Thoughts on Volunteering

The following data was from a broad research study, not specifically at WW. But research reveals some things that we need to look at.

Over a course of a year one third of the volunteers recruited do not return for a second year. Here are five reasons people quit volunteering:

1. Ministry area is not well organized – do you have a process or plan that helps you be organized so that when things are busy you can simply follow the process you have already laid out?

2. Serving in the ministry area is not a good use of their time – do you help your team members know how important their role is in the lives of the kids? Do they understand how they are being changed as they serve? Do they see the value of what they are doing?

3. Serving in the ministry area is not a good use of talents, skills and expertise - do you know your volunteers? Do you know what talents, skills, desires or expertise they have? Sometimes people are not serving in the right area. By building a relationship with your team, you can find out their level of satisification. We want to help people serve where they are best suited to be and sometimes that means we lose a person in our area but the Kingdom work is carried on.

4. Role and responsibilities are not clearly defined - do your volunteers know what is expected of them? Has that been clearly and consistently communicated with them? Do you know and understand your personal “job description” that you have agreed to fulfill on the wwKids ministry team?

5. Volunteers receive no thanks for their contributions - do you recognize and acknowledge your team members contributions? A thank you, a quick call to say “I appreciate you,” or share a story with me about how one of your volunteers, something I can share with overall church leadership.

As I look at these 5 reasons, I realize that they are all connected to communications. Good communications would eliminate most of these problem areas. Maybe you haven’t done well in the past on number 1 but do a great job with number 5. Wherever you are, I am sure that you can improve – as can I! This information is to encourage and to help us all be intentional about what we focus on! All of us are growing in our leadership abilities.