Mailings to students are an important piece of the communication process in youth ministry. It’s the one form of communication that everyone still has in common. One of the questions that comes up from time to time with people I work with is whether or not every kid should get an individually addressed (and stamped … the question boils down to $$$), or if siblings can receive one copy addressed to all of them together.

In my opinion, the answer has always been an easy one – every kid gets their own letter or postcard in the mail. Here’s why:

• If it’s addressed to multiple siblings, whoever gets it first is the one communicated to. There is a strong chance none of the other siblings will ever even see it.
• Kid’s don’t get mail. As adults slammed with junk mail, it’s easy to forget that as an adolescent getting anything in the mail is a rare and fun thing.
• It communicates, subtly, that each individual sibling is equally valued and wanted. That’s worth the price of a stamp any day!

At this point, physically mailings for us are happening a little less often as we use other digital means for communication more and more, but they’re still critical and we see a difference in attendance for special events based on whether or not we send out a reminder postcard.