An annual tradition on the blog – a ton of stuff you can use on campus these first few weeks. Hopefully it saves you some time or gives you ideas.
Cool Music
Here’s an all-new 2015 Spotify playlist that we use at all of our freshmen cookouts and our weekly meeting.
It’s a mix of Indie Rock, Pop/Dance, and Christian Hip Hop.
We pay $10 for the month of August to get Spotify Premium so you don’t have annoying commercials.
As I’ve said before:
While cool, upbeat music may be #27 on the list of important things about a Cru meeting, it’s important nonetheless.
What’s the first thing students encounter when they come to your meeting? Your music that you’re playing before the meeting.
And what happens when they hear Newsboys or Rebecca St. James pumping out of your speakers? You immediately confirm their worst suspicions that you are cheezy and out of touch with their reality.
As much as I am not a big fan of hip hop nor dance music, at our weekly meeting we include quite a bit of hip hop/dance. I run the music at our regional winter conference and can conclusively say that hip hop & dance makes a marked difference on the “vibe” of the crowd. It makes your meeting a party. Literally. People dance. Especially if you add beach balls and glow necklaces (we have our first 2 weekly meetings outside – beach balls may be a little less fun indoors).
Here’s a bonus playlist – Cru Hangouts -Â upbeat indie music to put on at more chill events (Leadership meeting, Leadership Retreat etc).
Cru Intro Video
Here’s a video we show at the beginning of our meeting the first few weeks. It serves two purposes:
- It functions as a cue to sit down and be quiet (there is intentionally space at the beginning to give everyone a chance to sit down, and music at the end to give MC’s time to walk up).
- It communicates a little about who we are and what we’re about
Spiritual Interest Survey
We’ve put a lot of effort into streamlining our Spiritual Interest Survey card. We do it with 3000 freshmen/students the first week of class – so we want it to be quick and effective.  Click for an adapted version we use at a Community College - pdf or Photoshop. And here’s one we use with athletes for AIA - pdf or Photoshop.
And this is NC State Cru’s sharp looking survey card (click to download – unfortunately it’s in Apple Pages – so Mac’s only):
Cru Card
Our Cru Card that we use for our weekly meeting is similar but a bit different from the survey. You can download the editable PDF (open in Photoshop – it’s set up 4/page and it uses “smart objects” so if you edit one flier it changes all 4 fliers) file here.
Simple Cru Flier
Nothing special. But I always think it’s fun to see what other campuses do for promo. Here’s the editable PDF for the first (open in Photoshop – it’s set up 4/page and it uses “smart objects” so if you edit one flier it changes all 4 fliers). And the Photoshop file for the color version.
We used to do them in color but have found that b/w is just as sharp looking IF:
- You print them on card stock
- Have them “cut to bleed” (so that there is no white border)
First Week Events Flier
A few ideas from across the U.S.:
Florida Cru:
Christian Challenge – Chico State – Paul Worcester:
Fall Retreat Brochures
Here’s our 2015 brochure (designed by Cru’s amazing Libby Slaughter!).
Here’s our 2014 brochure and a post with 4 different (older) Fall Retreat Brochure designs we’ve used. Photoshop file
Campus Brochures
A leaving piece that explains everything we do offer in Cru. See here for more details and to download.
First 4 Weeks Calendar
Always fun to see how other ministries operate. So here’s an overview of what our First 4 Weeks calendar looks like. Here’s a template you can use.