If you’ve ever taken the time and effort to extend an invitation to someone to join your small group only to be left with the sounds of crickets and no response,… then this article is for you. 

Four Steps to Follow Up with Small Group Invitations 

I recently invited a couple to our small group.  I was so excited. It feels like I’m blessing someone by inviting them to be apart of our special fellowship. It’s like a family to me. So when I invite someone, I don’t expect them to say ‘yes’, but I do hope they feel loved and honored. And in return, honor us back by prayerfully considering it and responding to us in a timely fashion. 

When a week goes by, and I still haven’t heard anything I start to wonder. Questions like,

“Do they have my contact information?”

“Was I clear in the way I invited them?”

“Did I l tell them what to do if they decide to join?”

Here are my four steps to follow up with people you’ve invited to small group and reduce the need to follow up with them. 

1 – Clear Call to Action

As a part of your invitation to someone, you should clearly articulate what the next actionable step is. This is your opportunity to tell them what they need to do.

Without a clear call to action you can be left wondering the same things I was like, ‘do they have my number?” This can add stress to you, extend the time you’re waiting for people, cause other people to wait for an invitation, and add stress to the people you’re trying to serve on by not equipping them with clear steps. 

“We’d really enjoy having you be a part of our small group this season. Pray about it, and let me know what you decide by the end of next week. Is that enough for you?

“As we’re trying to do the best we can planning small group this season, we’d like to know who all are committed this year. When do you think you could provide us with your decision by?”

2 – Ensure they have your contact information

Sometimes during the conversation of considering a commitment, the auxiliary details like contact information get overlooked. 

We are also doing ministry during a time of so many different types of communication like phone, text, email, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Voxer,… you could go on and on. 

What’s important is that you ask how they want to communicate with you and provide the right contact information. 

“It’s exciting to be able to invite you and think about the fellowship we can have together this season. How would you like to follow-up with me, I want to ensure you have the right details.”

3- Follow up with them twice

Let’s say you invite someone, give them a clear call to action, and verify contact information, and still, you don’t hear from them. Then what?

If it were up to me and my selfishness, oftentimes I”m tempted to block their number and force them to come begging. I’m just being transparent with you here, but for some reason, it’s easy for me to feel offended when people don’t respond. Knowing this about myself really helps me capture this thought, and get my attitude right so that I can do the most right thing. 

And that is follow-up with them. This should be done via phone or in person. I’m really not a fan of communicating via text over this as it can be a sensitive area and justifies more personal care and attention. It’s worth the time and effort of a phone call. 

My preference is to personally talk to them at church. I ask them how they’re doing and how their week has been. This gives them the opportunity o share if they’ve been busy or an emergency or other priorities have taken precedence over making a decision. 

I then ask them if they’d considered if they want to join our small group this season. Then I shut up and listen. 

If they haven’t made a decision yet,  I listen to them. Then I confirm that I want the best for them, whatever that is and support their decision whatever they decide. 

I’ll attempt to reach out to them and ask them two times. This is after the initial invitation. So I’ll invite them, follow up with them, and then follow up for a second time. 

4 – Put it on them

After all this, I”ll make it clear that we’re (the small group leaders) are going to move forward with planning for this season and if they decide they do want to join our group they will have to come to us. 

At this point, I assume they don’t want to join and they just don’t have the confidence, or courage (whatever it is) to let us know. Sometimes it’s the fear of letting some down, or the burden of saying ‘no’. Whatever the reason, I feel like me chasing them down is done. Time to move on. 

If they follow up later and tell me they’ve decided they want to be in our small group, I will assess the small group situation. If there is room then great! If we moved on and invited other people who did make a commitment and now we’re full, I will tell them that’.

“You know what, unfortunately, our small group is full now. After we didn’t receive a response from you we invited some other people who were able to make a commitment. Here is the contact for the small group coordinate to see what other small groups have availability.”

Conclusion

I know that might sound cold. But if you’ve ever been in the position of trying to lead a small group, you know the diligence, prayer, and work that is required. 

If someone isn’t willing to communicate and follow-up, it’s probably best to address this BEFORE small group starts, rather than dealing with it on-going throughout the small group season. 

Do you have a different process or advice? Do you think I’m off base here? I’d enjoy hearing your comments or thoughts below.