Training Thursdays: How to Keep Volunteers!

Last week in Training Thursdays I gave some insights on letting Volunteers go. That difficult decision maybe the best decision you can make for them. Don’t think of it as all bad but see the potential of what it might do for them in allowing them to see where they may “BEST” fit. Enough on that!

The real problem that faces ministries is not how to fire a volunteer but how to keep them. Every ministry I have seen has to deal with the issue of high turnover in their volunteer corps. Churches that don’t have a problem with getting volunteer workers tend to be the ones that are so streamlined (i.e. plenty of children and youth workers on Sunday mornings because there is no adult education provided for them). Obviously there will be more workers to pull from but that doesn’t necessarily answer the issue of high turnover. Their back door maybe as a big as their front door and deepening committed volunteers is not a problem because of high turnover. They will never feel it because they always have green and fresh recruits but their recruits are not seasoned and experienced. But we can never forget that 15 years of experience in student ministry doesn’t mean doing the same things 15 times, that is actually 1 year of experience done 15 times. Experience is ministering out of imagination and prayer. Paul says that God will work even beyond what we ask or can imagine. The sky is the limit.

FIVE TIPS ON KEEPING EXPERIENCED YOUTH WORKERS!

• Have FUN together.
  • When you have leadership training meetings or retreats or anything that deals with leaders, make sure you have fun.Play games, eat, watch sporting events, etc.
• Allow adult leaders to be with other adults
  • Pick the very best time for your leaders to spend time with students and encourage them to go all in there. Don’t demand that they be with the students every time there is a student ministry function. If your church has adult education on Sunday mornings make it almost mandatory that they go there instead of with students. This will keep them relating to their peers and might even give an avenue towards recruitment also.
• Give them a sense of ownership.
  • Endurance and commitment follows vision every time. When a leader senses that they “own” the ministry and are caught by a simple yet compelling vision, they will stay around every time.
• Allow them to fail
  • Each year we give an award out to one leader that used to be known as “The Greatest Failure” award. We changed the name to the LONG NECK award. We give it to the person that sticks their neck out and takes the biggest risk each year. We want to build in our leaders a spirit of freedom, entrepreneurialship and guts.
• Let them know they are appreciated.
  • Spend money on them
  • Buy their small group curriculum
  • Throw an appreciation party
  • Get them a fun gift
  • REMEMBER THEIR BIRTHDAYS!