10 Reasons Why Members Aren’t Attending Events
You’ve made an amazing calendar bursting with a variety of engaging, fun activities but are disappointed to discover that only one or two people have signed up for the events – if at all. Are you doing something wrong? Don’t give up and don’t take it personally! There are several reasons why people might not be showing up that you may want to keep in mind when planning your activities calendar.
1) The day of the week or time of day doesn’t work. Young children take naps in the morning and/or the early afternoon. Some Moms have to shuttle their kids back and forth from Preschool and other events so it’s important to have a variety of activities at different times of the day. Better yet, send out a member survey quarterly or semi-annually to gauge interest and get scheduling feedback.
2) The activities aren’t age appropriate. Keep an eye on changes to your membership and schedule activities suitable for a variety of age ranges. If there’s a new influx of babies in your group make sure to add baby friendly activities. If most of the kids in the group are young toddlers don’t just schedule crafts and activities suitable for Preschoolers and older.
3) The season is wrong. Don’t schedule an outing that’s more than a 20-30 minute drive during winter. People might not RSVP just because they’re worried about driving in wintry conditions. Likewise, people might not want to pay to go to an indoor bounce house or jungle gym when they can go to a warm sunny park for free.
4) No RSVP flexibility. A member may want to come to an event but isn’t sure if they’ll be able to make it so they decide its best not to RSVP at all or wait and eventually forget. Sound familiar? Don’t force definitive yes or no answers for events unless you have to have an exact headcount and make sure members know it’s okay to show up late to events and they don’t have to RSVP.
5) They forgot. It happens and unfortunately there’s not much you can do about it, short of sending out a reminder the day before the event so it’s fresh in their minds.
6) It’s not stroller friendly. Or it might be but they don’t know for sure. I know I haven’t gone on trips to orchards, hikes and farms because of this reason even though I would have loved to go. Find out if a venue is stroller friendly and note it on the calendar.
7) It’s too far away. Being trapped in a car with my brood for 45 mins each way to go to Moms Group event is an automatic no-go for me.
8) They’re shy and don’t know the other people going. I’m definitely guilty of this. In my opinion, the best thing you can do for this is to do icebreakers at meetings, schedule plenty of Mom’s Night Out events so they can get to know each other as people (and not just Moms). Lastly, get the wine flowing (I’m only half joking).
9) They don’t feel wanted. Meeting people and making new friends as an adult is hard. Trying to find your place in an established group is even harder. Make it easier on members by making a point of talking to them and letting them know you’re really happy to see them at events they attend. Personally invite them to future events. Ask them to help with something. Get them involved and make them feel valued and important.
10) They’re struggling with a personal issue. Maybe it’s an imminent divorce, money problems, illness or the death of a close family member or friend. The strongest Moms Groups remember that the purpose of their group is to give and receive support from other Moms, not just have a big group of people to do activities with.
I hope that this info helps you and your group. Did I miss anything? Please let me know in the comment section!
Looking for ways to boost attendance at your member meetings? I’ve got five suggestions!