Don't Miss This Fall Opportunity to Add Lots of New Volunteers to Your Team

Need more volunteers?  Of course you do.  I've never seen a children's ministry that didn't need more volunteers.  It is the greatest challenge in leading a children's ministry. 

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  It happens in the fall and if you have a clear strategy, you can add lots of new volunteers to your team.

Here's the strategy:

Step One - Host a church fall festival, trunk and treat, fall event, etc. 

Step Two - Ask the church to get behind the fall festival or event you are hosting.  To be most effective, this event should be a church-wide effort. 

Step Three - I'm not usually a fan of church-wide asks for volunteers from the pulpit. But this is an exception.  Have your lead pastor make announcements about volunteering for the fall event.  Do this during the regular worship service.  The senior pastor should cast vision for the impact the fall event will have.  People will come to Christ.  Families will be changed.  People will start attending the church because of the event.  

Make sure you come across with vision instead of desperation.  People are drawn to vision.  Share with them how they will get to be a part of the big impact the event will have.  They have the opportunity to be part of something that will change people's life. 

Especially focus on those who are not currently serving anywhere.  Ask them to sign-up for this one-time serve. You will find that many people will respond for a one-time serve ask.

Pass out sign-up cards.  Ask them to fill out the card and then collect the cards. 

Contact them and get them plugged into a serving spot.  Preferably pair them up with some of your "rock star" volunteers. 

p.s. It can be challenging to get a background check done for all of the one-time serve volunteers. If you can't get a background check done that fast, make sure you place them with an approved volunteer and give them a role that will not be a hazard.

Help them have a great serving experience. Give them a simple task.  You don't want to overwhelm them. Make sure you communicate with them well.  Don't make them show up with no clue about what they will be doing.

The week after the event, call them and invite them to serve on your team on a regular basis.  

Have a clearly defined on-boarding process for those who say "yes."

  • Application filled out.
  • Personal interview.
  • Background check.
  • Reference calls.
  • Orientation. 
  • Hands on training.

When our team followed this strategy, we found that we could see up to 85% of the one-time servers join our team on a regular basis.  I can personally name people that we brought on board through this strategy and trust me - it will work.  

Here's an example.  One year I divided up the list of people who had served during the event.  One of the men that I called decided to join the team as a volunteer.  He went on to become the children's director at one of our largest campuses.  

You can see long-term fruit if you follow this strategy.  

Looking for more ways to build a volunteer team?  Check out my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams.  It gives you the full process for building and equipping your volunteer team.  It's available at this link.  

You can order the "Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams" here.