JOURNEY OFF THE MAP PROMOTION IDEAS, PART 2

17. Ask church members to use specified social media hastag. Create a hashtag that is specific to your event. Ask church members to help you promote your VBS to their social media community using the hashtag as often as possible.
18. Mail Journey Off the Map Postcards cut into puzzles. Print your VBS information on the back of the large Journey Off the Map Postcards. Cut cards into puzzle pieces, place in envelopes and mail to kids on your churches prospect list.
19. Home Journey Off the Map Yard Sign Competition. Provide church members with stakes and pieces of form or cardboard. Encourage them to create a yard sign promoting VBS. Instruct them to place signs in their yards, take pictures, and post them on your church’s Facebook page. Enlist a judging team to choose winners for fun awards.
20. Give kids a filled “I Heart VBS Treat Bag” to take to friends.
21. Journey Off the Map Pencil Blitz. Attach “Come to VBS to Get the Point” notes to unsharpened Journey Off the Map Pencils and distribute and shopping centers and parks. An option is to mail the pencils out to kids who attended VBS last year.
22. Kids & Parents Amazing Journey GPS Family Night. Create an evening based on the idea of the “Amazing Race” reality show. At the start each family is given GPS quadrants or instructions for a secret location. When a family arrives they should receive quadrants to the next location along with a task card that must be completed before traveling to the next location. Tasks could include stopping by the home of an unchurched friend to invite him to attend VBS, passing out five invitations at a shopping center, creating a short video inviting friends to VBS and posting it on Twitter or Facebook, and writing personal notes of invitation. At the final location collect notes for mailing, share videos, serve snacks, and pre-register the participating kids. At the start, and along the way, stress that the evening is a journey and not a race. Completing the tasks is the goal, not speed.
23. This Is The Way hike-a-thon. This activity could also be a bike-a-thon or walk-a-thon. The goal is to get as many unchurched families to participate as possible so avoid using the activity to raise money. Make the event an adventure by creating simple obstacles. Conclude the day by serving hotdogs and distributing VBS information and registration cards.
24. Ask members to distribute Door Hangers on their streets. Give each church member a stack of door hangers and ask them to be responsible for their street or neighborhood.
25. Distribute toy bugs with VBS information at community parade or other community event.
26. Mail Journey Off the Map Bookmarks with VBS information and instructions to “Mark the Date.
27. End of School Journey Off the Map Expedition Tag Scavenger Hunt. Create a scavenger hunt with five locations. At each location kids receive one of the five Journey Off the Map Expedition Tags.
28. Neighborhood ABC Wristband distribution. Use a permanent marker to write VBS information on inside of ABC Wristbands and distribute to neighborhood kids.
29. Host The Lost Adventure – Journey Off the Map Family Movie Night. Learn more about the movie at lifeway.com/films.
30. Baseball game bottled water distribution. Print VBS information on large self-adhesive labels and place on bottle of water and distribute to spectators at little league games.
31. Conduct Journey Off the Map flash mob info distribution at shopping center. Ask church members to dress in explorer or hiking gear and meet at a shopping center or park at a specific time. Parade through the parking lot or park distributing VBS information and registration cards.
BONUS IDEA: Begin distributing Expedition Tags, one per Sunday, five weeks in advance. Have kids write their names on the back of tags with a permanent marker. Challenge kids to give tags to friends and invite them to VBS. When an unchurched kid brings a tag to registration, both the guest and the kid whose name is on the back receives a prize.
Did you miss Part 1? Find it here!