The Follow-up Committee would do its work a couple of weeks after the event. They would try to contact anyone who made a commitment during the event to see how that commitment is going, offer encouragement, and see if they need any additional resources. In order to do its work the planning staff will need to collect contact information from all people who make a commitment during the event and provide that information to the follow-up committee. The Follow-up Committee should decide what methods of contact they are willing to use and communicate this decision to the Event Planning Staff or Program Committee so the proper information may be collected. If you are willing to use text messaging as well as phone calls then offering “Text me” or “Call me” check boxes on the form could be helpful. This committee should meet at least once prior to the event to plan their strategy, perhaps write a script for the initial phone call or text message contact and to write a contact letter for those cases where someone who made a commitment provided a mailing address or email address but no phone number. Follow-up contact could easily turn into a counseling session so Follow-up Committee members should be prepared for that possibility. It can be helpful if committee members have some training or experience in counseling but not absolutely necessary. Above all, a good counselor is a good listener. Counselors should avoid giving advice, trying to solve the counselee’s problem for them, or choosing a course of action for them. Counselors can feel free to ask questions to be sure they fully understand what the counselee is trying to say, share their own experiences or the experiences of others when they apply to the situation, and to offer any resources that may help the counselee. The goal of the counseling session is to help the counselee get the information and resources they need to make their own decision on a solution or course of action.
