Recruiting Your Volunteer Dream Team

Have you ever sat in church on a Sunday morning, looked around the room and coveted volunteers?

Okay, maybe it’s just me. I’ll notice a young couple I know sitting across the isle who are fun, relevant and on fire for God. All I can think of is…

“They’d be perfect youth ministry volunteers!
Middle schoolers would love these two!!!”

And then what do we usually do? We shake our head and say, “I wish they would sign up to help.”

And that is where we usually fail.

We forget the simplest, basic, most effective recruiting tool around…

ASK

I know, right? But let’s be honest. That’s where most of us fail. When it comes to recruiting an effective team of volunteers, most of our efforts are:

• Making announcements (“Hey, anyone interested in working with kids please sign up at the back table.”)
• Creating a creative video (Again, with the pitch at the end, “and if you’re interested, contact the youth pastor.”
• A booth at the ministry fair.

I just finished writing a skinny little book for GROUP Publishing on that very subject, part of the brand new set from 6 authors (also Greg Stier, Mark Oestriecher, and more…) about 6 vital youth ministry topics. The book is potent with tools and tips for recruiting, retaining and training today’s volunteers. And out of all the habits and pragmatic tools we can practice in our ministry… the most effective practice is the simple art of “ASKING.”

Sounds simple, right? Sadly, most of us rarely do it. They think about it, put it on the back burner, put it on the list of “should do’s”… but they rarely allocate time to actually asking people to serve in ministry.

I teach this simple concept to Christian leaders across the country and I always hear the same feedback. “You’re right. I know I should ask, but I don’t.”

Think about it. When is the last time you just pulled out a blank piece of paper, brainstormed, and wrote down the name of every person you’d love serving with you? When is the last time you just sat down and prayed about your dream team?

Most of us don’t do it.

It stops at the coveting stage.

Don’t make this mistake. Take the next step. ASK.

Jonathan’s new book, The Skinny on Volunteers is part of the brand new set arriving this month from GROUP called The Skinny. 6 authors, 6 books, 6 vital youth ministry subjects. Reserve your set now and get 20% off.