Without volunteers, our ministry would never survive! As church employees, we wish we could connect deeply with every student individually, but we simply cannot. That’s why volunteers are so important: they represent Jesus to each student and make sure no one falls through the cracks.
The difficulty for most ministries, however, is actually recruiting volunteers. In the following video, Anita, our volunteer coordinator who supervises over 250 volunteers, shares some practical tips for recruiting and keeping volunteers.
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5 key tips for recruiting and keeping volunteers
1) Identify Your Needs in Student Ministry: Do you need small group leaders? Worship Leaders? A set-up team?
2) Identify Your Target: Who should you go after to be a volunteer? Your number one source should be parents, but you can also go after friends, young adults or college students, and even High School students who desire to help with Middle School. Another important idea is to target people who are gifted in the areas of need from point 1. It would not make sense to go after a worship leader who cannot sing!
3) Recruit, Recruit, Recruit: Do whatever it takes to recruit people! Make phone calls, invite people to dinner, send out e-mails, post it on facebook or your website, ask in the church bulletin. The more personal the invite, the more likely the response, but blanket e-mails will turn up volunteers you may have never known.
4) Train Your Volunteers: People don’t like to fail, so set them up for success and they will want to volunteer all the more! Have a solid information packet ready for them that answers their questions, but be prepared to be there for them personally as well. Don’t assume that others know how to disciple just because you do, we must continually train our volunteers!!!
5) Celebrate Your Volunteers: People love being appreciated. Celebrate them by sending them a card or gift on their birthday, sharing amazing God stories that they have been a part of, calling them, praying for them, and so much more. You will be amazed at how encouraging the little things can be and people return to things when they know they are appreciated and making a difference.
What are some ways you celebrate your volunteers?
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