How to host a Registration Drive at your church


Having limited or outdated information on your members limits your ability to make an impact.

Host a Know & Grow event (your two-week registration drive) to invite members to share or update their information on your Flocknote network. In just two weekends, you'll get a fuller picture of your church community and open the doors to better communication, participation, and growth.

Let’s get started!


1.  Watch our free tutorial replay

2.  Download Step-by-Step Checklist

3.  Check out our free resources below



Help-guides that will come in handy along the way:


Starter networks: Interested in upgrading your subscription to unlock more possibilities for your Registration Drive? You can learn more about Flocknote Complete here: flocknote.com/complete or reach out to us at help@flocknote.com for a free 30-day trial. 🎉



Free Resources on this Page:




How to get your Pastor on board


Are you interested in holding a Know & Grow registration drive at your church, but you need help running the idea by your pastor? We've got you covered with this single-page download. Pass it on to your pastor or other decision-makers at your church to help them understand the why behind the event and what is required to host one.


Free Customizable Graphics


While these visuals are entirely optional, they can help draw attention to your event and bolster the feeling of importance to participating. Hand out flyers as people leave on Sunday, put cards in the pews, use whatever fits your needs.


Click on the links below to access the Canva templates for these graphics. You'll make some simple edits to fill in your church's information. 

If your church does not have a Canva account, note that Canva offers free subscriptions for non-profits. Learn more here.



Be sure to update with your own text-to-join keyword and network URL before printing.


Full Size Banner

To add even more fanfare and attention to your Know & Grow weekends, consider getting a banner or two printed to have on display as folks arrive for church. This will signify to them that something different is going on, and they will be more tuned in to find out what it is. When they see it the second week, if they haven’t participated yet, it will be a good reminder that they have to get it done that day.

Our banner graphic matches the dimensions for this budget-friendly stand and banner combo: E-Signs Awesome X Stand (no affiliation)

What to put in your bulletin


Flocknote Starter


We’re building the kind of church here where you are welcome, known, and called to deeper relationship with Christ. We want to thrive and have the time as a staff to invest in what will help us grow in community and in love of Christ with one another. We need your help!

Text YOUR UNIQUE KEYWORD to 84576*. Click the link in the text you receive back and follow the instructions. You can also complete this online by visiting UNIQUE URL FOR YOUR FLOCKNOTE NETWORK. Thank you all so much for your help! Our goal is 100% participation, so every adult in our church is asked to complete this before DATE. Please contact STAFF MEMBER’S EMAIL if you need assistance.


Flocknote Complete


We’re building the kind of church here where you are welcome, known, and called to deeper relationship with Christ. We want to thrive and have the time as a staff to invest in what will help us grow in community and in love of Christ with one another. We need your help!

Please have one adult from your household text YOUR UNIQUE KEYWORD to 84576*. Click the link in the text you receive back and follow the instructions. You can also complete this online by visiting UNIQUE URL FOR YOUR FLOCKNOTE NETWORK (add/register at the end). Thank you all so much for your help! Our goal is 100% participation before DATE. Please contact STAFF MEMBER’S EMAIL if you need assistance.

How to announce this on Sunday


We've prepared a script to make announcing your Know & Grow Event on Sunday a breeze.


For Churches


For Parishes

How to add a little fun and fellowship


Fellowship

Make these two weekends a chance for socializing and fellowship to build a more connected church family.

  • Invite members to stay after your Mass or service to socialize
  • Provide coffee and donuts
  • Provide simple activities or games for kids to do while their parents socialize
  • Provide sticker name tags for people to put on when they arrive on Sunday just these two weekends
  • Have some simple live music in your gathering space to encourage folks to hang around and socialize
  • Add a cookie swap or bake sale
  • Make art together: get a big board and invite every member to write or paint their first name or family name on as a symbol of your community

Give it a Theme

If you want to really lean in to the fun and draw more attention to the weekend, consider going with a theme:

  • Stick with the standard Know & Grow Weekends (getting to know better your existing members, and grow to welcome new ones)
  • Registration Round Up: rodeo theme
  • Registration Rally: sports and cheerleading theme
  • No Strangers November: great for the names tag idea mentioned above!
  • Sign up & Sweets Weekends: donuts one week, cookies the next?
  • Your own church name offers it's own opportunities for a fun, catchy name.

Fun Incentives

Incentives are not necessary (hopefully your whole church can be united towards the goal no matter what)...but it would sprinkle in some fun and added motivation! The more memorable, the better!

Something like...

  • Your pastor gets a pie in the face
  • Your pastor has to wear something silly at an upcoming event
  • A dunk tank for your pastor at the next church picnic
  • Donuts for the whole congregation next Sunday

Raffle something off (anyone who participated is eligible)

  • A gift card
  • A reserved parking spot
  • Reserved pews on Christmas or Easter
  • Something unique to your community or your church
  • “Naming rights” for anything from a garden on church grounds to the pastor’s new pet!

Make it your own!

Common Questions & Troubleshooting

We've created a quick guide addressing common questions you or your members may have during your registration drive. See the answers below, or download and print it to have on hand for any volunteers helping folks in the back of the church during your two weekends.

Download the Printable Troubleshooting Guide


Should we have a laptop available in the back during our Know & Grow weekends? How can admins/volunteers help people register on a computer?

Sometimes members may need help registering, and the good news is that admins (or even volunteers) can help with this. On your registration weekends, you can have a shared laptop(s) available in the back of the church to help folks register at the unique URL for your network  (If you are a Complete network, you will want to add a /register at the end of that URL for full Registration.)

When you do, always use an Incognito or Private Browser. You will close that browser out after each and every member, then open a NEW Incognito or In Private Browser window when the next person wants to register. This prevents any information from the previous entry from being overwritten.


"Is my personal information safe/secure?"

Flocknote is committed to the privacy and protection of personal information and has put state-of-the-art safeguards in place to protect it from any unauthorized access. We will never sell or rent their information or share it with anyone other than administrators for Flocknote groups (i.e., your church, diocese, organization, etc.) they are a member of. More at flocknote.com/privacy


"What if I do not want to get emails/texts from my church?"

Members can still provide the information for the church to have on file, but be left off of regular communications if they wish, or choose which groups they do/don't want to hear from. If they are registering on their phones, they can click on their name in the dark bar at the bottom of their screen, choose Edit Profile, and then click on Groups. Tapping the email and phone icons on this page will turn on/off notifications however they see fit. (You can also write down their name and help get this sorted later after the event.)


"Does my phone have to be a smart phone to do this?"

For non-smartphone users, texting in the keyword will capture their phone number, but they will not be able to click the link in the following text that would allow them to enter their name and other information. You can encourage non-smartphone users to register using a computer or tablet at home.


"Can I do this from my computer or tablet instead of my phone?"

Yes! Rather than using your text-to-join keyword, they will simply need to visit the unique URL for your network to get started. (If you are a Complete network, you will want to add a /register at the end of that URL to make sure it takes them directly to your Family & Visitor Registration.)


"What if I didn't receive the text back?"

Their phone may be blocking the text from being received. They can check their blocked numbers, unblock it, and try again, or they can just open up an internet browsing app and go straight to the unique URL for your network to get started. (If you are a Complete network, you will want to add a /register at the end of that URL to make sure it takes them directly to your Family & Visitor Registration.)


If your members get a response that the keyword was "not understood" or it seems to be connecting them with the wrong church:

This means that the keyword that they are texting in is incorrect. Double-check that they are entering it exactly as it should be and with no spaces before or after. If so, double-triple-check that the keyword you are providing is correct. You can see your keywords by visiting your Flocknote network, clicking on "Group Communications", then the "Settings" cogwheel, then "Text to Join". Click "Get Started", then "Use Existing Group". You will see here which keywords you already have set up on your network.


"What if I am already in the system?"

Members can and should still go through this registration if they are already in the system. For Flocknote Complete networks, this allows them to provide any additional information you are requesting or update anything that is out of date. For Starter networks, they can provide missing contact information or update what is on file, but also choose what groups they want to hear from.


"What if I am running into an error?"

TIP: If a member runs into an error trying to complete registration on Sunday, take down their name. When you are back in the office, you can check their profile for the factors below, reach out to our team if needed, and send the member a registration link via email to try again when you are ready.

Here is a quick list of common reasons for running into an error. Most of these apply to Flocknote Complete networks only:

  • They are entering conflicting contact information. Maybe unintentionally, admins currently have the member's email address on one profile and their phone number on a secondary profile. When the member puts both email and phone number together on this one profile, the system is not able to proceed because of the conflict, or it has triggered a pending merge.
  • The profile already has a pending merge on it. This needs to be resolved before they can move on. An admin should visit their profile when they have time, help resolve the merge, then ask them to try again.
  • The contact information they are entering is actually on file as the contact information for a child profile in their Household. An admin can take time to make sure that the adults and children in the household are set up correctly with the correct contact information (leaving contact information blank for children if they don't have any of their own).
  • A spouse or child they are trying to add to their Household already exists in the network separately and with their own giving data on file. An admin can check this and manually add the individual into the correct household, or reach out to our team for help.
  • The spouse they are adding is already the head of household for another Household in the system. An admin can check this and manually add the individual into the correct household, or reach out to our team for help.
  • Someone else in the household has two-factor authentication turned on.
  • They are trying to add two people to the same household with the exact same name. (If there is a Sr. Jr. situation, simply add those designations in the name fields so the system recognizes them as two individuals).
  • Someone in the household other than the person completing the registration has admin permissions. Instead, have the family member who is an admin complete this registration process.

Our team is here to answer your questions and help you strategize. Get in touch with your Happiness Engineers at help@flocknote.com.

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