An incentive, for purposes of this Tip Sheet, means a reward available for participating in a marriage education program. An incentive may have direct value, like a restaurant gift card, or may have an indirect value, like a certificate of completion for a free/reduced marriage license. Incentives can be for each couple, participant or just one lucky person. Depending on your needs and the resources available to your program, you may choose to offer incentives as a one-time drawing to reward program completion, something for every participant at the beginning of the program or something at certain points along the way.

Offering free marriage education programs is not always an incentive for participants. As a practitioner, you may be well aware of all the benefits and logical reasons why couples should attend your workshop but it can be hard to explain that to couples. Strong recruitment materials show what the couples will learn from the program. Benefits may include: time together with your spouse, ways to solve problems as a team or the chance to meet other couples. Practitioners have found that incentives given throughout the program can get more people in the door or help them to finish the program. They cannot (and should not) be used to make up for program quality.

Think about the following practical tips to get couples to attend for the first time and complete the program. (Author abstract)