church volunteer appreciation Archives - Church Operations Toolkit

5 Steps to a Successful Church “Spring Cleaning” Project

Periodically our church facilities need a bit of sprucing up. If you walk through the campus and focus on the details, you’re likely to notice weeds in the landscaping, chipped paint, frayed carpet, and other areas for improvement. These tasks typically don’t require a considerable budget to fix. The bigger concern is the labor required to complete them all in a reasonable timeframe. One way to solve this problem is by inviting people to volunteer for a church beautification day. The church provides the supplies and instructions, while volunteers provide the sweat equity. If a church “spring cleaning” project might be in order, here’s how to prepare for a successful effort: Step #1: Assess the Situation Perform a detailed tour of the church facilities and note each item or area that needs attention. Exterior: Interior: Step #2: Develop a Church Spring Cleaning Plan Create a list of the supplies necessary for each task and identify what items you’ll need to purchase. Consider whether you can finish all of the tasks in a single day or will need to finish one before you can start another. For example, it might be best to let the paint dry in a classroom before replacing the carpet in that same room. Next, estimate how many volunteers you’ll need for each task and if you need volunteers with specific skill sets. Create a schedule including when you need volunteers to arrive, who will lead each team of volunteers, where you’ll stage supplies, etc. If this project will last all day, provide lunch, water, and snacks for those participating. If you’ll need multiple days to complete all the items on your list, determine which tasks to tackle each day. Step #3: Invite Volunteers to Participate Once you have a plan, you’d probably like to get started right away. However, it’s best to announce this project and ask people to sign up at least 3 to 4 weeks beforehand. This gives people time to consider their schedules and find a way to participate if possible. Step #4: Organize the Day Respect the time of those who’ve signed up to help by having an organized plan for the day. Ask all volunteers to check-in at a central location on campus, then have team leaders take their volunteers to the place they’re assigned to work on. Make sure to have all the supplies needed set up at each station with water and snacks available as well. Make sure your team leaders know what their teams need to do and get their volunteers started right away. These team leaders could be staff members or key volunteer leaders you’ve already met with about this project. Walk around and check on each team to see if they need anything throughout the day. Set a time for everyone to enjoy lunch together as well. Make this a fun atmosphere that gets the work done but also provides volunteers with a chance to get to know each other. Let teams know they’re welcome to stay and help others when they finish their tasks or they can head home – whatever works best for them. Step #5: Express Your Appreciation Since this church beautification project will likely happen on weekday evenings or on a Saturday, take a minute during the next Sunday’s services to thank your volunteers. In addition, mail thank you cards to each volunteer the week after. Post before and after pictures of various areas on your church’s Facebook page or other social media account and thank the teams who participated. This lets your volunteers know how much you appreciate their work and may encourage others to volunteer for similar projects in the future. A church spring cleaning project can have many benefits. This effort can result in a better environment for Sunday services, a great experience for volunteers, and less strain on church staff by checking off a big to-do list in a short timeframe. By carefully planning the day and setting up your volunteers for success, you’ll make that possible for everyone involved.

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How to Get Volunteers for Christmas and Keep Them Coming Back

Jake Douglas

Does your church have enough volunteers for Christmas services? What about those extra activities you’re hosting throughout December – Christmas concerts, family photo booths, gift drives, and charity events for the local community? If the answer is “no” or “I hope so”, then keep reading… Since you’ll probably need more volunteers for Christmas Sunday than you would for a typical Sunday service, simply relying on your usual system for filling volunteer roles may not work. Here is why: You’ll have more first-time guests on Christmas Sunday. While it’s wonderful to have new people at church, things could get chaotic fast if you don’t have enough volunteers to help them. Also, special events, such as the various Christmas celebrations, are a great way to get people to try out volunteering. They’re just signing up for one day, so it’s a low commitment for them. However, this is your chance to make serving such a great experience for them that they decide to get involved on a more consistent basis. So, how do you make sure you have enough volunteers for Christmas AND add to your regular volunteer team? Here are a few tips: #1 – Figure out what roles you need to fill for Christmas services If you’re doing anything special or new, you’ll probably need volunteer roles for Christmas that you wouldn’t typically need on a regular Sunday. Make a list of those roles along with a brief description of what each role involves. Example: Photo Booth Coordinator – Volunteers in this role will keep the line organized, help families get their pictures taken, and keep any décor in the photo booth clean / in the proper place. #2 – Define what Christmas services will look like Before you ask volunteers to serve, you need to know what serving that day will entail. Create a service program with the order of events that details what Christmas Sunday will look like before you contact potential volunteers. They may have questions that this information will help you answer. #3 – Identify key volunteer leaders first You probably have volunteers who lead other volunteers on your behalf. You’ll likely have your hands full during Christmas services, so you want to make sure your key leaders are able to serve that day. You also need to provide them with information and instructions on what you need them to do. The better you equip them before Christmas, the more effective they can be in preventing issues and keeping things running smoothly. Once you have those who aren’t a part of your regular volunteer team sign up to serve, let the appropriate volunteer leader know. Your volunteer leaders need to make sure these new volunteers are trained, and help them have a great experience serving. #4 – Invite people to serve ASAP Once you know what Christmas services will look like, what roles you’ll need to fill, and that your key volunteer leaders are on board, start inviting others to serve. Talk with your regular volunteers on Sunday mornings, send out follow-up emails, and ask current volunteers to help you find more people to help. The sooner you start getting this on their schedules, the more likely you are to have all those volunteer spots filled way before Christmas weekend. #5 – Send reminder emails the week before Christmas The only danger in asking people to serve early is that they might forget about it. Send out reminder emails the week before Christmas services to remind them of the volunteer role they’ll fill that day, what time you need them to arrive, and where they should meet when they get to the church. #6 – Feed your volunteers Provide coffee and a few snacks for volunteers. If you have a room where they can meet for final instructions before going to their assignments, set up a small table with goodies for them. This is especially important if you have volunteers helping with multiple worship services. They’ll appreciate your kindness and you’ll keep them fueled for the morning. #7 – Send thank you notes You’ll probably need your volunteers to go above and beyond for Christmas services. Acknowledge their contribution to making those services run smoothly with a short, hand-written thank you note. We’re so used to receiving electronic messages that a card in the mail will really stand out. #8 – Follow up with new volunteers Contact those who served at Christmas services but aren’t on a regular volunteer team yet. You can also ask your volunteer leaders to contact these individuals. That may work better since your volunteer leaders probably interacted with them more than you did. Ask what they thought of their experience serving and see if they’re interested in becoming part of the team. Don’t assume they’ll sign up without you inviting them. They may not realize you need more volunteers on a regular basis. It’s worth taking a few minutes to get their feedback and ask if they’d like to serve more often. Preparing for Christmas services isn’t a small task. However, by putting these tips into practice you can start filling those volunteer roles early, and add to your regular volunteer team, too.

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How to Get Feedback that will Help You Retain Volunteers

Jake Douglas

For most churches, recruiting volunteers is crucial to the success of your mission. Though a lot of effort goes into this recruitment process, it’s not always enough to keep those volunteers helping long term. Learning how to gather feedback from volunteers will allow you to make changes so you can retain volunteers for a long time. If this is a familiar struggle, ask yourself what your church is doing to encourage volunteer retention. Often, in the midst of recruitment and everyday church functions, retaining efforts get overlooked. When implemented, however, there are several strategies to improve retention and communicate more clearly with your volunteers. If you want to find out what’s working and what isn’t, request feedback from current volunteers. After all, they’re the ones checking in children, talking with parents, seeing jams in the parking lot, hearing comments from guests, and more. When you take the time to ask for their input, you’ll gain more insight into the happenings of your church, while showing them that you appreciate their service. Here are two methods for gathering feedback that will help you retain volunteers. Method #1 — Run An Annual Survey of All Volunteers One easy way to survey volunteers is to use an online tool like SurveyMonkey. You can create the questions, send out a link to the survey via email, and collate responses quickly. Keep the survey at a reasonable length (no more than 10 questions) to ensure people will take the time to fill it out. Here are several sample questions to ask: #1 – How long have you been serving at <church name>? If you don’t have records of when each volunteer started serving, this is a useful piece of information. If your church has been around for 20 years, but the average volunteer has only been serving for less than one year, you may have a high volunteer turnover issue. #2 – Why did you decide to start serving? This helps you identify people’s motives for serving. It can also reveal what communication methods worked best in getting people to sign up to volunteer (personal invitations, announcements during a service, the desire to meet more people, etc.). #3 – How did you get started as a volunteer? Did this person sign up on the church website or talk with a staff member about serving? Did they fill out a card and put it in the offering plate? Knowing which signup methods have been the most popular can aid your decision-making process when it comes to which methods to promote the most. #4 – How would you describe the process of signing up to serve? By asking this question, you’ll learn whether or not your signup process is a smooth one. Maybe there was a glitch with the signup software you used, maybe it wasn’t clear who they should contact to sign up, or maybe it took weeks for someone to follow up with them. This is all good information you need to know. #5 – Have you made any new friends from serving? A sense of community is often what draws people into volunteer work. In my own experience, I’ve seen 94 percent of survey respondents say they made new friends as a result of volunteering at church. This is a great statistic to mention when you invite people to volunteer. #6 – Did you attend a training session and receive any documented instructions before you started serving? If not, you either don’t already require training before someone starts serving or there’s a hole in the process. Every volunteer role needs at least some training. It might consist of a 20-minute session with a short handout or something much more in-depth based on the role. Providing training helps you retain volunteers since they’ll know what you expect and how to accomplish it. #7 – What do you think prevents more people from serving at <insert church name>? When you’re on staff at a church, it can be challenging to see things from a newcomer’s perspective. Getting insights from volunteers on this topic will help you make adjustments as needed. #8 – Have you invited anyone to serve at <insert church name>? If not, has your experience in serving kept you from recommending that others volunteer? Volunteering with friends is a huge draw for some. If volunteers aren’t encouraging their church friends to also help, this could be a sign that there are issues within the volunteer process. #9 – Do you feel appreciated and valued as a volunteer? If not, please let us know what we could do to change that, because, we really do appreciate you! We all like to be recognized for doing good work, especially if we’re not getting paid for it. Make sure your volunteers know that their work is appreciated and their time valued. Strive to show them how their work has positively impacted your church’s mission. #10 – What else should we know about serving at <insert church name>? We want to improve and need your honest feedback to help us get better. This last question is so crucial. Give them some space to include their thoughts, concerns, or even praises that give you more information as to how you’re meeting volunteer expectations. For all surveys, make sure to set a deadline — I suggest two weeks — for volunteers to respond. This gives them enough time to give thoughtful answers but not so much time that they forget about it. Method #2 — Meet With Volunteer Leaders Hopefully, you have volunteers who lead various teams for weekly services (parking, greeting, bookstore, etc.). If so, ask those leaders to meet with you as a group at least once a quarter. Here, come prepared with snacks, pen and paper, and a list of questions to ask. Here’s what to ask: The biggest takeaway here is to listen WAY more than you speak during these meetings. You may receive unpleasant feedback that makes you feel defensive. Resist the urge to

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10 Low-Cost Ways to Show Appreciation for Church Volunteers

Jake Douglas

A strong, committed volunteer team is vital to any church. Volunteers arrive early and stay late. They’re the smiling faces on a rainy morning in the parking lot. They make coffee, check-in children, lead small groups, welcome guests, and much more. With all they do to serve the church, it makes sense to show appreciation for church volunteers. Thankfully, you don’t need a big budget to communicate how much you value their service. Here are ten low-cost ways to show appreciation for your church volunteers: #1 – Quick Thank You Send a brief text of email to a volunteer you saw doing a great job on Sunday morning. #2 – Make Phone Calls Call your volunteer leaders. Ask how they’re doing, if there’s anything you can do for them, and if they have any suggestions for improving the area they serve in. #3 – Send Thank You Cards Mail a few handwritten thank you notes to volunteers each Monday. Look around on Sunday to see who’s going the extra mile to welcome guests and take care of people. Type a few quick notes in your phone if needed, then write your thank you notes the next day. #4 – Feed Them Bring light snacks to your pre-service volunteer meeting or the next volunteer training session. #5 – Share a Meal Go to lunch or coffee with a couple that volunteers together. Let them know how much you appreciate them, ask about their story (how they came to the church, their family, careers, spiritual growth, etc.), and let them know you’re always open to hearing their ideas. #6 – Recognize Them Publicly Have all volunteers stand up in Sunday morning service and thank them from the pulpit. #7 – Share Their “Why” Share testimonies of people who’ve surrendered their lives to Christ after feeling welcomed and loved by volunteers. #8 – Take Care of Them If a volunteer is in the hospital or has a family emergency, visit them and/or provide meals and other assistance as needed. #9 – Visit with Volunteers Walk around as volunteers are serving and thank them for their work. Take a few minutes to lend a hand or ask if there’s anything they need. One reason why volunteers quit is if they feel like leadership isn’t listening or inviting feedback. Make sure they know you value their input. #10 – Pray Pray for and with your volunteer teams each week. Above all, invest in your volunteers and in how you lead them. This requires being intentional and carving out time to create a healthy volunteer culture. For practical tips on how to make that happen, check out The Volunteer Management Toolkit (Church Edition). How do you show appreciation for church volunteers?

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