How to Build a Daycare Waitlist That Actually Turns Into Enrollments

Oct 23

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If you're new here, welcome! Before we get started, grab my free Fill Your Spots Enrollment Audit. It walks you through the gaps that keep families from enrolling, so you can finally fill your open spots.

Now let's dive into How to Manage Your Waitlist to keep your spots full and maximize your revenue.

I used to be so proud of our daycare waitlist. Two pages of names in a binder at the front desk. Then a spot opened in our toddler room, and I picked up the phone.

The first family had found care three months earlier. The next family didn’t even remember signing up. I called eleven families that afternoon, and that spot sat empty for almost a month.

Those two pages of names had given me a false sense of security. Every week a spot sits empty, you lose that tuition for good, even when your waitlist looks full.

After 21 years as a childcare center director, here are the five steps I use to turn a daycare waitlist into steady enrollment. They work for a home daycare or a center with a two hundred kids.

Prefer to watch? Here’s the full video: How to Build a Daycare Waitlist That Actually Turns Into Enrollments

1. Collect the right information

Most waitlists collect a parent’s name and a phone number, and that’s it. So when a spot opens, you’re calling blind. You don’t know the child’s age or when they need care.

The most important question on your waitlist form is when the family needs care to start. I call it the need-by date. A family that needs care in March and a family that needs care tomorrow are two very different calls.

We once had a mom sign up in January for a baby who wasn’t due until June. On a names-only list, she looked like my first call for a February infant spot. With a need-by date, I knew she was a June call.

Your daycare waitlist form needs:

• The parent’s name

• Phone and email

• The child’s name and birthday

• Full time or part time

• The need-by date

Before you build a form from scratch, check your childcare management software. Most have a waitlist built right in, so you can use that instead of a paper form. If yours doesn’t, put the form on your website. Either way, every inquiry goes in the same place, the same way, so the list is something you can actually sort.

2. Sort your waitlist the way you actually fill spots

A lot of waitlists are sorted by sign-up date. First come, first served sounds fair, and it gets you nowhere when a spot opens in the infant room and your top ten names all have preschoolers.

Sort by age group first, so every classroom gets its own list. Then inside each age group, sort by need-by date. If you’re using your software’s waitlist, it does the sorting for you by age, date added, start date and more.

Decide your priority rules ahead of time, in writing. For a lot of centers, siblings of current families and children of staff go first. Then everyone else goes by need-by date.

Parents will ask where they are on the list. When your rules are written, you just tell them:

“Of course. We fill spots by age group, and siblings of current families get first priority. Right now you’re third for our toddler room, and I’ll reach out the moment we have an opening that fits your start date.”

Once your rules are written down, your front desk staff can answer that question too, so it doesn’t always land on you.

3. Keep waitlisted families warm

This is the step almost everybody skips, and it’s the reason my binder failed.

When a family joins your waitlist and never hears from you again, they keep looking. Of course they do. They need childcare. By the time you call, they’ve already found somewhere else.

Your waitlist is a relationship, and a relationship needs contact. When a family signs up, send your e-packet or e-brochure right away. Then check in every 60 days with a quick email or text that’s easy to answer.

“Hi Jasmine, it’s Dena from Little Explorers. Just checking in. You’re still on our toddler waitlist, and we’re getting closer. Is March still your preferred start date? Reply here anytime if anything changes.”

That one text keeps your center on their mind and updates your list at the same time. When a family tells you they found care somewhere else, thank them warmly and take them off the list. A shorter list you can trust is worth more than two pages of names you can’t.

If you have open spots right now, grab my free Fill Your Spots Enrollment Audit. It walks you through exactly where families are slipping away.

4. Decide when waitlisted families tour

You have a couple of options here, and I’ll tell you what I did.

Option one: tour while they’re on the waitlist. Invite your top families to come see your space before a spot opens. When an opening comes, they’ve already seen your program and they’re ready to say yes.

“Hi Marcus, you’re near the top of our infant waitlist, and I’d love for you to come see our space. We give tours Monday and Wednesday afternoons. What day works best for you?”

Option two: tour when the spot opens. Families stay on the list, and when a spot opens, that’s when you invite them to tour. This keeps things simple, especially when you don’t know when your next opening will be.

Here’s what I did. I waited until I had an open spot, then offered it to the next family on the list. If they hadn’t toured yet, I invited them to come see us before they said yes.

That tour is also your chance to make sure the family is a good fit for your program. Here’s how I screen families for my daycare.

A note on waitlist fees. Some centers have a family tour and pay a holding fee to get on the list. It keeps the list to families who are serious. If you go this route, make it very clear that the fee doesn’t guarantee any time frame.

I never charged one. There were times I honestly didn’t know when my next opening would be, and I didn’t want families calling me to say, I paid my fee, so when can you get me in.

Whichever way you choose, write it down and handle it the same way for every family.

5. Use the 48-hour rule to fill open spots fast

When a spot opens, the worst thing you can do is wait a week on an answer. Here’s how I handled it.

Go to the first family on your list for that age group, and reach them every way you can. Call every number you have for them, and send an email too. Then give them 48 hours to tell you they want the spot and pay the registration fee.

They don’t have to start right away. They lock in the spot now, and they can start a couple of weeks later.

That’s exactly why I required a two-week notice when a family left. The day a family gave notice, I started calling the waitlist. By the time that child’s last day came, a new family had already paid the registration fee and was ready to start. No gap, and no lost tuition.

Put your two-week notice in writing, right in your parent handbook. Here are the 30 daycare policies every parent handbook needs.

If you don’t hear back in 48 hours, move on to the next family on the list and do the same thing.

“Hi Jasmine, it’s Dena from Little Explorers. I have great news. We have a toddler spot opening on November 3rd, and you’re at the top of our list. If you’d like it, call me back within 48 hours and we’ll get your registration fee in to hold it. After that, I’ll need to offer it to the next family. I’d love for it to be yours.”

I did give a little room here and there. Sometimes a family would call back and say, I want the spot, it’s definitely mine, can I pay you on Friday. That’s fine. You decide how strict you want to be. The point is that you’re not waiting a week or two for families to get back to you. This needs to be fast and efficient.

Sometimes a family calls back after the 48 hours because they were out of town or just got your message. Don’t make them feel bad. Put them right back at the top of the list:

“Thank you so much for calling me back. When a spot opens, I have to move quickly, so I’ve already offered it to the next family. But I’m putting you right back at the top of our list, and you’ll be my very first call for the next opening.”

After I made these changes, the next spot that opened was in our infant room. The first family on the list called me back the next day and paid the registration fee. Two days, and that spot was filled. Compare that to the month my old binder cost me.

The short version

1. Collect the right information, especially their birthday and need-by date.

2. Sort your daycare waitlist by age group and need-by date.

3. Keep families warm with a check-in every 60 days.

4. Decide when families tour, and whether you’ll charge a waitlist fee.

5. When a spot opens, run the 48-hour rule.

You’re already doing the hard part. These steps keep your daycare enrollment steady, so families actually make it to your center.

Want your whole center running this smoothly? Check out the 6 weekly systems that run your center without you.

Grab my free Fill Your Spots Enrollment Audit to find the gaps in your enrollment. And if your spots keep sitting empty, check out my video on the three biggest reasons your daycare has empty spots.

Frequently asked questions

How do I set up a daycare waitlist?

Start with your childcare management software, since most have a waitlist built in. If yours doesn’t, use a simple form on your website that collects the parent’s name, contact info, the child’s birthday, full or part time, and the date they need care to start.

Should a daycare charge a waitlist fee?

Some centers do, because a fee keeps the list to serious families. If you charge one, make it clear the fee doesn’t guarantee a start date. I chose not to charge one, because I didn’t always know when my next opening would be.

How long should I give a waitlisted family to accept a spot?

I gave families 48 hours to say they wanted the spot and pay the registration fee. If I didn’t hear back, I moved to the next family on the list.

Why should a daycare require a two-week notice?

A two-week notice gives you time to call your waitlist and get a new family registered before the current child’s last day. That way the spot never sits empty.

How can a childcare center director increase enrollment?

Start with the families who already want you. Keep your waitlist current and check in with families every 60 days. When a spot opens, call the next family right away. Speed fills spots faster than more marketing.

Before You Go:

If you're feeling overwhelmed with everything it takes to run a childcare business, you're not alone in that.

The enrollment. The staff. The parents. The paperwork. The policies. The money.

Most of us started this because we love kids, not because we wanted to be a full-time HR manager, bookkeeper, and marketer. And when you're doing all of it by yourself, it can start to feel like you're barely keeping your head above water.

That's why I created the Childcare Leaders Circle.

It's a membership community for childcare owners and leaders who are done figuring it out alone. Inside, you get real support from people who understand exactly what you're dealing with, plus done-for-you tools and templates so you're not starting from scratch every time something comes up.

You don't have to carry all of it by yourself.

👉 Learn more about the Childcare Leaders Circle here