Virtual assistants sound like they’d be more useful to entrepreneurs or big businesses than churches, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, many churches and pastors need help with administrative tasks, among other daily responsibilities. After all, sometimes there is more work to be done than hours in the day.
Even with volunteers, there are often jobs that aren’t getting done. Adding a virtual assistant could actually be the solution to improving your church’s ministry.
The Need For Professionals
Church technology is constantly advancing. Just 30 years ago, a church wouldn’t have dreamed of using online giving tools or managing prayer requests in the cloud. However, as technology changes, so do the tools church’s use. Volunteers often don’t have the skills necessary to efficiently perform administrative and other tasks. For instance, a virtual assistant might be used for ensuring weekly podcasts are uploaded to multiple outlets correctly.
Hiring skilled assistants actually helps boost your church. You get more time, tasks are done correctly the first time and they can even help you with your church growth goals.
Pastors Are Overwhelmed
It’s not unusual for pastors to feel overwhelmed and unworthy. After all, they’re just people too. It’s hard for members to understand how much work a pastor and other church leaders have to do behind the scenes to manage church upkeep, engage members, plan events and much, much more.
Virtual assistants take some of the pressure off of overwhelmed pastors. They handle those tedious tasks that help give pastors back valuable hours back every week to better interact with members.
Pay Only For What You Use
Your first thought when you hear about churches using virtual assistants is wouldn’t it be cheaper and easier to just hire a new staff member. In most cases, no. You only pay for what you use. Instead of having a full-time new staff member, your virtual assistant may only work five hours a week. You can also just hire them temporarily to help with various tasks during busier times, such as holidays.
It’s a highly affordable way for even small churches to get more done by using skilled virtual employees.
Put The Focus Back On The Church
Pastors and church leaders would love to spend more time interacting with members, but that’s not always an option. Managing the books, handling social media posts, maintaining the church website, marketing the church and a myriad of other tasks keeps everyone busy.
Members feel like they’re being ignored. For growing churches, it’s an even bigger issue. An influx of new members means even more work. However, with virtual assistants, a large portion of the job can be delegated to someone who has the skills to do the job faster and more efficiently. This leaves church staff free to focus more on the church itself and its members.
More Dedicated Support Than Volunteers
Church volunteers are busy. They don’t always have time to respond to emails when you need help fast. Virtual assistants typically give you a window of availability and answer any questions quickly during that period. Since a virtual assistant’s job is to help you, they’re far more dedicated to giving you the support you need versus volunteers.
Hire For Just What’s Needed
One of the best reasons to hire virtual assistants for the church is to get someone specifically for the tasks you need. Need someone to manage social media? Hire an assistant that’s an expert in that area. Want someone to handle the secretarial and administrative tasks? Hire someone who’s more skilled in that area. While some are able to do it all, many of specific specialties.
Hire assistants to handle just the tasks you need. Get specialized help in the areas you need most. Not sure what skills would be useful to your church? Chris Ducker lists 101 different tasks to outsource, while Hubstaff lists more general assistant tasks.
With virtual assistants, there’s no reason not to have a website for your church. They make it easier to find the time to manage your site (or they can do it for you). Go ahead and find out more about our website services today.
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