Youth Group Event KILLERS ☠️ 3 Mistakes Youth Ministries Make with Events!

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Youth group event mistakes...we've all experienced the stress, the embarrassment, the pit in your stomach knowing you forgot something or the sinking feeling when youth ministry planning goes all wrong.  In this episode, we will walk through three common youth pastor mistakes in student ministry event planning, then break them into practical steps you can apply to your next youth group night, outreach event, retreat, or camp.  How many of these mistakes have you made??

Subscribe for more weekly tips, share this with a youth leader who plans events, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review with your biggest takeaway from this episode.

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You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#265) 3 Unacceptable Mistakes that Youth Ministries Make With Event Planning

(#285) 3 Common Mistakes Youth Pastors MUST AVOID in Their Youth Ministry

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Transcript

Cold Open Reservation Chaos

SPEAKER_02 0:00

We've had horrible luck with our vehicle rentals. I know a lot of you have as well. We could confirm every day, once an hour, three weeks leading up to the event, and they will still cancel on us the week before. It's like that Jerry Seinfeld thing. And then what's the point of having a reservation? If you could just give my reservation away, but I have no choice. I don't own three 15 passenger vans.

Three Mistakes And The Dumb Tax

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Today we're talking about three common mistakes that youth pastors make with their youth group events.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we bring you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast-track the growth and health of your youth ministry. My name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

And today we're gonna talk about three common mistakes youth pastors make when they're doing events. I've done a lot of events in my time. Done a lot of mistakes. I've done a lot of mistakes. So I am going to pass on my dumb tax to you. So you don't have to pay the dumb tax. I already paid it. No need for both of us to pay the dumb tax. So

Mistake One Confirm Everything Repeatedly

SPEAKER_02 1:08

number one, oh man, I wish I had done this early on. Confirm. Confirm, confirm, confirm. What do I mean by that? There's a lot of things you need to confirm for an event. As little as I have had, like we're renting a cotton candy machine. The rental company says, Yeah, you can rent our cotton candy machine. And we say, Great, can you drop it off at three? They're like, of course.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Until they don't.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

Until they don't.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

So it's because, well, we're booking a couple weeks in advance. Why? Because I don't want to get two days before the event. And they're like, well, the cotton candy machine's already been rented out. So what do I do? Oh, let's do it in advance. But the problem with doing things in advance is people forget and they forget about you, they forget about the contract, even a professional business. Like there has been so many times where they are like, who are you? And it's like, what? What we've been emailing back and forth months ago. Cause I work ahead. Like in youth ministry, you have to work ahead. Like you can't book a bus like the day before. The day before, and expect to have a bus ready for your event. So what do you do? You book ahead of time. But here's now the risk, the gap between when you booked and when you're actually doing it. A lot of things can happen. And just because it's a professional company does not mean they're gonna come through. I've learned that the hard way. And when I say I've learned that the hard way, it has been with buses, it has been with rental vehicles, it has been with little things, like I said, a cotton candy machine or a snow cone machine. It has been with another church we are supposed to partner with. It's been with a venue that we like a roller rink or something like that. I cannot tell you how important it is to confirm and have a point of contact for each one of these places, you know, and have the receipts of your communication like, hey, we emailed on January 3rd, you know, we've paid the deposit. I just want to make sure we're good to go. And at the risk of being annoying, I would do it like in three weeks leading up to the event every single week. We've had horrible luck with our vehicle rentals. I know a lot of you have as well. And with them, it's like even we could confirm every day once an hour, three weeks leading up to the event, and they will still cancel on us the week before. It's like that Jerry Seinfeld thing. When then what's the point of having a reservation? If you could just give my reservation away, but I have no choice. I don't own three 15 passenger vans. I'm at their mercy. But those are like those fluky things that I pray against, you know. We need to fast and pray against the enterprise, you know, corporate offices. But if there is something you can do to confirm and remind and get a hold of a real person and let them know, hey, just want to go over the last minute details with you. We're gonna arrive at 6 p.m. We're going to leave by 8 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

or that point about confirming with a person, because sometimes they'll have like online forms. Yes. Never trust them.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Never trust an online form. I yeah. And then what I like to do is I like to keep notes of who I talk to and when. So, like I book an event, we do it in September called the All Overnighter, and we do half of it out and about, and then we do the rest of it at the church, you know, go to sleep and it's a sleepover, whatever. So, what I've learned is as I book that, because I'm working with three different venues, I always write down the last person I talked to, what we talked about, like very brief. I don't write an essay, just like talk to Rachel. She's the head of events on January 7th. She said we're good to go. Uh, I have that in writing. Here is her number. I'm going to confirm again on January 14th or something like that. And so when I go to check in and they're like, Who are you? I can say, Oh, I talked to Rachel, you know, and you know, she's expecting us. You know, I can have a real name and I didn't get lost in their like online form thing that nobody checks. So just don't assume anything. I even did an event with another church once and they completely forgot we were coming and they planned another event and they weren't even there. And I'm like, what's going on? And he said, You should have reminded me. And I was like, Oh, I don't think that was necessarily my responsibility. Like you and I talked. However, he was right. Yeah, like whether I have to kind of learn this the hard way, whether I feel like something's my responsibility or not, if I need it to happen, I have to just do it. Do should I have to remind another youth pastor? Hey, we're coming on this day, even though we already talked about it. I shouldn't have to. I'm not his mom. I'm not his babysitter, but apparently, yeah. So you can never confirm too much. If you feel like you're being annoying, oh well, like at least, you know, you have a better chance. It's never foolproof, and that's the hard thing. Like, you know, you can never say, oh, because I dotted all my I's and crossed my T's, this thing is gonna go off without a hitch. Absolutely not. But at least you can say, I did everything I could do and I still couldn't make it happen. You know, uh, there's nothing worse than having a whole plan or showing up with a group and they're like, We, who are you? You know,

Shipping Delays And Backup Planning

SPEAKER_02 6:59

we weren't expecting you, or we don't have your items, or another thing with this is not necessarily confirmation, but if you need to order things, like we've had major issues with shipping lately. You know, it's like two events. They weren't youth ministry events, they were other events where we didn't have what we needed, even though we had ordered within plenty of time. So always be looking ahead. Try not to like rely on, you know, DoorDash or Walmart delivery, like order your things and well enough in advance that you have what you need for your event.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

And have time when they send their Walmart order and they got something wrong, like just that grace.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Or, you know, something happened. So yeah, you just have to be like, I guess the theme of what we're saying tonight, today, is you have to be super vigilant, you know. Like I feel like I'm the kind of person, hey, I'll do my part. Now you do your part. And I like to leave the ball in other people's court, but it will sometimes bite you in the back because you just can't assume, well, I I made the call and booked it. Well, that means nothing, you know. Sometimes this is true. My admin had to physically go to the enterprise offices and be like, hello, here is our contract. Can you see it? Yes, yes, yes. We are going to be here to pick up a vehicle. I need you to confirm that you are agreeing to this because we've got a lot on the line right now. I mean, I lost thousands of dollars at one of our camps because I had to drive to Huntington Beach and find the only two sprinter vans left on the planet to make my camp happen.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

At a nice premium, too.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

It was like, I felt like I was gonna have a nervous breakdown. Like, I hate losing money because I take tithe dollars very seriously, and that is what we're running on at the church. And so I try to steward our money very well and very responsibly. And when it doesn't happen, like I feel like I'm suffocating.

Mistake Two Budget To Break Even

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Speaking of money, here is our second tip. Another common mistake youth pastors make ta-da, me, losing money on events because you didn't budget correctly. I used to lose money on events all the time because I didn't think about the event correctly. So here's some tips for how not to lose money on your events. Number one, I always teach my staff, this is a funny concept, but shop the church first. Meaning there are always leftover random things from events or other ministries that they're not using or that is going to expire. Perfect example. This morning I left my food at home and Jeff texted me and he was like, You left your food here. I'm like, I'm so hungry. So I went in the pantry and there was an open box of Cheerios. I'm like, I never eat Cheerios, they're probably for kid men, but I'm gonna have a little cup of Cheerios. And while I was in the pantry, I saw all these boxes of refried beans, these jugs of salsa, a can of nacho cheese. I'm like, this is all stuff I need for one of my meals at camp that I was gonna buy at Costco. So I found the girl who's in charge of uh some of our events, and I said, Hey, there's a bunch of like stuff. Could are you using that? Because it's gonna either expire or you're gonna use it. And she, I said, Can I take it to Whitewater? And she's like, Yeah, go ahead. Like, I mean, I've already used the portion of it that I needed. I mean, it's all unopened, it's all sealed. And so I'm like, perfect. And so we did like an ice cream event the other day, and I looked through the fridge first. It's like there were so many half used bottles of chocolate syrup that someone had used, but it's like, well, I'm not gonna throw it away, but my event's over. Ta-da! Like, I didn't need to spend, like, I spent half as much money as I needed to. So I always teach them shop the church first, be a good steward of the resources because usually there's something left around that you can use. And then I look at what I don't have and I think, is there anything here I can actually borrow that I don't need to buy? Is there another ministry that has it? Is there a family that I know has something? You have to be careful when you borrow stuff, especially with youth ministry, because you know, the condition is not always pristine. Okay. So you have to be willing to replace it, obviously, if your kids damage it. What can you borrow? Um, and then I go to, all right, now we're at the point, what do I actually need to buy? So I've taught my staff this. There's certain things you don't buy at certain places. It's way too expensive. So one of my staff members early on, she would like to go to this little market down the street because it's really convenient. I said, but those little markets are so expensive. So it's gonna be at least double the cost that we had planned ahead and got a Walmart order or gone to Costco business or, you know, even ordered something on Amazon if you had enough time. But when you're in a hurry last minute, you just go for convenience and then you're always gonna spend more money. So think of where is the cheapest place to buy this item? Try not to be behind the eight ball and just panic and buy it at 7-Eleven because then you're gonna pay a ton. And then, you know, the question of how much can I spend on the event? So then you estimate how many people are going to attend. If you can't really estimate, why not go to signups? And then you know exactly how many people are gonna come. Well, again, that requires you to be very organized and not just be like, let's have a movie night. Right. I'm gonna just buy stuff. It's like, well, let's have a movie night in four weeks from now and let's have people sign up between now and then, and then you have an exact headcount. And then you can figure out your exact cost because then you divide how many people by the money, and you see if it comes out like, oh, well, if 50 people come and I charge them, and that's the other thing. I didn't realize early on, like, you can actually charge people for the event to come out even. I just thought I had to pay for everything out of my budget, and like, oh, this is a church event. I couldn't charge anyone anything, and I was constantly losing money on events, but then I was like, okay, I'm a parent as a parent. Like, I really care giving my daughter seven bucks for an all-night event, and that covers pizza, soda, and you know, a dessert, and they get a whole event. Do you know how expensive

Charge Smart And Count Heads

SPEAKER_02 13:51

events are for like kids, like camps or nights out or whatever? If you just chart, I mean, the goal is to break even, not to like, because we're a non-profit. I think by law you can't be like charging in in the sense of trying to make a profit, but you want to at least break even, and parents can usually afford like here's 10 bucks, here's seven bucks, here's five bucks, you know.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Do you charge in advance or is it like the day of?

SPEAKER_02 14:21

It depends on the event. If it's a nominal cost, like we do something called the glover nighter. Um, I charge randomly seven dollars for that event, and that covers the supplies, like glow paint, glow sticks, pizza, whatever. And it's like seven bucks. It's like feels weird to register and pay or seven dollars, just bring it. Yeah, because at that rate, it's like if someone slips through the cracks and doesn't pay, I'm like, whatever. We have enough of a cushion there. But if it's like the all-over nighter and that's a $75 event, yes, they're gonna pay online with the credit card and there's gonna be online registration, obviously, camps and stuff like that. So I would say any event like maybe over 10 bucks or over 15 bucks, I think you should have them pre pre-pay and pre-register for that. And then it gives you such a great sense of how much money you have to work with, you know, like, oh, maybe we can get like better food, or maybe we could get another cool game supply or something like that. But the worst place to be is just doing a ton of guesswork. And I think that's where the money gets lost is like, well, let's see. I hope 20 kids show up. And if 20 kids um each paid 10 bucks, that gives us $200 to work with. You didn't think I was gonna do that, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:44

So you're gonna end up driving home with 10 pizzas because you did the math wrong or something.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

And that's happened to me before. It's like all of a sudden we have all this food left over, and you're like, oh, whoops. Yeah. And then it's just throwing money away, and then it comes down to, like we said, a stewardship issue, and that was your budget, and that sucks. You know, so the goal is to always get as close as possible. So yeah, I think those tips should kind of help you. And if it's, you know, like you lose a little bit of money here and there, that's okay. But you know, you don't want to lose like a hundred dollars on every event. Like that really adds up. Think about it. If you do one event a month for 12 months, if you lost a hundred bucks each time, you'd be losing 1200 bucks.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

We're just gonna see. Because you kind of pause and I'm like, uh-oh.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Because you looked sus, like you didn't believe in me.

SPEAKER_00 16:41

I was like, does this cab driver know where he's going? I don't know. I would have turned there.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

You know what? You can trust my destination, Jeff. I'm gonna get us there. Don't you worry. Yeah, so it really does add up. Then think of at the end of the year, wouldn't you love to have $1,200? Like, what would you do with that? You could buy some cool game supplies or a new set of dodgeballs, like, and some. Like you could take your leaders, you know, buy them a Christmas gift. So, anyways, just be super careful with your money. I think that's something that often inexperienced youth pastors tend to be in the red on their events, and they don't really need to be. You know, there's a way to

Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator Invite

SPEAKER_02 17:22

do it. Hey, quick question for you. Have you ever felt like you are working really hard in your youth ministry every week, but you don't know what the next step is or how to grow your youth ministry? Well, you are not alone. And that is exactly why we created our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator. Inside the program, we're gonna walk you step by step through strategies, systems, leadership principles that help ministries grow, both in size and in health. This isn't just theory, it's the exact framework we've used and taught to youth pastors all over the country and even globally. In addition to the course and coaching, you will also have the opportunity to join a cohort community where you can meet with other youth leaders who are on the same journey to encourage each other, share ideas, and stay accountable as you put things into practice. So if you're looking for a clearer path to grow your ministry, head over to grow your youth ministry.com to see everything that's included. Once again, that's growyouryout ministry.com. All right, let's get back to the episode.

Mistake Three Build A Real Timeline

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Our third and final mistake is not having a timeline for your event. So planning your event with a timeline so that you can spend the appropriate amount of time for each thing is super helpful, not just for you, but for your team as well. So that you make sure that you get everything done. I can't tell you how many times I've been at an event that I planned, and all of a sudden I look at the clock and I'm like, oh my gosh, we don't have any time left for the last thing we were gonna do. And we have to rush, rush, rush, rush, or skip it. And they're like, what happened to this? I'm like, I ran out of time. Like, you know, you think, oh, we can play one more round. Like the kids are begging for it, one more round of dodgeball. And then you don't realize, oh my gosh, that round went nine, 10, 11, 12 minutes. And now we don't have time for the last worship song. And now the parents are here, and then you know, whatever. So I love to have a timeline, not only to keep us on track, but it really helps me remember the next time I do this event, how I did it.

SPEAKER_00 19:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Because you would think, like, you've done the Glover Nighter 800 times, don't you know by now? It's like, yes. But as soon as I don't need that information anymore, I'm kind of like daily and I move on to the next thing. So now a whole calendar year has gone by and I'm like, what did we do? Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

You don't have to reinvent the wheel every single time.

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Exactly. Like, did we play purge and then dodgeball? Did we do three games? Did we have enough time for three games? And then I'll look at my timeline. I'm like, oh, we played glow in the dark hockey. I totally forgot about that. Oh, do we have those pucks? And then it helps me for the next year because yeah, there's a lot of things that are gonna happen between now and the next time you do it. So it just gets you, you know, in planning mode a little better and helps like kind of be your assistant.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Sometimes those little notes you leave too. It's funny because I'll do that with myself and I'll put a note on something and I'll think one thing and then I'll see a note and it's like, don't be tempted to blah, blah, blah. And you're like, I thought that before. Trust me. No, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

You're the best. How did you know? Yeah. And I think also like when you have an organized timeline and you start on time, get out on time, whatever, you know, you continue to keep trust and respect with your team and with parents and all of that. You know, when you're the notoriously running late person and parents are out in the parking lot checking their watches, wondering when you're getting out, and all of it could have been solved by just a timeline that you are following. I try to be really good with it and stick to it. The hardest event to stick to my timeline is the battle, which is our huge outreach event in October. We turn our youth group into a four-week tournament that's meant to bring non-Christians and they compete in these super fun games on teams and hear the gospel and they win a trip. If they're on the winning team, it's just so hype. It's so fun. But we have to squeeze in so much into those two hours that like getting out on time, often I am like praying and then I sprint, which I'm not good at running. I have a heart condition. I feel like I'm gonna die from the stage to the parking lot because it's like, oh my gosh, I'll get like a radio call from my parking. Team, like we're backed up to the main road. I'm like, they're like, where are you guys? You have to dismiss. I'm like, oh my gosh, but we haven't announced the winner yet. And oh my gosh, the spirit queen is here and I need to do that. Like, there's so many things to do. And that's on me. Like the only person who can get out, get us out on time is me. And I can't do it all the time. You know, and one thing, it doesn't, it's not foolproof, but like if you know, like if you have guest speakers, or maybe you are the speaker that runs over, I'll say, like, you have 15 minutes. And then we put a clock on the back wall that they can only see. And if they go over, it goes into negative time. So you can see you're negative four minutes right now. Wrap it up, you know. And do they listen to the clock? No, they do not. Not always. So that's when I start holding up hands, like, yeah, you're negative four. Go pray. I think we should start giving in-ear monitors to speakers so that you can talk to them, you know, because like we were running late the other day, and I had the tech guy tell my worship leader, like, tell her no banter, just go, just get started. We're running late. I wish you could do that with speakers, like uh teachers. Can you put text on the back wall? Ah, yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

You can probably just do that.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Like wrap it up, buttercup. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, we have to be the keeper of these schedules, the keeper of these timetables. And I I even hate saying that out loud. And I think there's a whole camp of youth pastors that don't love to be constrained by schedules because they are much more like, let the spirit move, and like, let's just be in the moment. And if we feel like one more song, do one more song. And if you're on fire preaching, do it. Here's what you have to remember we are missionaries, and

Ending On Time Builds Parent Trust

SPEAKER_02 23:55

not everyone is on board with that. And so, how do we reach the unreached by doing what we say we're gonna do? Because to a non-Christian parent that you kept their child 20 extra minutes on a school night, on a school night, and your thing is, but the spirit was moving, that does not compute. And they're they don't understand. So I feel like our best outreach to parents and maybe an unchurched community is actually being people of our word. And I think sometimes that is the most important thing to show them we're trustworthy. We have integrity. I did what I said I was gonna do because you could also look at it that way is like, but you broke a promise. You said this ends here, and that's what I was why I let my child go. If it had ended at nine, I wouldn't have let my child go. So we're now under false pretenses. It's like you have to gauge that too. But I think some pastors like, ah, fooie. Like, we like whatever we need to do is what we're gonna do. But I think you forget you're a missionary to like an unchurched, unlike spiritual community sometimes. And that's the best preaching of the gospel is to be a person of their word who does what they say they're going to do. I love that mentality because I feel like that's where we gain trust with parents and families so that we can continue to do our ministry. You know, I can't tell you how many parents I've talked to that have gone to different youth groups or church, and they are like, Yeah, I'll just be sitting in my car 15 minutes, 20 minutes, waiting, waiting.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

You guys are moving like 200 kids quick.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

We can do it in eight minutes.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Crazy.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Yeah, but they'll say, like, well, because they're still in their small group. And the Christian parents are like, and that's so good. Let them pray. If there's something they need to talk about, yeah, they're a Christian parent who gets it. But a window shopper Christians, like, these people are unorganized and inconsiderate. I don't want to be that, you know. So, all that to say, you know, take it with a grain of salt, but you are the keeper of this timetable. So write a schedule, try to stick to it. It not only benefits the current you, but like we said, the future you, and it helps you with your planning uh down the road. So yeah, and it makes your team happy because they know what to expect and how to help the ball move down the field for that event.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

Yeah, we

Community Comment And Wrap Up

SPEAKER_00 26:31

did uh back in October of last year, we did another episode kind of along the same lines about mistakes with events, and we thought, you know what? We actually have three more. So that's where this episode was perfect.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

I've made a lot of mistakes. I probably have three more, and then three more.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Well, make sure you guys check out that episode too. We'll link it in the description below. All right, this is a community comment of the day. This comes from Heather McLeod who says, Thank you. This is in response to the episode we recently did about games per super small youth groups.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

So thank you as in all caps.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Thank you. I only have four students, and it is so difficult to figure out games. These are great. Glad you enjoyed those.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Thank you for the feedback because like in that episode, we were like, okay, small youth groups, but then people were like, no, I mean small. And so we're like, okay, hope we hit the nail on the head with this one. Nail on the head with this one. I think we did. So good, good, good.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Thank you, Heather. We appreciate that. And we appreciate you guys watching and listening. And we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

If there is something.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

I was a chihuahua. Heart attack. Disorientation.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Phase one. Heart attack.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Playing it on a tape recorder. I don't know. What if you'll play it on the room?

SPEAKER_02 27:45

Or maybe you're in the pastor in the suit just going a roll.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yeah.