JOURNEY OFF THE MAP PROMOTION IDEAS, PART 1

1. Use Journey Off the Map Stamp on all mail sent from church office during two months before VBS.
2. Journey Off the Map Bug Gliders Tournament in the park. Invite neighborhood kids and families to join you. Hold competitions and award small prizes. Serve snow cones and pass out registration information.
3. Distribute “Ask Me About the Journey” buttons to church members and ask them to wear the buttons two weeks before VBS. With each button include a small card with information members would need to be able to tell others about VBS.
4. Mail “Save the Date” postcards at least three months in advance to everyone who attended VBS last year.
5. Place promotional posters in store windows. Use the largest poster the store owner/manager will allow. Posters from the VBS 2015 Visual Pack would be an eye-catching option.
6. Serve a different Journey Off the Map snack each Wednesday night during church dinner or at the conclusion of the service. Have someone give a brief testimony of how VBS has impacted his or her life and how it important it is to personally invite family, friends, and neighbors to attend.
7. Place displays in area businesses using Journey Off the Map Floor Prints. Use floor prints to lead to a stack of pamphlets with VBS information and a registration card. The goal is to create a display that is unexpected and memorable.
8. Distribute city maps with info at school pick-up lines. Create a city map with your church location highlighted, or use Journey Off the Map Logo Stickers to mark the location. Print VBS information on the back. For pre-printed maps, print information on a large self-adhesive label and place it in a corner of the map.
9. Neighborhood lemonade stands hosted by church members. Ask church members to sponsor a free lemonade stand prior to VBS. Use Journey Off the Map Table Toppers to decorate the table. Distribute information and a registration card with each cup of lemonade.
10. Give moms Journey Off the Map T-shirts to wear as they run errands. This idea can also be used to encourage all workers to help promote your VBS. Ask that the shirts be worn in public as often. Give each person a supply of small cards with VBS information that can be distributed when someone notices the shirt.
11. Church member home Journey Off the Map Door Decorating Contest. Ask church members to decorate their front doors in a way that promotes Journey Off the Map several weeks before VBS. Create a deadline and ask members to let you know they are participating. Enlist impartial judges to visit each home to choose winners. Award inexpensive prizes, but create enough categories (i.e., the door most visible from the street, the door with the most color, the door that created the biggest stir by the neighbors. Inform the community newspaper about the contest. Facebook, tweet, and share the doors in as many ways as possible. Provide each home owner with a supply of brochures about VBS to distribute to neighbors.
12. Use Journey Off the Map Sticker Nametags for address labels.
13. Give Journey Off the Map Logo Stickers to kids to pass out at school. Kids love stickers, so encourage your churched kids to share Journey Off the Map stickers with their friends. Encourage kids to invite each person they give a sticker.
14. Twirl large signs across from school dismissal parking exits. We have all seen a guy at an intersection twirling a large sign advertising a mattress sale. Create a similar sign, but instead of a random intersection, go to your target audience and display your message as parents are picking up kids from the last few days of school.
15. Parents Night Out Rock Climbing Adventure. The idea is to create an event kids will want to invite their unchurched friends to attend. If rock climbing is not feasible supplement another activity that has an element of outdoor adventure or journey. For many kids an old-fashioned cookout and hayride would be an adventure. Serve Journey Off the Map snacks. Play games from the Journey Off the Map Recreation Cards. Conclude the evening by distributing VBS information and registration cards.
16. Journey Off the Map Family Pool or Park Party. Rent a community pool or park and invite the entire neighborhood. Serve snacks and play games the entire family can play. Decorate for JOTM and share some of the fun that will be had at VBS. Distribute information and registration cards as families leave.

Check out Part 2 here!