if:local planning checklist
!
!
week 1
pray
• Ask God what He wants to accomplish for His glory and the good of others through
signing up to host this 2-day gathering. Seek His will and beg Him to use you.
you
!
• Make a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses. What will you need a team
to help you with day of.
‣ Do you enjoy being in front of people– maybe you want to help usher and
direct the flow of events. Are you a details person– you may want to
handle the behind the scenes things minor details needed. Most likely, you
will need help in one area or another. Be honest with yourself in thinking
through what you feel you are capable of and start delegating!
‣ If you are planning a larger gathering, it may be wise to gather a few
other women to help you plan. It may be beneficial to designate people to
oversee teams: donations/partnerships, communication, schedule, etc. !
!
!
!
registration
• Register your IF:Local Gathering at www.ifgathering.com
‣ not sure how it works? watch this video.
‣ why use our system? watch this video.
• We are dependent on your generosity and the generosity of all of your IF:Local
participants to turn the lights on in February. As the host organizer, we need your help
in this! If each IF:Local has an average donation of $25 for each of their attendees,
then we will be able to cover our bills. When setting up your registration page, will you
consider challenging the women to give $25 or more to our vision to gather, equip, &
unleash women?
funding
• Determine the scope of your IF:Local Gathering.
‣ who is God calling you to invite? number of people?
‣ is this a retreat for your small group? church? multi-church gathering?
!
• Create a checklist for what you need to create a safe space for people to experience God in
authentic ways.
‣ here are the essentials that we will provide that you will simply need to print:
‣ livestream - this includes: teaching, storytelling, prayer, worship, and time
for conversation, reflection, & application
‣ conversation cards
‣ program for the weekend
‣ opportunity for women to partner with an organization to meet the needs of
others for the glory of God
!
‣ here are the essentials that you will need to have or provide:
‣ strong internet connection to ensure the lifestream works properly
‣ food and beverages
‣ safe, comfortable environment that for 2-days will foster conversation and
!
allow women to worship God
‣ here are the optional things that you can consider providing should you have the
!
!
!
funding to do so:
‣ live worship - this year we will provide times and set lists so that you can do
your own worship live
‣ Elements of the IF:Austin experience. Shop our limited store, tentatively
launching December 1, full store launch 1 week before the gathering. More
information coming soon.
‣ Everything else above and beyond that creates a certain environment or
experience… Remember, keep it simple! Do not spend much of your time and
resources here.
communications
• Watch the IF:Gathering vision video and read this informational packet so that you
feel equipped to talk about IF:Gathering.
• For those called to plan larger gatherings, reach out to the following stakeholders.
IF:Local leaders in your area:
‣ IF:Local leaders
‣ Your friends that share the same heartbeat as IF:Gathering, and you
believe they could be IF:Local leaders
‣ Church leaders (women’s ministry directors & pastors)
Why?
!
!
!
!
1. People will want to help, so think through duties you can give them. Baking 2
dozen cookies, bringing 100 water bottles, asking a local restaurant to
sponsor a meal, connecting with pastors to work with a church – there will be
people who want to take these details off of your plate to help.
2. This will give you the opportunity to diversify your gathering and work to
promote unity.
Download a packet that shares the vision of IF:Gathering.
• Request your IF:Local graphic.
production
!
• If you are not comfortable with technology, find a person that can help you or find a
venue that has a tech person on staff.
Have questions? Join the IF:Local Facebook group.
!
!
week 2
pray
!
• Ask God to provide clarity on who to share your IF:Local with and for Him to provide
all of the resources you need to host your IF:Local gathering.
registration
• Pick a venue.
‣ This may be as simple as your home or it could be choosing a location
large enough to hold the amount of people you hope to gather. If you
are worried about the cost of a venue, meeting in homes is a quick
way to cut down on costs. Think about a few things in choosing a
location:
‣ Capacity and seating
‣ Capabilities to stream a live event
‣ Atmosphere- Pick a location that does not need a lot of décor.
Remember: keep it simple!
!
!
• As you solidify information about your IF:Local gathering, make sure that you update
the registration page to include that information. Try to have as much information as
possible set before you “open” registration.
• Anticipate having a few women register at the door the day of the event.
funding
!
• Make a list of people, churches, and non-profit organizations that may have resources
or connections to the things you need to provide to have a great experience.
‣ People will want to help, so think through duties you can give them. Baking 2
dozen cookies, bringing 100 water bottles, asking a local restaurant to sponsor a
meal, connecting with pastors to work with a church – there will be people who
want to take these details off of your plate to help.
communications
• Establish channels to promote your gathering and communicate with your registrants.
‣ We recommend the following free methods of communication:
‣ Create a unique Facebook Group: We recommend these over
pages. If you have already created a page that works too.
Leverage
your leadership team’s, church’s, and other already
‣
established audiences.
Make
sure there is a link to your Facebook group on your
‣
registration page.
‣ Paperless Post is a great way to invite a large list of women to
your gathering.
!!
production
• Ensure your venue has the necessary production capabilities.
‣ What you'll need: Computer with a good internet connection. We recommend
viewing Livestream from a wired connection with a download bandwidth of
at least 700Kbps. That’s it!
!
For your technical questions, we recommend referring to livestream.com’s
Support Center.
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Have questions? Join the IF:Local Facebook group.
week 3
pray
!
• Pray and ask God that women at your church, in your neighborhoods, and all across
your cities increase in their hunger to know God- to give Him away- to not waste their
lives.
registration
!
• We recommend a coordinated and scheduled launch of your registration page. We see
the greatest results when we spread the word across multiple channels at the same
time.
• More of this is discussed in the communications checklist.
funding
!
!
!
!
• During this week, we recommend that you launch registration and begin to have
conversations about your needs. Once you have a better idea of how many people will
attend your gathering, then we hope your conversations become very productive.
‣ One idea: We recommend posting your list of needs to your registration page and
ask women to help provide them.
communications
• Spread the word about your IF:Local! Here are the recommended channels:
‣ Facebook
‣ Twitter
‣ Instagram
‣ Email
‣ Paperless post, Evite, or another digital invitation service
‣ Church bulletins
‣ Local Bible studies or community groups
• Here are the marketing things we recommend that you use to share the vision of
IF:Gathering:
‣ Vision video
‣ IF:Local graphic
‣ Information packet that explains about IF:Gathering
‣ Other resources found at www.ifgathering.com/local
‣ IF:Gathering social media
‣ Like us
‣ Follow us
production
!
• If you have the right person and technology in place, then you do not need to worry
about anything production related!
Have questions? Join the IF:Local Facebook group.
week 4
!
pray
!
• Pray for God to open your eyes to unity through your IF:Local. Our hope is that
gatherings cross generations, races, socio economics, and denominations. As the host,
how can you facilitate this? Ask the Spirit to show this to you.
registration
!
• Continued promotion of gathering
• Reminder: We are dependent on your generosity and the generosity of all of your
IF:Local participants to turn the lights on in February. As the host organizer, we need
your help in this! If each IF:Local has an average donation of $25 for each of their
attendees, then we will be able to cover our bills. When setting up your registration
page, will you consider challenging the women to give $25 or more to our vision to
gather, equip, & unleash women?
funding
!
!
!
• Assess your needs as your gathering begins to come together.
• As God provides for your IF:Local gathering, remember to keep things simple and
pure.
communications
• Continue to spread the word about your gathering, and recruit registrants to fill
needed roles.
production
• This year we will provide more detailed information about the schedule, so that you
can have the option of having live worship. We will give you the times where we will be
worshiping in Austin, based on that info, you can get one person or band to lead your
IF:Local group in worship. Have conversations now so that worship leaders and bands
are able to block off February 6-7. !
!
Have questions? Join the IF:Local Facebook group.
COMING Post Thanksgiving IF:Local Experience Checklist
!
Food
Environment
Attendee Experience
Communications
Production