Keeping track of our student ministry
FOR MY FIRST FEW YEARS IN STUDENT MINISTRY I admittedly struggled with keeping up with student data. How long has it been since we’ve seen so and so? Do we have a current address on this kid? Did anyone get a head-count at tonight’s service? I brainstormed this strategy and that, but nothing ever worked really well…
PLEASE WELCOME TO THE STAGE YOUTHTRACKER.NET. This is a completely web-based service which allows tracking of student data in ways that I could never accomplish on my own. Because it is web-based, there is no software to install, and your data can be accessed via any computer with an internet connection. I have even taken attendance with my iPhone at remote events!
youthtracker.net
For years I have toggled between contact information on hand-written “hard copies” of student info cards and data entered in address book on my Mac. It’s amazing how many times someone’s handwriting has rendered an address illegible. “Is that a seven?” “What is that street name?” No more! With YOUTHTRACKER.NET students simply type in their information, and there it is. No more deciphering. Also great is the fact that all my student data is virtually always at my fingertips. Let’s be honest, there is no such thing as 9 to 5 ministry, and every pastor I know finds himself working here and there in what was intended to be “off time.” No more late night trips to the office to grab addresses for mailers that must go out tomorrow. Granted, many people are successfully using Outlook or Address Book or some other resource, but in YOUTHTRACKER.NET everything is contained in one page for each student: family names, emergency contacts, dad’s cell number, t-shirt size, facebook, email, event attendance, recent spiritual decisions, event account balances. This service will even allow students to make payments for event registrations online!
youthtracker.net sign in screen
Perhaps one of my favorite features of YOUTHTRACKER.NET is the student sign-in feature. We have a “check-in” table as students enter our youth room, complete with a computer logged into YOUTHTRACKER.NET. Kids just type their name, and they are signed into the event, or if they are a new student, they are prompted to enter their info to create a new account. We have another computer in our sound booth that we use to send YOUTHTRACKER.NET to the screen onstage, and we use another cool feature which will randomly select a student who is signed in to the current event. Game contestants made simple! This also has an ulterior motivation to encourage kids to sign in. They always sign in because they want to play the game!
What about cost? When I was shopping around for a software resource to help me on the administrative end of youth ministry, I saw several price tags in the few hundred dollars neighborhood. YOUTHTRACKER.NET is a subscription, and we are currently paying just $19.99 a month. I know, in a year or so the pay-once software is eventually cheaper, but for me, $19.99 a month is a much easier sell than a $400.00 upfront cost. Plus I love the flexibility of knowing I can change services if this no longer suits our needs, although I really expect to be using YOUTHTRACKER.NET for years to come.
delighted to share. 