New Student Outreach
Plan Calibrator

3 Strategic Opportunities

Plan for reasonable,

pray for revival

Tom shares why NSO matters.

Set NSO Goals

Ask Jesus to give you wisdom and joy as you explore options for your ministry. Don’t try to do this perfectly.

CHAPTER SIZE

Dreams → GOALS

new → contacts and follow-ups

Calculate returning # by subtracting last year’s seniors and other anticipated attrition from your AFR total.

FAITH DECISIONS

new → call to Faith at FallCon & during SG/LG

At Fall Conference we hope that 50% of the non-Christians attending will make a faith decision. Plan for the rest of the recommended invitations in your LGs, SGs, and 1-on-1s.

Brainstorm the Plan

Freshman Journey Map

Students are on a journey to find their community in college. There are three important points when we can meet them and welcome them into our fellowships:

1

Summer Outreach

Before students even step foot on campus, engaging online during the summer is a great opportunity to connect with them!

Prepare Spiritually

  • 1. How will you and returning students prepare spiritually for NSO?
  • 2. How will you lay a foundation of prayer for the incoming new students?

Include who is participating, prayer strategies, and when.

Instagram Outreach

Students browse Instagram to see club opportunities and create a priority list they want to check out. How can you be present digitally to meet these students? Check out this recording of Instagram Outreach training and scripts to DM students.

We’ve found that chapters who run a 15-20 hour sprint during one week of the summer (following and messaging new students) see some of them become in-person members in our chapters. A link to “Welcoming New Students on Instagram will be emailed to you after you submit your plan.”

2

Great NSO

Students have been anticipating stepping foot on campus since their acceptance in the spring. Now they’re here. It just got real. Students need a friend to help them navigate this huge transition. We can be their friends and invite them to follow Jesus with us in community. Consider using the Reaching Out to New Students Ministry Playbook course to help students and volunteers get vision and skills for New Student Outreach.

Plan your calendar

How will you meet people? Will you table, proxe, pickleball, or some other fun event?

Your goal is to meet [xx] students. Remember to make events hospitable to Christians and non-Christians. Check out “ 10 Ways to Make Your Ministry Fun ” for ideas.

Follow-up

Follow-up is the most important step- the moment when strangers become friends. How can you make follow-up a great experience for you, your students, and the new students? Checkout the Ministry Playbook Following-up Course.

To hit your growth goal, you will need to follow-up with xx students. Good follow-up is first building a relationship with each new contact, then inviting them to an InterVarsity event. Students who are joining the NSO effort can reasonably follow-up with 10-15 contacts.

Welcome into the Community

How will you foster friendships between new people who are checking out your fellowship?

Invitations to Faith

You can use the “On Mission as a Small Group” course to train small group leaders in making invitations to faith.

You are praying for [xx] decisions in your chapter. Over half of all new faith decisions happen in the first semester, and most of those come from the first weeks of school and fall conference.

3

Fall Conference

Fall Conference is often the place where new students decide that InterVarsity will become their home community. We include Fall Conference as a crucial part of NSO because our goal is not just meeting new students, but forming deep community with them. 

Cast Vision

In your own words, why is Fall Conference potentially life-changing for everyone? How will you motivate your leaders and core students to want to sign up early? What stories can you tell to help new students get excited? 

Casting vision for Fall Conference will help interpret why it is more than just another InterVarsity event.

Overcome Barriers

What are the barriers that might keep students from wanting to come to fall conference? How can you address those?

The three common barriers for students include: too busy, conflict with work or other events, and not sure what to expect.

Save Your Plan

When you save your plan, you will receive a downloadable document as well as a list of linked resources for further ideas and training. The plan will be emailed as a Word file and with a link to come back and edit to you and to your supervisor if you provide their email.

FEEDBACK ON THIS NSO CALIBRATOR

Save & Send My Plan