Extend the hours. Not all parents work a traditional nine-to-five job, as some perform shift work. Attracting these parents to use your day care center requires making it available to them during their work times. Rather than open the center at 7 a.m., open it at 5:30 a.m. to allow parents who perform shift work starting at 6 a.m. to enroll their children.

Provide part-time care. Some parents only need child care for a few hours each day or on specific days of the week. Day care centers offering part-time care allow parents to only pay for the services when their child is using them. Since many centers don't offer this service, it's a great way to maintain or boost enrollment. Part-time care is especially beneficial during high levels of unemployment since it allows parents to have a place to take their child while they interview for jobs. When the parent gets a job and needs full-time care for the child, your day care benefits.

Lower the rates. Parents want high-quality child care at an affordable price. They are willing to switch day care centers if they find another center that charges less but provides the same quality of care. Consider lowering prices slightly or offering an incentive for parents whose child is in the day care five days a week.

Allow parents to give in-kind contributions. Paying for day care is a struggle for some parents even though they work full time. Consider allowing those parents to donate their time and resources to pay a portion of the bill. For example, a parent could clean the day care facility a few times each week in the evenings, which cuts down on paying a janitor or staff to clean it. This saves your day care money and helps the parent to pay the bill.

Provide discounts for referrals. One of the best ways to advertise your day care center is by word of mouth, since people are more apt to listen to recommendations from friends when choosing a center. If parents refer other parents to the center and they enroll their children, give the parents who made the referral a discount. This encourages them to refer more people.

Educate parents on alternative payment methods. States may provide subsidies for child care for parents who are in financial need and meet the qualifications. There are also nonprofit organizations such as the United Way that provide scholarships to needy families to pay for child care. Talk to parents about these programs and encourage them to ask their employer about child care assistance benefits. Some employers pay for a portion of the day care costs while others simply offer dependent care assistance programs as part of their benefits package. This takes money to pay for child care out of the parent's paycheck before taxes.

Network with child care referral agencies. Several nonprofit organizations, churches and other groups help parents to find day care centers with openings in their community. By letting the staff in these agencies know when an opening exists, referrals become more common, since agency staff don't have to call around to different facilities to find out where openings exist.

Provide free child care periodically. General advertising is beneficial in promoting a day care center. However, periodic free child care markets your center to the day care's primary audience, resulting in increased enrollment. Providing free child care one weekend or a few evenings during the holiday season is great for parents that need to shop. As they drop off and pick up their kids they get to see the facility, meet the staff and learn about the day care center. If they like the center better than the one they currently have their child in, they may switch. This promotion isn't limited solely to the holiday seasons, though; sponsoring free child care one or two nights each month gives parents time to go on a date, run errands or spend time alone.

Ask parents why their kids are leaving. When children drop out of your day care center, ask the parents why. Their feedback exposes potential problems with the facility, staff, hours or cost, which your day care center can then address to keep the enrollment up.