Trunk-or-Treat

We do this every year. We expect over a thousand folks this year to come. It's an incredible outreach opportunity.

Some ideas for ya:
-encourage some folks to have games at their trunks to play. Of course, make all the kids winners. You'll be amazed at the creativity shown.
-have the adults dress up too. It adds to the festivity.
-have you thought of bringing in someone to your church for the evening? Last year, we brought in a Christian comedian that came highly recommended. Keep in mind--this was an outreach event. We estimated that 30% of our crowd was unchurched that night. (!) You could do an outdoor concert by someone local (or some of your folks) followed by a (brief) word from your pastor. Our goal? To get folks comfortable with coming to see us again.
-Have donation boxes out for folks that might not be able to participate to donate candy. If your crowds are large, then running out of candy becomes a real possibility.
-I'm assuming your students are involved in this event heavily. If not, recruit and use them.
-Depending on the time of the event, consider having hot dogs or something for the folks to eat.
-make sure there is an clearly marked entrance to the event...that helps with crowd flow, registration (see below), and organization.
-have a registration table at the entrance to your "trunk or treat." Have each kid (parent) fill out a very brief info card. At the bottom, include three boxes, and ask them to check one: __I attend here, __I attend somewhere else, __I do not attend. Have three response cards ready to send out the next week. You'll thank your folks for coming, and other church's folks too, and then you'll really focus on your letter to the unchurched.

Hope this helps. It's a great event.