I mentioned in passing last week that I hoped your year-end review meetings would be short (and your vacations long), but then I got to thinking about how year-end meetings can actually be a fantastic marketing review if run well.

Because instead of simply reviewing what happened or didn't happen that year, what if your meetings went something like this?

Start with prayer.

Obviously. But really praising and thanking God for all the opportunities He gave you this year and especially for the work of dedicated volunteers, and asking Him to guide your reflections as you look back at the year.

Review the numbers first.

This requires knowing ahead of time what metrics are important for each group/initiative.

For most groups, number of attendees is probably the main number you're looking at.

But how many meetings/events there were, the age and demographics of attendees, and digital engagement metrics might be important too.

And remember to look at percentages as well. For example, maybe your RCIA/OCIA numbers were down overall, but the percent who actually went all the way through went up. That indicates that maybe some marketing might be needed to get more people, but that the group itself was effective.

Next, look at impact.

Numbers only tell a small part of the story.

What impact did these groups or initiatives have? Do you have any stories of lives changed, of people brought closer to Christ, of memorable moments? Don't forget to discuss those too.

Reminder: The year-end party is a great time to gather some testimonials for promotion next year, when everyone is all sappy and nostalgic about the end of the year.

Were there any factors outside your control?

For example, in our youth group this year, we'd had a goal to do more events outside of meetings. Unfortunately, our big fall and spring events had to be postponed — one due to lack of sign-ups, the other because Pope Francis' death postponed Bl. Carlo's canonization.

It's important to remember those things when looking at your goals because again, numbers don't tell the whole story.

Then, review what you did.

How did you promote the group/events this year? What channels did you use? How often did you communicate? What was the engagement like for those promotions? What was the show rate from number of registrants to number of attendees?

Do the same from an operations/administrative side.

Now, what would you like to see different next year? What goals do you have?

Would you love to see more young adults? Discuss how you might shift communication priorities to reach them.

Want to increase show rate? Make plans to include some pre-event follow-up emails.

After reviewing the data, do you want to change up the format, date/time, communication strategy, etc.? Write those goals and plans down.

Oftentimes we can be so much in maintenance mode during the year that we forget to actually have a "lessons learned" briefing — and the year-end review meeting can be a great time to actually sit and reflect on those.

Then, make sure you write down any changes you want to make so you can implement them on that one quiet Friday afternoon over the summer!

For His greater glory,

Emily

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