Pastor to Pastor - How to Build a Dream Team of Volunteers

By Tim Peters

People volunteer for many reasons.
They’re looking for community; they feel guilty if they don’t serve somewhere; they have some free time on their hands; or maybe even because they believe in what you’re doing and want to help.
But the most common reason people volunteer is because they want to make a difference in the world. They want to take the time they have, combined with the passions and skills they have, and use them to make a difference. It really is that simple.
There’s no magic formula when it comes to gaining, training and retaining volunteers.
But there is a simple strategy you can employ to build a dream team of volunteers that will become the staff team you’ve always wanted, but couldn’t afford.

Connect people to their passion.

It doesn’t matter how much you need someone to set up for your video shoots, if they aren’t passionate about your ministry, they won’t stay.

 

Connect their strengths to their volunteer roles.

If they are great writers, let them write. If they are great photographers, let them shoot. But don’t assume that just because they are creative in one area that they will be creative in another.

 

Connect your expectations to their reality.

Job descriptions, time commitments, the works. It’s better to accurately communicate what you need up front and have someone turn you down than to understate the role just to get them to say yes.

people to community.

People who serve in isolation won’t be on your team for long. Even if their role is one that is a “one man” job, make sure you keep them connected to the bigger team in some way (team meetings, team emails, etc.)

Connect people to the vision.

Constantly remind them of how they are helping accomplish the vision. Remember, people serve because they want to make a difference. Remind them that they are making a difference.
Volunteers can be an incredible asset to you team, to your church and to the kingdom. If you take the right steps from the beginning and put the right people in the right places, you’ll have a communications dream team.
How do you build your volunteer team?

Tim Peters is creator of Sayge and a ten year church communications veteran. Sayge is an intentional, all-in-one, church marketing and communications monthly training resource that is designed to help Church Leaders master the basics of church marketing and communications.
More from Tim Peters or visit Tim at timpeters.org/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sample This New Ebook
Click on The banner Below