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Home » Church Leadership, Featured, Volunteer Recruiting

Recruiting volunteers for the future

Submitted by James Higginbotham on July 11, 2007 – 6:55 pmOne Comment

Have you ever thought about how many potential volunteers you could recruit tomorrow by investing some time on them today? One of the recurring patterns I have been seeing recently is the reactive nature of ministry leaders. While we are all very busy, it us up to you, as a leader, to manage your time appropriately so that you can spend time today investing in your future volunteers.

In Chapter 2 of my recent eBook, Handle With Care, I wrote about how to invest in your team members and minister to their needs. The rules that apply to today’s team members also applies to your future team members. Here are some tips on how to get started recruiting for the future:

Overcoming Lack of Time

Every leader struggles with a lack of time – too many things to do with too little time in the day to do them. I have mentioned how placing constraints on your ministry can help you grow, as well as how to audit your team’s task list and how to perform time management. Spend the time to take inventory of what you do, find some things you can get rid of, and take that time to invest in future volunteers.

Overcoming Lack of Candidates

Unless you live in a small town with limited resources, there is always someone that can add value to your team. The hard part is finding ways they can help if you require a specific skillset (e.g. musicians for a worship team). What might happen if you simply asked some people who may have some hidden talent? Get 3 referrals from every person you meet, until you’ve talked to every candidate possible. I know of several people within my church that have great musical talent, but are untapped because the ministry isn’t in “emergency mode” trying to find help.

You may even consider talking with other churches in your region that are similar in affiliation and/or beliefs to see if they have untapped resources that could help out. Don’t steal their membership, just look for people that have a skill and passion but maybe not have the opportunity to serve where they are today.

Overcoming Lack of Skills

Everyone can be trained to some degree. Find out if someone has the an affinity for something similar to the skills you need. Then, the invest time and resources into getting them trained by you or someone else, and get them involved in your team. If they can’t stick with it, then you haven’t lost much investment. But, they may turn out to be one of the best team members you’ll ever have.

Whatever you do, don’t assume that because you have enough people today, you won’t need more help (or a different kind of help) tomorrow. Free up your time as a leader to begin to establish your recruiting strategy within the church today so that you can be prepared for the needs of tomorrow.

[tags]recruiting volunteers, church leadership, volunteer management[/tags]

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