For the past several posts, we have been talking about Volunteers. We have shared where to look for volunteers. We have talked about how to move them from potential volunteers to being on board with your team. Today we are going to talk about five ways to equip your volunteers.
Finding volunteers and getting them on board is hard. But it is heartbreaking and discouraging when they quit or fade away after a few weeks. However, often I hear stories of youth ministries with volunteer turn over.
I not only know the stories, but I have also experienced volunteer first-hand many times. Here is what I have learned.
Volunteers Need an Opportunity to Help
We’ll start this with a story. One time I had a young couple with no children who wanted to help with my youth ministry. I was about 19, and this was one of my very first youth ministry jobs.
I remember one night I was getting ready for youth. I showed up early and opened the doors. I had gone to the store, and I got food. I got the game stuff out. I printed off the lessons for the night. I adjusted the lights. I set up the chairs.
The couple showed up while I was setting up and asked, “Hey, how can we help?” Wanting to show I had it under control, I told them, “I got it, no worries.”
The same thing happened a few times. Sunday Night, I took care of everything. Sunday morning, I had it all handled. And one day, the couple approached me and asked to talk with me.
Simply they said this, “Do you really need us?”
Of course, I needed them. But my desire to prove that I could do it all was causing them to feel like there was nothing they could do.
Volunteers are volunteering because they want to have a meaningful impact and purpose in your ministry. Make sure they know how they can help you. Make a list of ways they can help. Then, show them how they can turn those into opportunities to connect with students.
A volunteer can ask 2-3 students to help set up chairs. A volunteer and a few students can welcome everyone at the door, or help to serve pizza. You may need to be the one to give the message, but you don’t necessarily have to do the announcements, welcome, and lead worship. Give volunteers who want to be upfront, the opportunity to do those things.
Volunteers Need to Be Appreciated
No matter how much you enjoy something, it’s hard to show up week after week and have no one ever take notice. Unfortunately, with the craziness of your main program, putting out fires, talking with students and parents, it’s easy not to notice your adult volunteers.
However, taking notice and saying thank you is essential. As a leader, you may have no idea what is going on in the lives of your adults before they walk in the door. Maybe they fought with a spouse or got some bad news about a family member. Maybe their child is having trouble in school, or they have been up late with a sick child. However, when they walk in the door to your program, they set all that aside, smile big, and love your students. They need to know you appreciate them.
You don’t have to make a grand gesture. Sometimes just a “hey, glad you are here” or “Thanks for coming” goes a long way. Once in a while, set up a leader’s only table in a side room and put out special coffee, candy, or snacks of some kind. One of the easiest and best things you can do is to take time during the week to write thank-you notes.
If you are not good at remembering to say thank you, then find someone who is and give them the job. What if one of your volunteer’s role was to appreciate the other volunteers. Just be sure to thank them as well.
For some ideas on how to celebrate volunteers, check this post on Stuff You Can Use https://stuffyoucanuse.org/celebrating-volunteers-this-christmas/. It says it is for Christmas, but the suggestions are great and could work any time.
If you use “Grow Curriculum” www.growcurriculum.org, they have many more suggestions and ideas on how to appreciate and celebrate your volunteers provided with each series.
Volunteers Need to Be Equipped
It’s hard to build a house without a hammer. It’s hard to bake a cake without a mixer. In the same way, it’s hard for your volunteers to do their job without the proper tools.
If your group uses a weekly curriculum, then make sure your volunteers have that early so they can look through it and prepare. When you ask someone to lead games, gather the supplies, and have them ready.
To encourage your volunteers to send notes to students, set up a desk or a station where you provide cards, stamps, and envelopes. If you are encouraging volunteers to visit students’ games and activities, then create a google calendar with all the extracurricular activities in it.
Volunteers Need Feedback
Do your volunteers know when they are doing a good job? Part of encouraging your volunteers is also letting then know when they are winning, and where there is an opportunity to get even better. There are two parts to giving feedback to your volunteers.
First, you should communicate what success looks like for their position. Ask yourself, “What is a win for this position?” Maybe your win is when a student steps up in leadership. A win could be when your small group members invite three new friends. Perhaps your youth band leader could win when they have only youth on stage leading worship.
However you define a win, make sure you and your volunteers are clear on that. Then find times to evaluate regularly. This can be as simple as a conversation over coffee or lunch. Just find a time to check in with them. Ask them how they are doing.
Ask how they’re family is. Have them share what’s going on in their area of ministry. Share with them your appreciation for them. If there are some areas, they or you notice they are struggling, then talk about those and give them some things to improve.
An excellent question to ask is, “What can I do to help you win in ministry?” This is the opportunity for them to share with you things you can do to help them win in ministry.
Provide Opportunities for Training
You ask your volunteers to pour into your students. One thing you can do is to pour into them. You can do this in many different ways. Send them a blog post or article about youth ministry from sites like stuffcanuse.com or ministrytoyouth.com or about youth culture like cpyu.org. Buy a book like “Help I’m a Small Group Leader”
Subscribe to an online training course like dym university Take a few leaders to a conference like the National Youth Workers Convention Or take advantage of courses from your denomination.
Pray for Them
Ok, this is number six. Consider it a bonus, but never forget to do it. Pray for your volunteers. Pray for their families, their health, their lives. Pray that they will be able the best small group leader they can be. Pray for their students, their ministry, their faith.
These are five ways you can equip your volunteers for ministry. There are probably many more that I forgot. What would you add to the list?
Photo by Kolleen Gladden on Unsplash