Church Volunteer Recruitment - Part 1
Church volunteer recruitment is one of the most critical and most challenging tasks for every church leader. Volunteers are the lifeblood of any church and most church health metrics show a strong correlation between volunteer team growth and the health and growth of the church (see the Unstuck Church Growth reports).
STEP 1: USE A SYSTEM TO RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS
First, make a list of prospects who could serve in your ministry. Search your church management system for people who aren't serving, asking current volunteers for names, ask staff for names, look for people in groups/classes but aren't serving, etc. Make sure they meet your basic qualifications of membership and benchmarks
Second, contact them with an email inviting them to talk briefly on a weekend before or after the service they attend. Indicate you would like to get to know them (if you don't) and hear how they found their way to your church. If you know them, indicate you want to hear how things are going and help them take a step if they're interested.
Third, meet with people and hear their stories. If serving with you seems like a fit, invite them to observe. If not, point them to their best next step.
Fourth, follow up with people you didn't hear back from with an email or maybe even a text. Keep it loose, and don't bug them after this second contact. But, make it clear you expected to hear back from them and didn't.
STEP 2: SET ASIDE TWO TIME BLOCKS FOR RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS
The biggest barrier to recruiting volunteers is that we don't put the time into it. This step will help, as will Step 4. Set aside 2 hours early in the week and another 2 hours late in the week to work on this. Your schedule might look like this:
Monday – 10am – Contact prospects and people taking steps through onboarding
Monday – 11am – Work on ideas for Steps 5 & 6
Thursday 10am – Contact prospects and people taking steps
Thursday 11am – Firm up conversations for Sunday and add more prospects to contact next week
Turn off email, social media, and maybe even hide somewhere to minimize distractions. Also, block the time out early in the day so it doesn't get pushed out.