Where Have All The Volunteers Gone?
Treat your volunteers the right way, and you’ll see big payoffs.
By M.J. Blank
Faith communities, perhaps more than any other groups, depend heavily on help from their members to get things done. Holiday celebrations, choirs, children’s religious education, fundraising, and other essential functions often get done by unpaid volunteers. Event planning is no exception.
Ironically, however, “very few denominations train clergy in how to work with volunteers. In fact, most faith communities tend to operate on the ‘God will provide’ school of volunteer management,” says Susan Ellis, president of Energize Inc., a Philadelphia-based volunteer consulting company. That’s a mistake, she believes. “As with anything else, the more attention that is paid to developing strong volunteers, the more involved your congregation will become.”
What can you do to ensure the most fruitful relationship with volunteers? As with hiring employees, your efforts should focus on four areas: recruiting, training, managing/communicating with, and rewarding those generous souls willing to share their time and energy.
Recruiting and Screening
Many organizations often run into two problems: too many volunteers, or too few (or at least, not the right kind). Rather than employing a wait-and-see approach, it makes sense to decide in advance exactly what skills you require and to target members who have those skills. Posting a notice in the church newsletter is not the same as approaching someone in person.
Ellis is a big believer in clear, written descriptions of positions so that there is no mistake about your expectations. “If you say that you need someone to take care of your audiovisual needs, they may not understand what that means,” she explains. Forms describing the type of equipment and at what step you’ll need it provide a clearer picture.
Planners who are savvy about working with volunteer help understand the importance of explaining what is needed and asking questions up front. “Part of our application process is to share relevant experience and identify areas of desired service,” says Robin Kluever, training and ministry volunteer partners director for the International Network of Children’s Ministry, Castle Rock, Colorado. Kluever works closely with Roxanne Walker, events director for the organization.
Hank Hilliard, manager of youth ministry development for Young People’s Ministries, Nashville, a ministry of The United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, sometimes asks candidates: “If you could do just one thing, what would it be?” One new volunteer said he liked to work on contemplative prayer events and prayer walks. “I asked him if he could design something for 5,000 people in a convention center,” Hilliard says, and realized that that was a job he could turn over.
It’s important to make it clear that you aren’t necessarily looking to get married. Hilliard asks volunteers to commit to a minimum of a year. “I think it’s important that people don’t think it’s a lifetime commitment, in case they have a life change or their passions change,” he reasons. He works with two kinds of volunteers to plan events: long-term veterans and short-term “temps,” who help to take some of the pressure off the veterans by pitching in on smaller events.
Learning up front what excites a new volunteer might produce some pleasant surprises. Certain people prefer to do the small but essential tasks, such as setup or cleanup, while others are technology or financial wizards.
And some people don’t want the responsibility of an ongoing commitment; they might be looking for a one-off opportunity to help out. “Some high-powered people will say, ‘Just tell me what to do, don’t make me come to meetings,’” Ellis notes. Hilliard has one seasoned volunteer who is only interested in helping with an annual 10-day mission to Mexico. Since he’s been through it before, his presence makes Hilliard’s job easier. A plus: Even though he’s only involved once a year, that volunteer has turned out to be an especially effective recruiter for the organization.
It’s also important to remember that just because someone is willing to step up to the plate doesn’t mean that he or she will be a productive volunteer. That’s where selection committees and background checks come in handy.
“You want to know how they get along with people and work on a team,” Hilliard says. For big events, a selection team can help to weed out inappropriate candidates and let them down gently without having it seem personal. Just accepting someone who expresses interest in volunteering can sometimes do more harm than good if that person alienates or undermines others on the team. “I would rather have eight really good volunteers than 25 I’m not sure about,” Hilliard observes.
Tools and Training
Just as in a paid job, volunteers need to understand their roles and have the resources to do the tasks that they have been assigned. That includes training—for jobs such as registration—information, and resources to give them the confidence that they can perform. “We also like to protect them from other people who are upset—give them a way to direct those people to a supervisor,” Hilliard says.
In addition, your organization’s policies must be clearly explained, especially when children are involved. Members of Hilliard’s organization are trained in Safe Sanctuaries, a system developed by the United Methodist Church that governs situations involving interactions between adults and younger church members.
For the International Network of Children’s Ministry annual conference, a conference coordinator of assistants (volunteers) oversees a three-hour general orientation and two-hour, task-specific training sessions. The ministry also distributes written guidelines that cover dress code, schedules, volunteer benefits, a conference overview, and specific volunteer job functions.
If you have volunteers supervising other volunteers (committee heads, for example), keep in mind that volunteers do not automatically know how to manage or work with other volunteers. Because of that, it’s not a bad idea to have an orientation explaining how to run meetings and committees and keep communication lines open.
Keeping in Touch
Ellis says one way to ensure that everyone is on the same page and on task is to have each group or committee complete standardized meeting reports (which, of course, would result from regular meetings). The reports need not be complicated; they could consist of simple bullet points that describe completed tasks, concerns, and action plans. The paid meeting planner, or whoever is in charge of the whole project, then needs to respond to the reports so people understand their progress is a meaningful part of the bigger picture.
Making members feel that they are part of a team and giving them the tools to do their jobs creates a sense of empowerment that is crucial; that can extend to their “job titles” as well.
“Rather than referring to them as ‘volunteers’, we call them ‘conference assistants’, Kluever says. The team of assistants dons “staff” vests for events. Why is this important? “If you make a strong distinction between paid staff and volunteers, you can encounter resistance from attendees when honoring instructions/policies/guidelines,” she explains. “It is important to empower volunteers to offer quality and effective customer service.”
Similarly, she adds, it’s preferable to allow volunteers to do their jobs rather than micromanage. But don’t overdo it, she counsels: “Do not expect more time/work of them than you are willing to do yourself,” she says.
Hilliard is planning a major event for 2011, and he has already started meeting with volunteers and staff to help visualize the program and decide the best way for contributors to work together. “We encourage our youth directors to see themselves as trainers of trainers,” he says. “We want to find out what you love and match you up with an event.”
Realize, too, that committees are not always the way to go. “A big mistake many faith organizations make is to say, ‘We need a committee,’” Ellis says. “I would rather, in some cases, see a dynamic duo, or maybe three people, named. They don’t have to worry about who’s the chair; they can be lean and mean and just get it done.”
Just as with employees, sometimes volunteers need to be fired. If that becomes a necessity, it’s a good idea to document the reasons that you must let someone go. “It’s so much more convincing when they ask what the problem is and you can produce dates, times, and incident statements,” Hilliard says. “It shows that you’ve done your homework.”
Rewarding Effort
For faith-based organizations, the satisfaction of a job well done might seem like an adequate reward for a volunteer, but it’s still important to actively recognize contributions.
“You always want volunteers to feel that you’re proposing to or dating them, not as if you’re already married,” Hilliard says. “People need to feel appreciated. It’s easy to forget that they are not getting paid, are leaving their family, and sometimes taking vacation time” to pitch in.
Little (and not so little) things do mean something. Common perks include:
• Comps for meals and lodging (and sometimes travel expenses) during an event
• Waived attendance fees or a choice of CDs from breakout sessions; and/or
• T-shirts, visors, etc.
For all rewards, decide in advance what kind of time or work commitment qualifies for each level of recognition, because giving everyone the same reward sends a mixed message, especially to the hardest workers.
Ultimately, Ellis advises, it’s important to recognize everyone who has contributed to an event in a meaningful way and to provide “something visible for those who went above and beyond. That’s important, because they deserve it and other people will see what’s going on. It’s not an end, it’s a first step in recruiting for the future.”
