Holiday Bible Club or Kids Festival or VBS is a holiday ministry for children. Plan ahead for the programme to be successful. Good publicity is an important part of any Kids Festival planning. If you expect children to attend, you must let them know what is going on. Plan your publicity strategy early. Write it down and work the plan. Make sure you include a variety of methods.

Find your audience

Before you begin any type of publicity, you must find or know your audience. Ask yourself the question, “Who am I trying to reach?”. The simple answer is children. However, this is not specific enough. Who have you designed your Kids Festival for? Is it planned primarily for your own church children? Or do you want to reach children in the community around your church? Perhaps, you are hoping to reach out in a new neighbourhood. Whatever the case, start by understanding who you want to invite? This will help you focus your resources as you publicise.

Let them know

Publicity is, basically, letting people know something. Get a group of creative people together and brainstorm ideas for letting your audience know. Determine how you will promote the Kids Festival within your own church. Then, decide how best to publicise in the community. Look at your resources, such as a message sign, banner, television, newspaper, or radio. Try some of the following ideas:

·         Present short drama sketches in worship services or adult classes.

·         Send each child in your church at least one piece of mail about your VBS.

·         Provide cards for Church members to hand out to those they invite.

·         Place information about your upcoming VBS on your website.

·         Send email reminders to church members.

·         Place information on your church bulletins (and newsletter) at least four weeks prior to VBS.

·         Place poster in prominent places in your church.

·         Set up a pre-registration area in the church.

·         Have your children’s workers wear “t” shirts advertising VBS.

Advertise

Usually, when we think of advertising, we think of paid costs or television or radio or ad space in the local newspaper. Although there are valid options, there are also many free ways to advertise your VBS. E.g. word of mouth-children inviting their friends.

Record the results

The best way to evaluate the effectiveness of your publicity strategy is to know the effectiveness of each method. Include space on your registration form where you ask those who attend to include how they heard about the VBS. Provide a checklist of all methods used and ask to check all that apply. This will help you know which methods were most effective and which methods do not really help.