Do you need more volunteers? Of course you do. I've never met anyone who didn't need more volunteers. It is the number one need in children's ministry.
I currently need many more volunteers. I am working on getting them. I added 6 new volunteers this past week.
How did I get them? Let's talk about that. Here are 5 ways you can add more volunteers to your team.
Invite people to a cause.
People are not drawn to desperation. They are drawn to a cause. Don't use words like "need" or "help" or '"please ,when you are recruiting. Instead, share about the opportunity it gives people to leave a legacy and impact people's life.
Help them catch a vision of what God can do in them and through them. They will be ministering to people at the most important time in their life. So much growth happens in the early years of a person's life.
When you serve in children's ministry, you are laying the foundation for the future of the church.
Ask people one at a time.
Jesus set the example for this. He invited people one at a time to come and follow Him. I believe the best way to enlist new volunteers is to simply ask people to serve. You might hear a few "no's but you will also hear a lot of "yes's."
Ask people every week at church. That's how you build a volunteer team. One person at a time. One invite at a time. One person enlisted at a time.
lnvolve parents.
I'm not a fan of "requiring" parents to serve. I want people to serve in children's ministry because they want to be there. But I do think you can be intentional about inviting parents to serve once every quarter or so.
Parents are the number one influence in a child's life and when kids see their parents serving it makes an impact.
Move people from serving at big events to serving on a regular basis.
Our Fall Festival is just around the the corner. I am inviting many people who don't normally serve to come and serve with us. Many of them will do this one-time serve. After the event, I will loop back around with them and invite them to join our team on a regular basis. I've had as high as 85% of people say "yes" with this approach.
Pray for more volunteers.
This is an amazing passage of Scripture. Look what it says in Matthew 9.
"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest'.”
Jesus saw the multitudes that needed His grace and forgiveness. He said we should pray for more laborer for the harvest. The problem is not the harvest. There is world full of people who need to know Jesus.
The need is for more laborers. Think about this with me. Jesus would not have commanded us to pray for more volunteers if He wasn't willing to give them to us. We have not because we ask not. Spend time every single day asking Jesus for more volunteers. If you will do this, He will send them your way.
So there you have it. 5 ways to add more volunteers to your team. What are some other ways you build your team? Share with everyone in the comment section below.
p.s. Have you read my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams?" It is available at this link.
