Asking for Feedback in Your KidMin (Because Guessing What’s Working Isn’t a Strategy)

We spend a lot of time wondering why things aren’t working… Why the volunteer stopped serving. Why that event fell flat. Why a parent seemed frustrated but never said anything.

Most of the time, the answer is sitting right there waiting for us. We just haven’t asked for it.

Feedback is how we actually see our ministries clearly, and asking for it well is a skill worth building, so here are some tips for gathering feedback well and intentionally in your children’s ministry:

1. Start with yourself. Before you ask anyone else, do your own honest debrief. If you’ve already named what could’ve gone better, it doesn’t sting as much when someone else brings it up. 
2. Build a culture where feedback is normal. Ask your key volunteers and parents consistently, not just after something goes wrong. A volunteer feedback system or a parent council that meets a couple times a year makes this so much easier. When people know you’re genuinely open to hearing them, they’re more likely to come to you with concerns instead of talking to each other about them. (Trust me, that’s the better outcome for everyone.)
3. Be intentional in the everyday moments. You don’t have to wait for a formal survey. Ask the parent in the hallway how their kids are feeling about church lately. Ask the volunteer over coffee what one thing would help them lead better. Ask a kid what their favorite part of the morning was. Small questions in small moments tell you a lot.
4. Plan for feedback before the event, not after. Post-event exhaustion is real, and if you don’t have a plan going in, feedback collection just doesn’t happen. A debrief lunch with your leadership team after a big event works great, they feel valued with a free meal, and you get exactly what you need.
5. Be specific with who you ask. A mass email survey gets mass-email-survey results. Ask specific people. Volunteers and families have different experiences, so your questions should reflect that. And when people know you chose them specifically, they take it more seriously.
6. Know what you’re going to do with the answers. When a kid can’t tell you what they learned, that’s not just about the kid. It’s feedback on your curriculum and teaching. When a volunteer felt underprepared, that’s feedback on your communication. The questions are just the starting point. What you do next is what actually changes things. So block out time to look at the feedback and make a plan for implementing any changes the feedback might bring up. 

Want a list of my favorite feedback questions to get you started? Grab them here.