You have paid a lot to come to PTP. We know PTP can be expensive for many families. We want you to understand where your registration money goes. Our hope is to give a little insight as to why the tuition fee is what it is.
We are not in it for the money; we just want as many people to have access to PTP as possible. We do all we can to help those who need to be renewed, refreshed, and recharged to be able to come.
No church or individual is profiting from PTP. In fact, many are sacrificing to make it happen.
Almost all the money used to put on PTP comes from these fees. This differs from other large-scale events that depend on various forms of revenue. Examples of revenue that PTP opts out of:
To cut costs, we do little promotional marketing of the event; we do not pay performers or entertainers, and we do not build complex and expensive stages (sometimes our A/V partner has staging they allow us to use at no additional charge)—all significant costs incurred by other events. Even with cost savings, unlike other events, PTP must construct an entire “building” of children’s classrooms because the event space is not designed for an event exactly like PTP.
We would like to shed some light on what it costs to put PTP on every year. The spaces and hotels we rent are nice properties and do not come cheaply. It also takes a lot of equipment and hours of labor to put everything in place ahead of PTP.
PTP offers financial aid (in the form of discounted/free attendance) to widows, missionaries, students, and others who suffer financial hardship, to provide access to the event to those without the financial resources to come. We also provide discounts or scholarships to volunteers who teach, build, or otherwise serve before, during, and after PTP.
With over 150 speakers from 21 states speaking over 700 times, the travel and honorarium costs are significant. Compare this with a typical church/school of preaching lectureship that has 10 to 25 speakers. University lectureships generally ask speakers (or speakers’ congregations) to pay for their travel/meal expenses.
PTP allows about 1,200 children/teens to attend at no charge (with parents).
PTP requires 110 children’s teachers and helpers and over 75 staff members to run children’s classes. Many of these volunteer but others are unable to attend any PTP sessions (or fewer than half) so they are not required to pay registration, and some are paid an honorarium.
Between speakers and staff, PTP pays for about 1000 hotel rooms. The hotel discounts a small number of these, but the cost to PTP is significant.
Our costs are increasing because PTP continues to grow.
