Many of you may have questions like: “What do I need to do to get more kidmin volunteers? What are some surefire, tried-and-true methods for keeping volunteers for the long term? How do I get volunteers to come to my training meetings?”
We all start in the wrong place. Sunday comes every week, so we need to get things done, and we are consumed by what and how. We neglect the most important question that is found deep within the minds of our volunteers: Why? Why do we do what we do? We may be wondering how to get something done, but they are wondering why they are doing.
Most people start with “what,” “how,” then “why.” Amazing organizations start with “why,” then “how,” then “what.”
Why are you doing what you are doing? If you can’t answer that for yourself, you won’t be able to communicate it to your team.
Why do you need volunteers?
- To release gifts
- To grow the church
- To trust Christ more than yourself.
Why do they need you?
We need to not just grow our volunteers wide—we must grow them deep.
- To grow them spiritually
- To pour into them relationally
- To thank them incessantly
How to focus on the “why”:
1. Be a better story finder and storyteller.
2. Repeat the good, fix the bad (bad stories are funnier and travel faster, but they kill the why).
3. Say it, write it, chant it, mime it.
4. Pray and seek God for your “why” moment—don’t make up a why.
5. Talk to your pastor and find out his “why.”
6. The “why” should evoke emotions in you and in them. We avoid emotionalism, but we need emotions because emotions are the containers that hold truth in a way that it can accessed in the future.
Whatever your “why” is, it must be found in the who, and the who is Christ. Whatever you do, never forget to bring what you do back to Jesus. Whatever your “why” is, it will not be accomplished by you trying harder but by you trusting deeper.
For more great articles on leading volunteers, check out 25 Best Articles on Leading Volunteers (That Get Them to Stay and Thrive!)
