This Volunteers Week, we have been celebrating some of the amazing work done by fantastic volunteers in our churches, and today we are some sharing top tips on how to recruit, retain and celebrate them.
Volunteers make our churches function, and we are incredibly grateful for all the hard work, time and energy they give to serve their communities.
We want to say a massive thank you to all who volunteer at their churches in any capacity, and say that this work is massively appreciated.
Please see below our ten top tips for recruiting, retaining and celebrating volunteers.
- Make expectations of time and responsibility and the duration of the role clear up front, so volunteers know the level of commitment expected of them.
- Be enthusiastic about the importance of a role, and the positive impacts it has on the organisation.
- Approach people directly who could be good at a role, and have a one-to-one chat with them to encourage them to think about serving. It is always good to notice someone’s skills and encourage them to use their gifts for the organisation.
- Have existing volunteers share their experiences with other people being recruited, sharing why they do their role and the positive impact it has had on them personally.
- Consider recruiting people in groups so they can work together as teams, sharing the responsibilities and making the workload more manageable.
- Have periodic thank you celebrations for all volunteers, trying to be as generous to them as they are generous with their time, skills and energy. Food and social events where thank you can be said publicly are often good, as well as tokens of thanks, like thank you cards.
- Give volunteers a real say in how things happen in the area they are working in.
- Regularly check-in on how volunteers are doing, making sure they are doing well in their role.
- Provide good quality training to help volunteers in their role. The diocese can provide lots of support in this area for a wide range of volunteers!
- Have periodic reviews and checks that the volunteer is happy to continue, making it clear that people can withdraw if they’ve had enough.
The diocese can provide lots of support, guidance and training in working with volunteers.
Please click here to find out more.