We are so glad to have you as a partner of The Traveling Team. So, what do you do now?
You will get contact info for those students in two forms.
INITIAL PAIRING EMAIL
Once we have called and paired a student, you will receive an email from our staff introducing you to a student they feel like is a good fit for your org. You and the student will be copied on the same email. This will be your cue to go ahead and initiate contact with that student as soon as you can.
Keep in mind that the student may not see or respond to this email first so take the initiative with a text or a phone call as soon as possible. The student’s contact information will sometimes be in this initial email but more information will be in the online spreadsheet we provide updated daily.
ONLINE DATABASE
You will receive a unique login and password to download a CVS spreadsheet of students that have been paired with your organization, which updates everyday. Learn more here.
Stop picking fruit and plant more trees.
Below are a few bits of advice on how to mobilize students from The Traveling Team playbook.
THE GOLDEN GOOSE
You can kill the “Golden Goose.” Keep in mind that The Traveling Team is a guest in every ministry and campus ministry we visit and your interaction with students will also reflect on TTT and determine whether they allow us to come back. Please take the initiative with students but also know when to allow them to back out graciously.
PLAN A LIFE, NOT A TRIP
Millennials are looking for guides that help them not recruit them. They come with a distrust of orgs so remember to help them see beyond a summer or a next step but how you are able to direct them toward a lifetime of making Christ known even if the first step is not with you.
SHAPE THE PATH & SCRIPT THE CRITICAL MOVES
People problems are often situation problems. Many well-intending people fail to follow through because they don’t know the next step. End each conversation with prayer and with a clear action step that is appropriate for that candidate. Then make it inescapably simple.
KILL THE GIANTS
Prepare students for failure and problems. The enemy has prepared many real and imagined “dream killers” and your job is to kill the giants in their mind before they kill the dream. Tell of your own struggles. Help them anticipate conversations with parents, plans for student debt, and other common hurdles before they become exit ramps.
If you are emailing, you're doing it wrong.
Here are some of our time-tested best practices for following up with student contacts you receive. Print and keep nearby as a reminder. We have a phrase on staff, "If you are emailing, you're doing it wrong." Students rarely check email these days so a text followed by a phone call is a much more direct way to get ahold of them. They have already responded to us and are waiting to hear from someone that will take the time to reach out to them faithfully.
