As I’ve mentioned prior, an amazing retreat doesn’t just happen; it’s well planned ahead of time. That’s why every Forum should have a dedicated person in charge of retreat planning. This person is in charge of coordinating the Forum’s yearly Full Retreat. This doesn’t mean they do all the work but rather coordinate the overall process with everyone else.
To help with the facilitation of planning a retreat, I’ve converted a google spreadsheet that my group has used into a template to help Forums plan, allocate responsibility, and properly budget for their retreat.
Retreat Planning Template (GOOGLE SPREADSHEET)
Notice that every item for the retreat has someone assigned to it, an estimated cost to do it, and which of the six elements of a successful retreat it covers.
Make sure that you fill out each of these sections for every item of the retreat. Then once you are done filling everything out, take a moment to answer these questions:
- Is the division of responsibility fair and not too heavily put on one/two people?
- Are we able to actually do everything on the list, or are we trying to fit too much into our retreat?
- Did we give enough time to travel to and from places?
- Did we cover all six of the elements of an amazing retreat? (https://bit.ly/3Lmkrml)
- Are we staying within budget? (https://bit.ly/3KmatzQ)
Here’s to helping you have an amazing retreat with your Forum!