church volunteers

5 Keys to Improving Volunteer Communication

Wondering why your volunteers aren’t quite doing what you need them to do?  Do they arrive late or unprepared?  Are you experiencing high turnover as volunteers quit? The issue may not be a lack of enthusiasm or commitment – it might be that they don’t really know what you need. Improving volunteer communication could be the key to unlocking your volunteers’ potential. Here are 5 simple ways to improving volunteer communication: #1 – Communicate early Don’t wait until the day before an event to ask someone to help.  Make the request at least two weeks before you need them to do anything – including attending a volunteer training session or meeting. #2 – Communicate often You don’t need to bombard volunteers with emails and text messages every day.  However, you do need to keep them informed and up-to-date.  A weekly email with special announcements, changes in your organization, or details on the next volunteer opportunity would be a great place to start. #3 – Consider your audience It’s easy to make assumptions, skim over details, and forget that we have a diverse audience.  Some of your volunteers have been around for years and “get” what you’re saying.  However, the newer folks may be mystified and wonder what you’re talking about.  Don’t use acronyms or “insider” language with volunteers.  Reread your communications while asking yourself, “If I was brand-new to our church, would I understand this message?”. #4 – Use various communication tools You have a plethora of tools at your disposal, many of which are free including email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, phone calls, and text messages.  These are all tools you can use for various types of volunteer communication. Try posting a request for volunteers on the church’s Facebook page and Twitter account.  Take pictures of volunteers serving and having fun, then post that on Instagram.  Build a community online and leverage that community to keep in touch with volunteers throughout the week. #5 – Use various communication methods There are three main types of learning styles.  Some learn best by hearing a lecture (auditory), others need to see the instructions (visual), while a third group needs to experience the lesson (tactile). What does this look like in practice?  First, invite your volunteers to a training session.  Handout the instructions (visual), review them out loud (auditory), and ask if the group has any questions, then have your team walk through the event space (tactile).  By hitting all three learning styles, you increase the chances of each volunteer understanding the instructions and being able to do a great job. Remember: Communication isn’t about you – it’s about your audience.  That means you need to listen to your audience.  Ask your volunteers if they feel like they’re receiving enough communication or information from you.  Find out which method and frequency of communication they prefer.  Try a few different methods and see what works best.  Effective communication makes volunteers feel appreciated, informed, and equipped to serve with excellence.  That alone makes it worth the time and effort to get it right.

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Top 5 Volunteer Scheduling Tools

In any church, volunteers handle a wide variety of tasks to keep services running smoothly. Keeping track of these volunteers for weekly church services, fundraisers, and other special events can feel like a full-time job. If you’re still living in the sticky note and spreadsheet era of volunteer management, it’s time to leverage volunteer scheduling tools to make life easier. These 5 Volunteer Scheduling tools will provide the ability to easily: Check out these volunteer scheduling tools:  SignUp.com A simple, user-friendly tool, SignUp.com allows volunteers to sign up for specific duties on specific days. It even has a filter feature, making it easy to see what shifts and positions are open for certain events. If you’re looking for a “no-frills’ way to keep track of volunteers, this is the tool for you.Price: SignUp.com is relatively inexpensive compared to other volunteer scheduling software. In the Basic, free version, SignUp offers several features. These include unlimited emails and participants, simple shift swap, email delivery tracking and reminding, social media sharing, and more. If you need something with more capabilities, the software also offers Starter ($9.99/month), Plus ($24.99/month), Max ($49.99/month), and Campus ($99/year) plans. These come with unique functions like waiver uploads, increased organizer options, and custom URLs. Check out its packages for more details on what each plan can offer you. Planning Center Planning Center was designed with worship services in mind. This is a comprehensive church management software that allows you to plan and schedule all ministry activities in one space. You can even create a member database, manage member giving, and attach service rehearsal documents. It also allows you to upload detailed plans for each service, from what songs will be played to who the bandmates will be that day. You can use the Services feature to handle volunteer scheduling or leverage it with other features of the Planning Center system.Price: Planning Center comes with a 30-day free trial but no free version. Its pricing, which ranges from $14/month to $199/month, is based upon the number of team members who will be accessing the system. See the plans here to learn more. Churchteams Churchteams is a full software suite. It helps you manage membership, groups, volunteers, event registration, contributions, email marketing, reporting, and other important data. One unique component of Churchteams is its Text-to-Church feature. This allows guests, members, volunteers, and church staff to directly interact with the database through texting. This software is leading the pack in workflow automation as well. It works to identify and map out workflows to help you automate your systems and procedures for consistent communication and follow ups with church members and guests.Price: Like Planning Center, pricing for Churchteams is based on the volume of team members using it. They offer a free 30-day trial but after that packages begin at $37/month and go up to $297/month. More details on their various plans can be found here.  VolunteerMark VolunteerMark has a streamlined approach to recruitment, donations, scheduling, tracking, and communicating. The cloud-based software helps volunteers track commitments through a personalized dashboard. There, they can manage their events, reschedule, and communicate with volunteer leaders. You can create one-time events with unlimited shifts or create schedules as fixed or flexible based on need. There are a lot of possibilities for volunteer management with this intuitive program.Price: In addition to a free trial for its more advanced packages, VolunteerMark also offers a free version. The free version allows you up to 50 users and three events per month. Pricing ranges from $34/month for its Basic package and goes up to $125/month for the Royale package. See the differences in features here. SignUpGenius SignUpGenius boasts an impressive 18 million users every month. With its user-friendly interface, it’s easy to see why. SignUpGenius makes it simple to create sign ups, message groups, report accurately, and donate with a payment feature. The latter even allows you to track payment history and export into Excel for bookkeeping purposes.Price: There is a Basic plan through SignUpGenius that is free for small groups. More comprehensive packages include the Silver ($8.99/month), Gold ($22.49), and Platinum ($44.99) options. As the most inexpensive volunteer sign-up software on our list, SignUpGenius is a popular choice for both personal and professional functions. Bonus Volunteer Scheduling Tool Option: Your Church Management Software Ask whether the church management software (ChMS) your church uses has a volunteer scheduling option built-in. Many do, so this is a quick and cheap (since you’re already paying for it), way to implement an online volunteer scheduling process. Additional Resources on Volunteer Management

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background check providers

5 Best Background Check Providers for Church Volunteers

As church leaders, you want to create a safe environment for those who attend your church. Thankfully, there are several background check providers who can help you with this important task. Conducting background checks on volunteers can protect your members, especially children, from potential predators. Story after story reminds us just how important this task is — and how carefully screening all staff should be a priority at every church. Background checks may only indicate that an individual hasn’t been caught. However, they are still a vital first step to properly vetting potential staff members and volunteers. Here are five background check providers to consider as you implement or improve the screening processes at your church: Shepherd’s Watch To purchase background check screenings through Shepherd’s Watch, you must first purchase one of the two life-time memberships offered. These memberships, $29.99 or $79.99, are a one-time fee and provide additional safety knowledge in a monthly newsletter, videos for volunteer training, and articles to share with your staff. Price: In addition, a membership offers special pricing on expert background checks, which range from $12 to $39. SafeChurch SafeChurch offers risk management resources for GuideOne Insurance customers. They offer inspection and assessment tools that give safety improvement recommendations, project plans for those improvements, and access to online training designed specifically for churches. It also offers access to background check services through Protect My Ministry, which serves churches of all sizes, and Reference Services Inc. (RSI), a nationally-accredited full-service background screening and drug testing firm. Price: Because of GuideOne’s partnership with Protect My Ministry and RSI, discounted prices are available for background checks. Click on the links to learn pricing options for the specific needs at your church. Protect My Ministry Protect My Ministry, as mentioned above, serves churches of all sizes. Currently, it’s serving more than 25,000 ministries throughout all 50 states. Its unique features include 50-state sex offender searches, free re-verification of criminal records, and no minimum requirements to use their services. Price: This background check provider offers two packages, the Basic and Plus. Both are comprehensive screenings for both staff and volunteers. Use their online consultation tool to find out which package is recommended for your church. LifeWay LifeWay allows access to several background check providers at heavily discounted rates. By going through backgroundchecks.com’s proprietary National Criminal Database, they are able to offer a host of products that allow additional searches through various tribal territory sex offender files and numerous state health and human services exclusion lists. Price: Though there are many options to choose from with LifeWay, pricing ranges from $10 to $20 per check. Learn more about their pricing options here.   Verified Volunteers Verified Volunteers offers an easy, user-friendly way to do background checks. Once you identify a potential volunteer, you send them the invitation through email or an embedded link. From there, the volunteer goes through the simple four-step process, which you can monitor the entire way. Price: Costs of a VV background check are dependent on the complexity of the screening. Costs could be as low as $10. Contact VV to learn a more accurate quote for your church’s needs. In addition to background checks, there are more ways to ensure you’re meeting the highest level of safety protocols. Talk with your church’s insurance provider. Ask if they have preferred background check providers. Ask them for recommendations on vetting staff and volunteers along with policies for childcare and interaction with minors. Contact your church management system vendor to ask if they work with specific background check providers.   Don’t rely only on a clear background check to approve a staff member or volunteer.  With staff members, you should have an extensive interview process and check references in addition to the background check. For volunteers, consider setting rules where a volunteer must attend the church for at least six months before he/she can serve around minors. You could also require them to serve in other areas (greeters, parking lot, etc.) before they serve around children. This allows staff and other volunteers time to interact with this individual and notice any potentially concerning behavior.   Put policies into place — and make sure they’re followed — where an adult cannot be alone with a child. Ever. Even if this means canceling childcare on a Sunday morning because a few volunteers didn’t show up. As a parent, I’d rather be told I’ll need to keep my child in service with me than have her in the nursery and something bad happen because an adult was unsupervised. No one wants to admit that abuse could happen at their church. It’s easy to read these horrifying stories and think they are so far away from your reality. But if we truly want to keep people safe, we have to recognize that abuse is possible, then take the steps necessary to prevent it. By implementing background checks and other safety procedures, you could save little ones (and their families) from the horrific long-term impacts of abuse.

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10 Low-Cost Ways to Show Appreciation for Church Volunteers

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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Why Volunteers Quit

Volunteering at church can be an incredible experience. It helps us connect with our church family, develop stronger relationships, and further our growth as disciples of Jesus. While there are many excellent reasons to serve, sometimes volunteers fade away and we’re left wondering what happened. So, why do volunteers quit? I’ve enjoyed serving and usually said, “yes” to requests to volunteer, there were times when I stepped away from serving. You may run into this with your volunteers. A long-time volunteer may tell you he needs a break and wants to step down in a few weeks. Your most dependable leader in the nursery may say she’s ready to move to another ministry area. While this can be frustrating and discouraging, it’s something you need to be prepared to handle. Why do volunteers quit? Some reasons have nothing to do with the church: Other times, the reason has everything to do with the church: What can you do to you prevent more volunteers from quitting? #1 – Don’t let people overcommit Every volunteer coordinator loves people who’re willing to sign up for more than one responsibility. However, while it’s great when a reliable volunteer is willing to help in several areas, you need to protect him from himself. As a general rule, don’t let volunteers serve in more than two services per week. Also, if someone is serving weekly don’t ask her to serve at every single special event (especially if your church has special events each month). #2 – Know what’s going on in their personal lives Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t about getting too nosey. This is about getting to know your volunteers (especially those in leadership roles). These types of life events can be wonderful but also energy draining. If a volunteer is serving in multiple areas and has a demanding job or new responsibilities coming up, you may need to be prepared for him/her to step back from something. Talk with your volunteers and gauge how each is doing. #3 – Develop a leadership pipeline It can be hard to find qualified and reliable volunteer leaders, so when you find a few it’s tempting to load them up to max capacity. Please don’t do that to them or to yourself. Constantly be on the lookout for people with leadership potential and invite them to serve. Put them under the leadership of your current volunteers and work together to develop them. Then, as your current volunteer leaders need a break or fewer volunteer roles, you’ll already have others who’re ready to step up. #4 – Honor your volunteers Don’t expect to keep volunteers for long if you… You’ll frustrate, discourage, burn out, and frankly just tick people off doing that stuff. As Carey Nieuwhof pointed out in his post on why churches lose high capacity volunteers, “Few things are more demotivating than giving up your time as a volunteer only to discover the staff person responsible didn’t set you up to succeed.” Instead, take the time to plan ahead for each service or event: #5 – Request feedback Meet with your volunteer leaders at least quarterly. Find out what they’re hearing from their teams and what they’ve noticed personally. #6 – Be open about shortcomings As someone progresses from attending, to serving, to leading other volunteers, he will get closer to seeing the inner workings of the church. This includes the great things right along with the less-than-ideal stuff. If a volunteer has the pastor or other church leaders on a pedestal, he may become disillusioned when he sees the real deal. Here are several ways to counteract that issue: #7 – Provide Clear Expectations Create job descriptions for each volunteer role. Include why the role exists along with specific tasks someone filling that role should perform. We provide sample volunteer job descriptions in The Church Operations Toolkit to make this effort easier. There’s a lot you can do to retain volunteers. Protect them from themselves, plan ahead, communicate often, express your appreciation, be open about what needs improvement, and ask for forgiveness when needed. What are some other reasons you’ve heard of volunteers quitting?

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