – to as complicated as learning procedures for handling cash.
Regardless of what volunteers learn, a debrief session looks at how well the training worked and how consistent volunteers followed training procedures.
5. What Can We Learn From Our Volunteers?
Since most church events are staffed by volunteer labor, it is vital to gather feedback from the volunteers.
Like employees, volunteers are the ones doing the work, are the closest to the process, and the customers. This committed group, if allowed, can share valuable information that can help to improve the event.
For example, a church does a huge (5000+kids) summer camp every year, requiring over 1000 volunteers to pull it off.
Every year (they’ve been doing this event for 20+ years), the volunteers are asked what worked and what could be improved.
Volunteer feedback is priceless information that helps to improve events year after year.
The growth and success of this event can be linked back to volunteers offering ideas and suggestions for improvement.
6. How Can We Celebrate Our Success?
Whether the event had a few hiccups or ran smoothly, there is always a reason to celebrate and thank those who helped make it happen.
Take time during the debriefing session to acknowledge the hard work of the volunteers.
Bring in food, and share success stories about lives that were impacted by their efforts. The effectiveness of an event serves to motivate and engage employees and volunteers.
Planning a church-sponsored event can be a fun way to create a fellowship environment for members or to provide an evangelistic opportunity to expose visitors to the church.
Regardless, church events take time and resources, and debriefing from the event is one way to ensure that those resources were used appropriately and met the event’s objective.
Does your church do big events?
If you are an SCM member, you can access an event coordinator job description by clicking here. If you are not a member, you learn more about accessing our growing library of church forms, documents, and job descriptions here.
