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Faith Festival Help
 
Last updated August 28, 2007

Are you intersested in having a Faith Festival in your county?

These are my notes and I will be constantly updating them as time goes on so check back often.  If you have had a faith festival and would like to send me your notes, please feel free to do so.

Do not let these items scare you away.  With the help of God and a passion in your heart, you will not fail.
  1. Addresses–You will need to collect the mailing address and phone number of area churches.
  2. Technology Help–You should have someone help you that knows how to create word documents from mailing list and track mailing lists for sending out letters.  Web site as well is a must along with reliable email address for yourself and others that will be helping you.
  3. Location–A venue that is neutral and centrally located.  Facilities are another consideration.  The Ballpark provided electric, bathrooms, parking, easy access, and safe environment.  You may want to consider the same type of location for your Faith Festival.  Outdoors is a good idea as well.  Indoors is confining and enclosed.  Outdoors is risky if weather is not good (too hot or rain).  The Ballpark had a concourse which gave the feeling of being outdoors, but also provided shelter.  If you have a venue that provides shelter, make sure you advertise “Rain or Shine” on your web site so everyone knows and will not be as discouraged if a few rain drops fall on the day of the event.
  4. Staging–If you plan to have several groups play, you will need more than one stage so that one group can setup while the other stage is being used.  Professional stages are not cheap.  We paid for two stages (platforms) and they should be set 18 - 24 inches high.  Speak with a local company that knows how to setup stages.  If it is outdoors, plan on cover to shelter the equipment and band members from the sun or rain.  If it is indoors, you may be able to build your own platform.  Our stages were 20’x16’.
  5. Seating–Picnic tables or chairs or encourage people to bring their own chairs.  Consider handicapped access as well (Wheelchairs).  People will have to deal with direct sun light if held during early afternoon.  So if you are having it outdoors, consider later in the afternoon to begin the event.  Also, consider having some regular chairs for people that may need back support.
  6. Food–The Ballpark provided food for sell.  By having the Ballpark provide the food, this helped reduce the cost for the use of facilities and it was professionally prepared.  If Churches plan to cook their own food and sell, you may have to get permits based on local ordinances.
  7. Security–The Ballpark has a controlled traffic flow which enables ease of screening.
  8. Organization–You need to have a person that is organized and ready to answer questions.  A person that wants to organize, but does not follow up or spend time researching is going to setup for failure.  The lead-person has to be committed to the event.
  9. Activities–Schedule bands and other activities.  They should be safe activities…remember your intent is not to be theme park.  It is an event to bring people together and high-attendance should not be the gauge of success or sole-intent.   You may consider along with a band a small skit as a form of entertainment.  Local ministries may offer clowns or puppet shows. 
  10. Sound–Have a reputable sound crew work with you, provide guidance, and that has the right equipment to have the bands rock.
  11. Support–This event will not happen without the buy-in of local churches.  So start this process very soon.  You need to make sure you meet in person with as many churches as possible.  This is not a “fire and forget” endeavor by sending out a few letters to area churches and hoping they respond.  Churches unfamiliar with Faith Festival need to know you are serious and can pull it off.
  12. Marketing–This is not a marketing endeavor.  If the churches support it, their outreach should be the main mechanism for encouraging people to come, especially from church members and churches should plan to personally invite families that do not have a faith family in their immediate neighborhood.
  13. Flyers–Have a flyer ready 6 – 8 weeks so that these may be posted at local grocery stores and other public areas.
  14. Yard Signs–Yard signs may be another item you can sell to church members as a way of advertising the event.
  15. T-Shirts–Everyone needs to wear a shirt, so why not a Faith Festival T-Shirt?  Keep it simple with just the name and date of the event with web site address.  Have these designed earlier as well so you have time to sell and get the word out.  You should provide T-Shirts to Churches to sell after or before services.
  16. Media Support–Contact your local media (newspaper or T.V. Station) and encourage them to cover the event via an article 6 – 8 weeks prior, and one more time just before the event.  The media covers local community events so this is a good story for them to cover.
  17. Radio Stations–Radio stations may be willing to do on-air interviews or at the very least a public-service announcement.
  18. Cable–Use the Cable public access channel to advertise the event.
  19. Finances–Plan your required expenses and make sure those are covered first.  If you don’t pay your bills, forget about the 2nd year.  Venue, Staging, and Sound are the major expenses.   Since you are relying on local bands, there should be no charges from these bands.  We had a duet paid to come out to Blair County Faith Festival.  This is optional if you’d like to have’ lesser-known’ professional bands.  It may help to draw some people out.  If you plan to pay for a professional band, look around and negotiate the price.  But remember they make their living off of traveling around and doing a professional act…so you should not expect to them work for free.
  20. Donations–Donations need to be tracked by a single-church.  All donations need to be deposited and tracked by a church that is willing to track in detail where donations are coming from and tracking churches that paid for welcome centers.  The church should be willing to communicate donations to the organizer so they can determine who and who has not paid so that proper follow up can be accomplished.  Provide clear instructions anytime donations are made such as the address of the Church and to document on the check “Faith Festival” so the church knows that it belongs to Faith Festival budget.
  21. Welcome Centers–Churches or Christian organizations should be willing to pay for welcome center (10x10 spaces for example).  We charged $100.  You may want to charge slightly higher to help cover costs.  You should have each fill out a welcome center request form that has their name, address; decide if they need electricity, and special requests like being next to another welcome center.   You should also state that the Church should review the web site to make sure their information is accurate and they are listed.  A mistake will be made and having the church check out a web site will help with find these mistakes.
  22. Business Sponsors–If you’d like business sponsor, that is fine, but you will need someone that is willing to do a lot of leg work or phone follow-ups asking for donations.  For the most part though, you should not have to rely too heavily on business sponsors.  If not enough Churches are participating or willing to donate $100 - $200 to cover the costs, it is probably a sign that the event will not be well attended and Churches are not supporting the event.  Remember, this is a Christian event and you should only seek business sponsors to help some, but primary support should come from Churches.  Also, if you rely too heavily on businesses, it may make the event too commercialized or that you are trying to have too many high-end activities.  You should also consider developing a rate card for businesses (e.g., $250 sponsor provides listing on web site; $500 includes a small ad in the news paper, etc.)
  23. Day of Event Schedule–Have a day of event schedule given to each person that comes to the event.  You may even consider having someone sponsor ‘bags’ so people will have something to place their purchased material or gifts for carrying.  If the activities plan on starting at 1:00 PM, advertise "gates open" as 12:30 PM.  People usually are a half hour late or don't want to be waiting to get in.  You don't want to have your first band playing at 1:00 PM with nobody around. Also leave about 10 minutes between each band to switch on and off stage.  If you have a single stage, you will have to have groups share equipment to reduce the time in setting up drums, keyboards, and pianos.
  24. Gifts –Some businesses may want to offer gift cards or other types of gifts instead of cash.  You may choose to raffle these off as part of the activities.  If you decide to accept gifts and raffle these off, then you will need someone to organize handing out ‘tickets’ at the event, drawing the winning tickets, and informing visitors that won.  With Faith Festival 2007, some of these prizes went unclaimed.  What will you do with these prizes and any extra cash left over?  We donated them to a local organization.  The other option is to have the visitor reach into a bag and pull out a colored coated ball that has a number on it that they know immediately they won or not.  This avoids having to deal with ticket numbers and announcing winners.
  25. Thank-You–Remember to send thank you letters after the event to any organization or media that helped with the event.  Remember, they don’t owe you their time.
  26. Name Tags–People at the welcome center should have name tags.   Volunteers should have radios or have arm bands so that if someone has a question, they know who to ask.
  27. First Aid–Have a paid first-aid person on hand in case of an emergency or minor accident.
  28. Web Site–A web site is a must.  It provides media with information that they may use in stories, allows the community to know who is all involved, enables Churches to verify information, answers welcome center common questions (e.g. Are we allowed to bring food?), an order form for ordering T-Shirts, and post your logo files and poster so others may download and use.
  29. Pictures–Make sure a person is assigned for taking pictures on the day of event.

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