How You Pay Volunteers
And get them to say yes next time
“It’s tough to lead people who don’t get paid for what they do.” How many times have you heard a colleague in ministry say that?
Leading volunteers is not easy, but the issue of money may not be the problem. Here’s why: all workers in today’s highly competitive job market are, in essence, volunteers; every day they choose to leave or stay. Most valuable employees, especially in the technical field, frequently entertain job offers from headhunters. A friend, an IT professional, recently quit his job on Friday and started a new one the next Monday. He didn’t plan on quitting, but when he did, he had several options.
Beyond that, every day, every hour, even paid employees decide how well they are going to work. Quality work, especially in creative or service sectors, has always been given, not extracted by a paycheck. Only volunteers go the extra mile—in business or in ministry.
So what makes people stay and produce if it isn’t money?
What people get paid (or don’t get paid) may contribute to dissatisfaction, but it really can’t contribute to satisfaction, which usually comes from internal motivators.
An acquaintance, a chemist in the computer industry, recently complained to me that his company didn’t recognize him for one of his inventions—a special solution that washes silicon chips. His company pays him a big salary, but “what I want is recognition for what I’ve done,” he said.
What he really wanted was something church leaders can give those who serve in the church.
Another kind of pay
“Psychic income” refers to what motivates people other than money, such things as respect, recognition, and challenge. Psychic income may be the only earthly benefit people receive from serving in the church, yet it’s often in short supply.
Simple things such as a thank-you note, clear communication and expectations, a leader who’s excited about the work—all contribute to psychic income, which makes volunteers feel their service was worthwhile, part of something great.
I heard the president of Sunset magazine in San Francisco say, “I want to create an environment so when headhunters call the people that work for me, they say, ‘I couldn’t imagine working any place else.'” Salaries don’t create that kind of environment.
I was recently asked to participate with an “interpretive movement” team in our Sunday worship service. (Interpretive movement, in my opinion, is a euphemism for dance—but at least I didn’t have to wear a leotard.) A men’s chorus sang “The Lord’s Prayer,” and our team used simple arm-and-body movements to express the meaning of the prayer. The worship experience was powerful.
I’m not an interpretative movement kind of guy; my wife gasped when she heard I had said yes. Yet from the moment I was asked to participate in the service, through the long rehearsals, to the thank-you note I received in the mail a couple days after the service, I felt appreciated, important. I believed my involvement contributed to the worship of God.
Why? Because our leader, a volunteer whose full-time job is nursing, kept us focused on why we were doing this: to lead people in holy worship. Plus, she did the little things that translated into psychic income for the team: the warm invitation, the follow-up phone calls, clear expectations, well-directed rehearsals, and the brief but heartfelt thank-you note.
I may even, uh, do it again sometime.
—Dave Goetz is executive editor of PreachingToday.com
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