Keep Your Volunteers Interested

Would your volunteers say they are “Bored Now” and yawn?

I stumbled across some interesting volunteer statistics from a UK research firm:

Younger people aged 16-24, were more likely to be involved in informal volunteering than any other age group

I’ve recently noticed a trend in volunteer recruiting, sometimes called “first serve”, where churches produce a list of tasks that need to be done and ask that someone fill the need. These things require no long-term commitment, and are targeted to get things done while trying to get members excited into serving longer term.

More interesting statistics from the same UK research firm:

The group least likely to volunteer were 18-24 year olds. Nearly three quarters (73%) said they didn’t have time to volunteer and nearly half (46%) said they were not interested.

My question: would more of those sampled choose to volunteer at least once if the task were more interesting? I think so.

I truly believe that as staff and lay leaders, we need to change the perspective of how we approach our volunteers. Instead of having the staff and leaders doing what is often considered most interesting, they should be doing what is least interesting. How would you feel if there was an opportunity to start integrating high definition cameras and equipment into the church, only to find out that you don’t get to touch them, only run the cabling in a Texas July? Would you step up? I wouldn’t, and you probably wouldn’t as well (unless you just love running cable in July).

If you are using the “first serve” technique, take the time to review your list. If it isn’t interesting, do it yourself and add something interesting to the list. Utilize this opportunity to show your future volunteers that you care about them, not about what they’ll do for you. Taking this simple step will make for happier and more giving volunteers. Oh, and if you are thinking “I’m the leader, I should be the one doing the important/interesting stuff”, then you need to read Chapter 6 of my eBook:

“Here is a reality check: YOU ARE NOT NEEDED! You might think that the
church won’t survive without your leadership and ministry, but it isn’t true. Deal
with your pride now and accept that you can be replaced.”

The next time you have something that needs to be done, ask yourself: “How can I turn this into an opportunity to bless a volunteer by allowing them to do the fun stuff?” Then, after they are done, they’ll come back to serve even more.

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