Recruiting and keeping volunteers is tricky business. It requires planning, honest evaluation, casting vision, equipping, empowering, appreciating and so much more. Two top experts share 99 solutions in 1-3 page bite-sized chunks. You’ll find this book to be an invaluable tool!
Tony Morgan & Tim Stevens
Group Publishing, 2005
Fall is almost here, and once again it’s time to enlist, equip and empower new volunteers.
Share you best practices.
What things have you done to successfully FIND and SIGN-UP new volunteers?
Pastor Greg Sidders
White Pine Community Church, North Yarmouth, Maine
First Serve: Sunday morning “ministry fair”, coupled with message on spiritual gifts/serving, that allows people to sign up for a one-time serving opportunity.
Announcements in church don’t work; it has to be a personal invitation.
Jenni Huter, Children’s Ministry Director
Rancho Community Church, Temecula, CA
Contacting those who have just taken the summer off is always the easiest. It’s just a matter of getting people plugged back in. A well-deserved break usually regenerates enthusiasm.
Last year our lead pastor invited Daniel Watts, Executive Director from Every Generation Ministries, to speak during our weekend services. He spoke on Matthew 19 and shared Jesus’s heart for children. In conjunction, we promoted a new ministry called “30-Family Challenge.” It encouraged families to serve together in Children’s Ministry. It was very successful. We had an influx of families, as well as individuals who enlisted to serve with us. Many [Read more…]
The task of leading children of all ages to Christ is enormous and requires a large group of people with a variety of gifts and strengths. But where are you going to find those people and how are you going to get them to make the journey with you?
Bill Hybels from Willow Creek in Chicago once said, “The first rule of building a team is affinity.” I was new to ministry, sitting in an audience of thousands when I wrote this down in my notes and I wasn’t even sure what it meant. But over the years, I’ve come to bank on this statement. When building a core team, always think affinity first!
AFFINITY FIRST!
Affinity is defined as having a feeling of identification with; a likeness based upon connection; a kinship; a similarity.
Imagine ministry as a 3,342.4 mile car ride from California to Maine in a Honda Fit. You know where you’re going and you know your mode of transportation is trustworthy although a bit lacking in comfort. You’re inviting companions to join the adventure and travel with you; companions to keep you awake, take turns driving, and help decide where to eat, where to sleep and when to stop for gas. Hopefully you won’t encounter car trouble, but if you do, your companions will help with decision-making and extend the boundaries of your personal resources. You’re pretty sure that along the way you’ll encounter the expected, the extraordinary, the bizarre and the mundane. It’s the shared experience inside that car that will give you camaraderie, create memories, provide entertainment and keep you moving forward in the right direction. From time-to-time constraints of space, finances or other needs may cause frustration, but they will push you toward collective creativity, teamwork and opportunities to extend grace.
Church ministries run on volunteer fuel, and yet rarely does it seem that their tanks are full. Even when momentum is good, energy is abundant and it feels like a well-oiled machine, leaders know that without proper maintenance and a scheduled refueling the engine will soon sputter and die.
The best recruiting campaigns can always tap into new energy sources, but it’s not a quick refueling that we need. Getting new volunteers should not be a quick stop at the gas pump every time we need help, but rather a careful look at the specific design, construction and special features of the person we are inviting onto the track.