Hero Theme Makes for Super Summer Sunday School - From "Success Stories"
By Jen Zorger
May 2009

Starting a Sunday school around July 4th can be a tricky endeavor, since many families vacation at that time or are busy attending celebrations. That’s why North Point Community Church, a non-denominational megachurch, consulted Sonya Beam of The P.O.P. Shop (division of Geiger, asi/202900) to come up with a way to make their school stand out.

Beam helped the church put together a program that tied biblical themes to 10 “superheroes.” The materials they came up with included name tags and standing superhero characters up to nine feet tall. After each week’s activities, the kids would receive a trading card for one of the heroes. Every other week, they would also get a temporary tattoo. (The tattoos were donated by The P.O.P. Shop.)

During a “Jump Start” program held the weekend of July 4th, the church sent out postcards that emphasized the superhero theme. Due to the holiday, they expected only a couple walk-in students on top of those already registered, but this time, 23 new kids showed up.

“It went over so well with their kids in kindergarten through 4th grade that they decided to package it as a resource for other churches,” Beam says. “The church was generous enough to include our company name as a resource for the supporting printed materials and giveaways.”

BIZ TIP: Build Sales by Selling Programs

Whenever possible, Sonya Beam of The P.O.P. Shop looks for ways to build a program around an order – even when the client isn’t likely to buy additional products. Besides this helping her better understand and meet the client’s goal, taking a closer look at the organization offers several paths to selling more:

• Build on the sale by adding products onto the order.
• Sell additional quantities to the parent company or other branches.
• Build connections with related organizations (other churches, parks, sports clubs, etc.).