Scheduling and Coordinating Field Trips

Scheduling and coordinating field trips isn't rocket science, but there is a small learning curve as you figure out what you need to do to stay organized, keep track of RSVPs, handle money, and deal with no-shows.

As the primary scheduler and coordinator for the field trip group Just Field Trips, I choose field trips that I want to do with my kids.  I don't waste my time scheduling anything I don't want to do myself.  I choose dates and times that are convenient for me.  I think about the location and the weather when I choose when to schedule them.

Once the details are confirmed, I post an event on Just Field Trips' group site and open it up for RSVPs.  After one free field trip where NO ONE who said they were coming showed up, I decided to implement a field trip deposit.  Everyone who wants to go sends me a refundable check for $5, and that secures their spot.  The $5 is refundable as long as they either show up or cancel within the time frame that I give.  Some free field trips require the location to secure volunteers, and when that is the case, I make checks non-refundable on the same date that I must give final numbers to the location.  Some coordinators accept payments via PayPal.  I stopped doing that when PayPal implemented fees.  Now I only accept checks and cash (sent at the members' own risk).  

A lot of places ask (or require) that one person collect the money from everyone and make one lump sum payment.  I have started doing that for all of them.  Having the money counted and ready ahead of time in an envelope with the number of student and the number of adult attendees written on it makes it so much easier (I learned that the hard way on one field trip!).  There are often deals where a school (or homeschool group) will get one free adult admission per every 5-10 student admissions.  I use the free admissions for my family (that is the only sort of compensation for all of the hours I sink into field trip scheduling and coordinating that I ever take) and then I make a donation to the location with the rest.  It is much easier than trying to figure out who gets the free adult admissions.

I always ask members to note how many adults, how many children and the ages of the children attending in the comments section below the event details.  I keep the comments section clear of clutter.  That means I delete comments expressing regrets that one cannot attend.  I keep questions, if they are likely to be repeated.  As I receive payment from members, I add a comment under their family's RSVP numbers indicating that I have their payment.  That has been a huge help in streamlining things.  I keep the payments in a tickler file, where I can easily access them when I need them.

I try to be as clear as I can when I write out the event details.  People need to know dates, times, locations, cost, any age restrictions, cancellation and refund policies, payment deadlines, and behavioral expectations.  I rarely make any exceptions to my payment deadlines or my cancellation and refund policies.  Making exceptions just makes it harder to keep it simple.  As deadlines approach, I will generally send out a reminder that the payment is due soon.  That helps attendance.  Once deadlines pass, I edit the event title to include "is closed!" so that people know that the field trip is not accepting any more RSVPs.

The behavioral expectations I have of members of Just Field Trips are pretty simple.  At no time should a staff member of a location we are visiting ever have to intervene with one of our children; that is the parents' job.  I expect parents to be diligent and remove any disruptive children immediately.  We have received compliments on the behavior of our children at many of the field trips we have done, and I want to see to it that we continue to do so.  How our group behaves reflects on the homeschooling community at large because we are homeschoolers, Just Field Trips in particular because that is our group and we are right there, and me specifically because I am the primary point-of-contact and will continue to be so for the foreseeable years to come.

I try (and with a 2-year-old in tow, rarely succeed) to arrive at the location before anyone else.  The only person I will have the location wait for is me!  Other than that, I encourage the staff at the location to start us off on time.  Latecomers will get left behind and either miss it all together, or will miss parts.  As I do more and more field trips, the number of people attending each one that I haven't met before drops.  Even though I have almost 250 members on my Just Field Trips, there are really only about 30 families who go to most of the field trips.  I do, however, have the names of the attendees with me so that I can check them off as they arrive.  I return deposits for free field trips then as well.

If at all possible, I have my older two children make thank-you cards the night before for the people leading our tours.  I bring along a clipboard and a pan, and I pass the cards around during the field trip.  Once everyone has signed, I hold onto them until the end, at which point, my children present the staff with the cards.