KidCheck Secure Children's Check-in Shares 5 Children’s Ministry Metrics to Track

You didn’t get into children’s ministry to become a data analyst. You got into it because you love working with kids and are passionate about helping them grow their faith.

But here’s the truth: numbers tell a story. If you’re not paying attention to that story, you’re missing out on critical insights which could help transform your ministry.

 

For example, your check-in system isn’t just about creating convenience for families or a tool to improve child safety. It’s a treasure trove of vital information about ministry health, family engagement, volunteer needs, and growth opportunities. Every time a child is checked in, a family is sharing data that when evaluated, reveals important patterns.

Why Metrics Matter

Before we dive into the specific metrics, let’s address the elephant in the room: some ministry leaders might be uneasy with the idea of measuring ministry success through numbers. Why? Because it can feel cold, corporate, or like the sacredness of ministry is being reduced to statistics.

However, metrics aren’t about reducing children to data points. They are about stewardship and the wise management of resources, time, and opportunities. The key is tracking the right metrics.

When you track the right metrics, you can:

  • Make informed decisions without guessing
  • Quickly identify problems
  • Increase clarity
  • Better allocate resources
  • Proactively focus on families
  • Easily communicate ministry impact to leadership

Metrics should be actionable, revealing, and easy to track.

5 Metrics Worth Tracking

1. First-Time Guest Retention Rate

This is the percentage of first-time guest families who return for a second visit within four weeks.

Why It Matters: Getting families through the door can be challenging. Getting them to come back, that’s where the real work begins. Your first-time guest retention rate is a critical indicator of ministry health.

A low retention rate means you have a front-door problem. Something about the first experience, whether it’s the check-in process, the classroom environment, volunteer interaction, or the overall vibe, didn’t compel families to return.

A high retention rate means you’ve nailed the first impression and created an environment where families feel welcomed, their children feel safe, and parents sense this is a place their child will thrive.

How to Track It: An electronic check-in system is invaluable here. Your system should flag first-time guests and then track whether they return within 1-4 weeks. To calculate your monthly retention rate, do this:

First-Time Guest Retention Rate = (number of first-time guests (children or families) who returned within 4 weeks / Total number of first-time guests) x 100.

Indicators:

According to pastormentor.com.

  • Below 30%: A solid indicator that something needs attention with the first-time experience.
  • 30-50%: Conveys there is room for improvement. Examine your check-in process, volunteer training, and follow-up process.
  • 50-70%: Solid. Your first impression is working, but you can always keep improving.
  • Above 70%: Excellent. You are creating a memorable and inviting first-time experience.

2. Weekly Attendance Trends by Age Group

This is the average number of children attending each week, broken down by specific age groups (infants, toddlers, preschool, elementary, and middle school, or however you designate).

Why It Matters: Overall attendance can illuminate opportunities within specific age groups or uncover significant problems. It may appear your ministry is growing because total numbers are up, but if you look at the breakdown by age, you may discover your elementary attendance is declining while preschool numbers are quickly growing.

Understanding the breakdown helps with staffing needs as they differ by age group, with infants requiring greater adult-to-child ratios than elementary kids. It also helps address space and resource allocation. If your preschool is at capacity while your elementary space sits half-empty, you can rework your facility plan. It is also a good indicator of demographic shifts in your church or community, giving visibility to age groups that are increasing or shrinking, which helps to anticipate future needs.

How to Track It: Your check-in process should automatically categorize children by age group and generate weekly reports showing attendance by age. You can track these numbers weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Metrics to review:

  • Weekly attendance by age group
  • Week over week comparison
  • Comparison to the same week last year
  • 12-week (quarterly) trends for each age group
  • The percentage of total attendance each age group represents

Keep in mind you’re not looking for one “right” number. But for steady growth across age groups, unexplained drops for specific ages, and to ensure adequate capacity.

Indicators:

If one age group’s numbers are dropping while other groups remain stable, investigate the overall program, including key leader turnover, the curriculum, and volunteer consistency and quality.

If preschool numbers are surging, you need to plan ahead because this age group will promote into elementary in 2-3 years. This is a growth indicator to prepare space, curriculum, and volunteers for future needs.

If you see declining numbers among, for example, younger ages (infants/toddlers) but growth in older ages, your demographics are shifting. This will have implications for your entire ministry.

3. Attendance Rate by Family

How often individual families attend over a given period, categorized as weekly (4+ times per month), regular (2-3 times per month), or occasional (1 time per month or less).

Why It Matters: This metric helps you identify at-risk families early. For example, families that regularly attend and then become occasional indicate that something has changed. It also helps with communication planning as regular attendees need different communication than occasional attendees. Additionally, it helps you plan for volunteer needs. If you have mostly weekly attenders, there are fewer adjustments to your facility plan, but a greater need for consistent volunteer teams.

How to Track It: Generate monthly reports that include the number and percentage of families in each category (weekly, regular, or occasional). Make sure to identify families with transfers between categories or who haven’t attended in 4+ weeks.

Be on the lookout for declining engagement. This can be a growing number of occasional attenders relative to weekly, families moving from weekly to occasional attendance, or a high percentage of families who haven’t attended in 30+ days.

Indicators:

The numbers will vary by church, but according to Barna Research, the key is to monitor trends rather than hit a specific number. A healthy church typically sees:

  • 30-40% weekly attendees (4+ times per month)
  • 40-50% regular attendees (2-3 times per month)
  • 10-30% occasional attendees (>1 times per month)

4. Volunteer Engagement and Turnover

This speaks to how often volunteers serve, how long they remain in service, and your volunteer-to-child ratios over time.

Why It Matters: Volunteers are the lifeblood of your children’s ministry. You can have the greatest curriculum, a world-class facility, and a packed program schedule, but nothing is possible without committed, consistent, and safe volunteers.

How to Track It: To track volunteer engagement and turnover, you can use your check-in system and/or volunteer scheduling tool. Look at how often each volunteer serves per month, how long volunteers remain active, attendance consistency, and volunteer-to-child ratio by location. According to Barna Research, a committed volunteer pool will have an average service frequency of 2-3 times per month per volunteer, a tenure of 2+ years, an annual turnover of less than 10%, consistent ratios, and a no-show rate below 5%.

Indicators:

These metrics help you:

Watch for people volunteering every week (which could lead to burnout), high turnover (might indicate an onboarding issue), understaffing in certain age groups, an increasing reliance on a shrinking “core volunteers” group, and an increasing no-show rate.

5. Special Needs and Allergy Tracking

This is the number and percentage of children with documented special needs, medical conditions, allergies, or other accommodations, along with details of how you’re serving these families.

Why it Matters: Ministries that track and respond to special needs demonstrate a commitment to welcoming all families. This metric is critically important.

Safety is paramount, and severe allergies, medical conditions, and special needs require specific protocols, awareness, and incident response. You can’t staff appropriately or train volunteers adequately if you don’t know how many children need additional support. Having proper documentation of the needs and associated parent instructions protects your church or if an issue arises. Families navigating these challenges can often feel isolated and will benefit from connection and support.

How to Track It: Information should be easily accessible to volunteers during check-in, and clear visible alerts should be where volunteers can easily spot them, such as the child’s name tag.

Reports should indicate the total number and percentage of children with documented needs, broken down by type of need, classroom locations, or age groups with the highest concentration of need, as well as show trends over time.

Indicators:

To track, your check-in system should capture and flag:

  • Allergies (food, environmental, insect (bee sting), and medication
  • Medical conditions (asthma, diabetes, seizure disorders, etc.)
  • Special needs (autism spectrum, ADHD, sensory processing, developmental delays, physical disabilities)
  • Dietary restrictions
  • Specific accommodations requested by parents

This information can be used to improve safety protocols, strategic volunteer placement, proactive communication, and specialized programming.

Bringing It All Together

With a quality electronic check-in system like KidCheck, most of the data around these five metrics is already captured and reported for you. Meaning you’re not adding more items to your to-do list but utilizing information you already have access to.

Click here to learn more about the benefits of secure children’s and youth check-in, mobile Express Check-In, volunteer scheduling, and our live, real-person support, available six days a week, including Sunday morning.

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Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash

Sources:

barna/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/

pastormentor.com/healthy-church-18-numbers-will-tell

nickblevins.com/blog/2020/09/09/church-retention-whats-a-healthy-retention-percentage