How often do you struggle with getting volunteers for various projects in your church? Despite having ample members, no one seems to want to help out.
This doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself. Instead, you have to learn how to motivate attendees into volunteering. Believe it or not, most attendees want to be involved in some way.
All it takes is a few simple tweaks to appealing to volunteers to boost your numbers and create effective teams for your church projects and events.
Have Volunteer Periods
Your attendees already have busy schedules, so they are naturally hesitant to commit to indefinite projects. Make it easier on potential volunteers by having short volunteer periods. When asking for people to volunteer, make it clear that project has an end date. It’s much easier for someone to commit. Often times, people hold back because they don’t want to have to quit before the work is done, simply due to other commitments in their lives, such as work and children.
Provide Details Online
No one wants to feel pressured to volunteer. If you want to motivate attendees into volunteering, give them an easier way to find out all the details at their leisure. Having a section on your website dedicated to volunteer opportunities serves as a 24/7 bulletin. Members can send in questions or sign up for a set period of time. They can even see what types of responsibilities are required to make sure they’re a good fit.
Make Volunteers Feel Appreciated
The way volunteers are treated determines how many future volunteers you’ll have. If past volunteers say they always felt unappreciated or micromanaged, you’ll have a difficult time motivating anyone else to join a team. Volunteers want to feel like they’re making a difference and enjoy getting positive feedback.
Give your volunteers positive feedback during projects and even host special dinners each month for volunteers. The key is to just do something to make them feel like you appreciate all they’re doing for their church and fellow members.
Offer Reasonable Schedules
Most of your members have careers and families. This means they don’t have dozens of free hours each week to volunteer. Those with jobs might not be able to attend meetings during the day and those with children might be busy with extracurricular activities during the evenings.
It’s important to offer flexible schedules that allow volunteers to offer as many or as few hours as they have available. If a person can only offer a few hours on a Saturday, let them help. Skip lengthy meetings and instead of forums on your website or quick 10-15 minute meetings after services. This shows that you value volunteers’ time and makes them more likely to offer up any free time they have.
Cater Opportunities To Attendees’ Strengths
If you want to motivate attendees into volunteering, offer opportunities based on their strengths. If you’re asking for daycare volunteers, for instance, no one may offer to help because they don’t know how to manage a dozen or so small children at a time.
Ask attendees to write down their strengths and passions. When coming up with programs, base them around things your volunteers are good at. You’re guaranteed to get more volunteers this way.
Ask For Feedback On Volunteering Opportunities
Attendees are more likely to volunteer for things they believe in. For instance, charity events that benefit local areas sometimes get more volunteers than those in areas your attendees have never heard about. Survey your attendees about what types of things they would be more likely to volunteer for and why.
Recruit Based On Passion, Not Guilt
One of the worst ways to motivate attendees into volunteering is to guilt trip them. Not only is this ineffective, the volunteers you do get feel miserable and may drop out at a moment’s notice. Church leaders have to inspire and motivate, not make members feel guilty for not being able to fit in volunteering.
Make Volunteering An Easy Process
Finally, make it quick and easy to for attendees to volunteer. Having a lengthy process makes it seem like a waste of time. When people hardly have time to volunteer, they don’t have hours to spend on background checks, interviews and special meetings. Unless absolutely necessary, make it a few minute process to volunteer. Removing obstacles encourages more volunteers.
Want to offer an easier way for attendees to volunteer? Start with a church website with an easy to use signup form.
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Comments 1
Very nice, this is super helpful.