Motivating and Recruiting Volunteers

The main thing that keeps volunteers motivated is the sense they are getting more out of their service than they are putting into it.
—Leith Anderson

Most of the work of the local church is done by volunteers. If the volunteers are ministering effectively, the church is ministering effectively. If they’re not, the church is not. It would be difficult, therefore, to conceive of a pastoral responsibility more important than helping volunteers be effective in their ministries.

Working with volunteers in the church involves three basic responsibilities: motivating people, guiding them to the right ministry, and supporting and supervising them as they minister.

Motivating People to Minister

Motivation is not an arcane science. It begins with an understanding of people and what they need. As I have reflected on that, I have developed a few guidelines for motivation within the church.

Use gratitude rather than guilt. Guilt is probably the most powerful motivator in the church. It’s quick and effective. When people are desperate to get a job done, they readily employ guilt.

But it also carries a high price tag: resentment. People motivated by guilt develop a subconscious hostility toward the leader and the institution. It is far better to motivate by appealing to gratitude—gratitude to God for all he has done.

I once attended a fund-raising banquet for the seminary from which I graduated. Before I walked in, I had my check made out. For me, at the time, the gift was substantial.

When the banquet host launched his appeal, he told how seven or eight faculty members were paid less than garbage collectors in New York City. (I remember thinking. So what? Most people in this room are paid less than garbage collectors in New York City.) His underlying message was, “You, the supporters of the school, don’t pay the faculty enough.” He was laying guilt on us.

I felt bad. I had wanted to give cheerfully. By the time he’d finished his speech, I had folded my check and put it in my pocket. I was sitting at the head table, but when the ice cream bucket came by, I didn’t put in my check.

That host could have motivated by gratitude: “This faculty has had a great impact on your life. You’re benefiting from them every day. You’ve got their books; you’ve got their lectures; you’ve got their example. God has blessed you through them. In response to the tremendous gift you’ve been given, you have an opportunity to say thank you.”

If he would have said that, I probably would have torn up my check and written one for more.

The same principle applies to motivating people to volunteer. Some time ago, because of some unusual circumstances that never should have happened, we didn’t have an adequate number of Sunday school teachers for the fall program. Some people say that in that situation I should announce, “If somebody isn’t going to teach the third graders, we won’t have a third-grade class. The pupils can sit in Sunday school with their parents.” It’s tempting, because it will work; somebody will volunteer. But the volunteer will be somebody who’s already overloaded and not gifted to teach third graders. That’s an awful approach to the Lord’s work.

Even at a time like that, I want to say, “God has taught us wonderful things. He has richly blessed us. Here is a great opportunity God has given us to say thank you, to pass on his blessings to somebody else.” That kind of appeal may not have an immediate effect, but for the long term, it’s much more effective.

Tap people’s existing dissatisfaction. A. satisfied need never motivates anyone. If you’re totally satisfied, you won’t get up in the morning. Before you can be mohvated to do anything, you must be dissatisfied. The wonderful thing about the church is that within it there is always an adequate supply of dissatisfaction.

One person is dissatisfied by the loss of identity in a society that treats him more and more like a number. The church can say, “Here is a chance for you to be a significant person in a ministry.” Another person is dissatisfied with the church facilities. That becomes a motivation for her to help plan for new facilities.

Our church has an abundance of leaders, and some people are dissatisfied because they want more opportunity to lead. We can say, “Do you want to run things? If you have those skills, great! We’ll start another church for which you can provide the leadership.” We need to look for ways to harness people’s dissatisfaction for ministry.

Give volunteers more than they put in. This could be terribly misunderstood, but the main thing that keeps volunteers motivated is the sense they are getting more out of their service than they are putting into it. If they reach the point where they perceive they are giving more than they’re getting, they will quit.

Teachers often say, “I get more out of the class by teaching it than I could by sitting and listening to the lesson.” People volunteer so they can experience personal growth, find the satisfaction of serving God, become part of a significant organization, or enjoy camaraderie with other workers. For example, Sunday school teachers hold departmental meetings that they think are designed primarily to plan for the next quarter. But the main purpose of the meeting is to say to teachers, “When you’re alone teaching six kids, really you are not alone. You’re part of a team. If you become sick or go on vacation, somebody else will take over.” The feeling of camaraderie the teachers take from these meetings gives them motivation to continue.

Even if a task involves pain or frustration, when people feel they are gaining significantly from it, they will continue to serve. This means that you can expect a lot from people as long as you “pay” them a lot.

Several years ago our church held a consultation with Lyie Schaller. As part of it, we scheduled a board meeting for one o’clock on Friday afternoon. Although all the board members work on Friday afternoon, everyone was there. Afterward, Schaller commented that having everyone attend wasn’t typical. I had never considered the possibility that anybody wouldn’t come. I expected the board members to do whatever they had to do—take vacation, if necessary—to be there.

They are willing to do that, however, because their pay is high. Those board members consider board meetings the highlight of their month. In addition, throughout the year, we hold game nights at my house for the elders and their families. If an elder calls, he gets through immediately. I might not change my schedule for somebody else’s wedding, but when elders’ kids get married, I’m there. I build my life around them and give them preferential treatment, and they know that.

Volunteers’ performance remains high when their pay remains high.

Rules for Recruiting

The church has a long history of using people to meet institutional needs. Not only is this approach disrespectful, but it also destroys motivation. Many churches are now learning to reverse the process, to begin not with the institution’s needs but with the individual’s gifts. Instead of saying, “We need a nursery worker for the fifth Sunday of the month,” congregations are learning to ask, “Where should you be serving Jesus Christ?” With this approach, people become better matched to their responsibilities.

Admittedly, this takes time. Wooddale has established a policy that people cannot be asked to serve until their names have been cleared through the staff. This means most of our staff meeting is spent talking about where people can be deployed in ministry. If no one on staff knows a person, a staff member will meet with the person and discuss his or her spiritual development and interests.

Although this approach takes time, it protects people. One volunteer, for example, was urgently needed in our music program. After a pastor visited the home, he reported to staff, “This couple has tensions in their marriage. The commitment to rehearsals wouldn’t be good for them right now; they need the time at home.” We respected that and determined to find somebody else or shut down that part of the music program.

Frankly, people respond better to an invitation when they discover it comes only after careful consideration by the staff. Suppose, for example, a person is gifted both in music and in working with teens, but because he’s starting a new business, he doesn’t have time to work in both areas. If we decide the greater need is in youth ministry, the youth pastor would explain to this person that he had been considered for another area but is being asked to take on only one responsibility. Volunteers recognize that as interest in them.

We also offer a Human Resources Program that consists of a seminar, some tests, and an interview with a person skilled in personnel management. The program helps people identify their interests and gifts and look for ways they can use them in the church.

(For some reason, people are willing to admit they have almost any gift except evangelism. To determine who has that gift, we go to an adult Sunday school class, fifty to ninety people who know each other reasonably well. We ask everyone to write down names of people in the group who have the gift of evangelism. Usually, about ten names are repeated. Then a pastor can approach these ten people and say, “The people who have prayed and studied with you, those who know you best, say that you have the gift of evangelism. Would you like to develop that gift and use it more?”)

Finally, before a person is approached about a position, a job description is developed that outlines the qualifications, relationships, and responsibilities, including term of service. This again helps people determine if the position is right for them.

Recruiting works better when the invitation comes, not from some full-time church recruiter, but from a person involved in that very ministry. Then the invitation is not, “Will you do this job?” but rather, “Will you join me in doing this job?”

In addition, we work hard to recruit well in advance of the assignment’s starting date. RecrJiting Sunday school teachers for the fall shouldn’t take place in August; it should happen in Apiil. This shows respect for volunteers and gives them time to think and pray about the commitment. The carefully considered commitment is much stronger than the one made hastily.

Normally, a person’s first assignment in the church is small. We would never, for example, ask someone to teach an adult congregation if we had not first seen the person teach as a substitute. When we have broken this rule and have guessed incorrectly about a person’s ability, we have lost people from the church. Removing people from a position causes them to lose face and to feel they need to find another congregation.

Of course, no matter how thoroughly we do these things, some placements won’t work. Sometimes a person will say, “I’ve tried this for six months, but it’s not my gift.” When that happens, we need to say, “Fine. Then what should your ministry be?”

Critical Ministries and Critical Roles

When there aren’t enough volunteers to staff a program, leaders need to ask, “Is this something we shouldn’t be doing?” Theologically, we assume that God will never expect us to do something for which he will not provide the resources. If the resources aren’t there, we need to ask, “Should this be dropped?”

The answer lies, in part, in whether the ministry is essential. At Wooddale, for example, morning worship, Sunday school, and child care would be seen as essential. People expect these basic programs in a contemporary American church, so we would not allow these areas to go unstaffed.

But when we didn’t have enough men for the men’s choir, we dropped the choir. Wooddale organized a ten-kilometer run to increase visibility and outreach in the community, but when we didn’t have enough volunteers anymore, we cut the program. These we can live without. Sunday school we cannot.

In addition, some volunteer roles are critical to the life of the church. One is a role I call “the introducer.” This person instinctively knows how to connect a visitor with another person, and then he or she moves on to find the next visitor. This person tends to wander through the halls, and we forgive him or her for not coming to worship services. It is important to not tie up the congregation’s introducer in teaching Sunday school. Growth depends on having one or more introducers free to do their work.

Other people I look for are the “epaulet men.” On the eve of the Battle of Saratoga in 1778, Daniel Morgan led his Morgan’s Rifles against the British army led by Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne. Morgan compared his troops and ammunition to the strength of the British, and it was obvious his Rifles were going to lose the battle. So the night before the battle, Morgan gathered his men and said, “Don’t waste your shot on those who fight for sixpence a day. Aim for the epaulet men”—the officers, who wore insignia on their shoulders.

The next day, Morgan’s Rifles went into battle. When they had a private in their sights, they didn’t pull the trigger. They waited until they saw an epaulet man. Following this strategy, Morgan’s Rifles won the Battle of Saratoga, and some historians say that was the determining battle of the Revolutionary War.

In the church, we also win or lose by determining who wears the epaulets. If we recognize the leaders and nurture them, all the privates will line up behind them.

The Corporate Ethos

In most churches, the pastor cannot possibly monitor every volunteer position. How, then, can a pastor hope to ensure that people are performing well and conscientiously?

The first and most important thing a pastor does is establish the corporate ethos. Pastors can’t manage every person, but they can manage the corporate atmosphere, which in turn will govern those people. Leaders can create an atmosphere that is upbeat, biblically based, rooted in prayer. They can set a climate that includes making proposals before you do things, being accountable, and not operating unilaterally. Those principles come to be understood throughout the organization.

How is this ethos created? By the way the pastor relates to people he or she supervises directly. These people, in turn, treat others the way they have been supervised, and the approach ripples through the organization.

I try to demonstrate to those I supervise that I’m there to serve them. After board meetings, for example, which may go until midnight or one o’clock in the morning, I stay with one or two other people and clean the room. I want to serve that board, so I clean the room so they can get home earlier. And I want to serve the church custodian. One time a custodian said to me, “The board sure leaves the room a mess.” I clean the room so he doesn’t have a mess the next morning. My hope is that these people will say, “If the pastor will do that for me, I’m going to do that for other people.”

Patterns like these eventually duplicate themselves in the organization. For example, our pastors for junior high students and senior high students serve their volunteers so well that they have a waiting list of people to serve.

I never want a volunteer at Wooddale to be recruited and then abandoned. I know that if someone asks a teacher, “Will you teach next year?” but has not talked with that teacher all year long, the teacher will not do it. The only way I can hope to avoid that is to create a corporate ethos that says, “Ongoing support is essential.” And I can create that ethos only by continually supporting those people I directly supervise.