Are You the Reason Your Volunteers Are Leaving?

We all face this challenge in ministry today: rotating volunteers.

Did you know that one-third of those who volunteer the first year will not volunteer the second year, in your ministry or anywhere else? Want to know why?

It was because they had a bad experience.

Now think about that, because I have some tension that I want you to deal with. One of the things I learned in a Stanford News article about volunteerism is that right now in our culture, 68 percent of those 18 to 26 years of age are choosing companies that have volunteer opportunities attached to them. They base their job on whether or not they'll be able to take a job to the Dominican Republic or to Africa. I have known people who have done exactly that, they are not even Christians, but they want to make a difference in the world.

I find that to be very intriguing, don’t you?

We want to understand that there are 68 percent of people who are saying, “I want to make a difference.” They are waiting in your church, ages 18 to 26. They are waiting for you to ring their bell and get their gifts in the game.The reason they don't come back is because we have a sloppy system. So, before we talk about all the ways we should recruit and power up on vision, which I totally believe in, I guess I want to press pause and say, “Wait a second. We have some sloppiness in the system. If everyone you had recruited had stayed you would not have a problem, would you?”

This thought keeps me awake at night. I think I have recruited 6,000 people to fill 3,000 slots, over and over and over again.

Until we work on the volunteer care system structure, we won't be able to fix whether or not they will stay, whether or not they will ever come in for the long haul, to move from rotation into regularly serving.

So, how do we do that?

I want to walk you through 10 questions to consider as you build your volunteer structure. We all sit with this problem, where volunteers put their toe in the water, but they only come a little further. We need to put a great system in place, where they are cared for and where they are honored.

Ask yourself these 10 questions:

1. What is the job description that you are asking them to do? How long is it? It should fit in two sentences. It should be clear.

2. How do your volunteers catch the vision? The vision has to be there every Sunday. Because vision leaks, they forget, life happens. And pretty soon we all think we are crazy for serving in ministry. The vision is what draws us back.

3. What time in your schedule can you set aside to attack this every week? Are we reactive, or proactive? It’s the lowest thing on our list, but if we figured it out, it would make the biggest difference in our ministry.

4. Who needs a one-on-one conversation? Do you spend a concentrated amount of time with your rotating volunteers, to cast vision and make a personal invitation to be a consistent small group leader?

5. Can they come in gradually? Do you give your volunteers an opportunity to come into your ministry and experience what it would mean to change lives?

6. Who will affirm them when they are serving? Do you have coaches or other leaders that let their volunteers know they are doing a great job?

7. Are they doing what they love? Do your volunteers feel more energized when they serve in your ministry?

8. Are you building apprentices in your ministry? Are there great people who can mentor your younger volunteers, to build depth in your ministry?

9. Is there a clear start and end? There are volunteers that are waiting for you to come to them, with an opportunity to serve that has a clear start and end.

10. How will you show them that they accomplished something? Tell the stories that are happening in your ministry. Let them know they are making a difference.

Remember: One day, we are going to see these volunteers — that we take out to coffee, that we spend time with, that we coach, that we prod, that we affirm, that we appreciate — we are going to see them in heaven one day. And I promise you right now, they are going to say, “I am so glad I gave, and I wish I could have given more. Thank you for calling me into the game.”