Essentials

Summary

This Essential will help you develop an effective plan to market events and programs that will reach young adults.  

Introduction

Promotion and outreach are important for any organization but what we’re selling is not just a product like any other. Young Adult Ministry is not about numbers and profits; it is about the Gospel and the living Body of Christ. Consequently, marketing for young adult ministry should be approached differently. Guided by the right principles and strategies, promotion and outreach to young adults can become a ministry in itself...

Map Your Ministry -- Divide and Prioritize

Promoting your young adult ministry will be less overwhelming if you recognize the sub-groups within the larger demographic. Consider in-reach, outreach, and age range. In-reach concerns the young adults who already belong to your parish community, out-reach concerns the young adults in the surrounding community. For both groups think about age as well as ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, relationship status, etc. Once you divide the young adults into sub-groups in your parish and wider community, prioritize which demographics you strive to reach. Perhaps you’ll begin with outreach to the 25-30 year old single professionals within your parish, and then plan to reach out to the 18-25 year olds in the college town nearby once your ministry is off the ground.

Q: The Pope has warned that social media for “the one-sidedness of the interaction, the tendency to communicate only some parts of one's interior world, the risk of constructing a false image of oneself, which can become a form of self-indulgence.” Am I endorsing these negative uses of technology by utilizing social media in my ministry?  A: Benedict XVI is right to acknowledge the limitations of technology and social media...

Answer these questions to help guide your young adult ministry.

Assess what’s going on:

• How much time can I dedicate to outreach and promotion?
• What’s our budget?
• Which sub-groups of young adults am I hoping to work with? See “Mapping Our Ministry for Promotion and Outreach.”...

YouTube These YouTube videos will walk you through some potential promotional tools for your ministry outreach:

• “How To Use Facebook”
• “How To Use Twitter”
• Beginners Guide to Google+”...

 

Describe	In-reach: Who are the young adults in my parish?	Out-reach: Who are the young adults in the community surrounding my parish?
Age-range(s)	(i.e., recent graduates, singles in late 20s-early 30s, newly married with children)	(i.e., young adults attending local college)
Other significant factor defining sub-group:	(i.e., recent graduates -- looking for fellowship activities to make friends, build relationships)	(i.e., looking for welcoming parish while away from home)
Other significant factor defining sub-group:	(i.e., singles in late 20s-early 30s -- interest in service projects)