Winning Mother's Day and Father's Day Promotions

There are many ways that your school can honor mothers on Mother's Day and fathers on Father's Day and throughout the year. These traditional celebrations are great opportunities to teach respect and courtesy, two qualities synonymous with the martial arts and ones parents will appreciate. Whether you choose a special promotion just for your students' moms and dads or moms and dads in your community, you can easily implement the following ideas in your school. 

For Mother's Day

Give Flowers
Give you students' mothers a rose, carnation, or other flower the week prior to Mother's Day. Distribute the flowers to your students at the end of class, so they can personally give them to their mothers. For those children that may not have mothers at home, ask them to give the flower to any special mom in their life, such as a teacher, grandmother, aunt or sister.

Random Acts of Kindness for Mom
Ask your students to make a list of the top five random acts that they think their mothers would appreciate the most. Request that they perform their acts on Mother's Day and advise them to keep in mind that these acts are in addition to their regular home responsibilities. Mom will really appreciate the extra "TLC."

Mother's Day Essay Contest
Start this promotion with each student writing a short essay titled, "Why My Mother is Special." The mother of each student who writes the essay is entered in a contest drawing sponsored by the school. Make sure you obtain the name of the student, his mother's name, and a mailing address.

Each week throughout May, draw several winners and award each mother a prize. Prizes can be related to martial arts, but should also include items such as gift certificates for one-hour massages, dinner, movies and spa treatments. At the end of the month, mail each student's essay to his mother and include a gift certificate or letter that is redeemable for a free month of training. 

Free Gift Postcard
Create a "free gift" promotional postcard with a Mother's Day theme. If you're a NAPMA member, then you can easily customize one of the postcards in every NAPMA package. Be sure to include your school's contact information. You can mail the card or distribute it at events and locations throughout your community.

Don't describe the free gift on the card, but create a list of potential free gifts, depending on the responses of the prospects. The free gift could be martial arts lessons, a self-defense seminar or a month of fitness kickboxing. You could even allow prospects to choose a free gift from a list of gifts.

When the recipients of your postcard call for more information, you'll have the opportunity to speak with them, learn about them and their interests and explain the benefits of your programs. If they decide that they aren't interested, then invite them to give the free gift card to another family member or friend. 

For Father's Day

Educate Your Students on the History of Father's Day
Two weeks prior to Father's Day, educate your students on how it came to be a traditional celebration. You can easily find a brief explanation on the Internet.

Dad's Job Jar
Instruct your students to ask their dads to name three chores that they would like done for them in honor of Father's Day. Students write those chores or jobs on paper, fold them and put them in a jar. Each student selects one of the jobs from the jar and performs it. This activity helps enhance students' writing skills and improves communications between parents and children.

Father's Day Gift Certificate
Create a Father's Day Gift Certificate (or use the Father's Day Guest Pass in the June NAPMA Professional Package, if you're a member. Distribute the passes to your students as a great, no-cost gift for dad. You can also distribute the passes throughout your community, to targeted prospects and mailing lists. Fathers benefit from free martial arts training and you benefit from increased enrollments. Print and distribute the guest certificate several weeks before Father's Day. Announce the promotion during class and tell students when they can expect to receive their certificates.

Use your Father's Day Gift Certificate in partnership with local businesses and groups. Provide them with plenty of certificates to distribute as a courtesy or bonus for their customers. Customize these certificates with "Courtesy of" and the businesses' names. The certificate will appear to be coming from the businesses instead of you. The more certificates you distribute, the more new students you can enroll, so go for it.