Some of the most amazing future volunteers already attend your church.

And they’ve developed an uncanny ability to ignore platform announcements, walk past ministry sign-up tables, and gloss over bulletin or newsletter information about volunteer opportunities! They don’t mean to, they just don’t seem to see or hear your pleas for help.  When asked why they haven’t served at church yet their response is likely to be “nobody ever asked me.”

The power of the personal “ask” or invitation can’t be ignored when you consider how to recruit volunteers.  Yet, often we are timid or anxious about how to ask someone to join our ministry. Here are a few tips that will empower you to become a master “asker” and engage the amazing future volunteers waiting in the wings of your church.

Here are some How to Recruit Volunteers Dos and Don’ts to put you on the right track

• DON’T consider recruiting to be one person’s responsibility. If you keep that responsibility to yourself, you’ll constantly be in a mode of adding volunteers rather than multiplying ministers.
• DO train your current volunteers to recruit others. A quick training session could prepare your current volunteers to share an “elevator speech” or a quick two minute overview of what they do in ministry, which spiritual gifts they use, what impact their work is having, and how it benefits them personally. 

If every church volunteer was mobilized to invite their friends and family members to join them the ranks of church volunteers could double in the next month.

• DON’T ask for a commitment to serve on the spot. Scheduling a follow-up conversation the next week gives the prospect an opportunity to ask questions or raise any concerns they might have about the ministry position.
• DO get to know people before asking them to help. Church leaders with the gift of “asking” get to know people and only invite them to serve on a team where their personal passion, experience, and spiritual gifts will most likely flourish.
• DON’T hesitate to ask them to pray before making their decision. The initial ask includes these essential elements: vision, ministry description, and an invitation to pray and then meet again in about a week.
• DO put your spiritual gift of faith into action by praying—and ask those around to pray with you. Prayer should really be both the beginning, middle, and end of all of your church volunteer recruiting efforts.

“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

Jesus gave us clear instruction to ASK the Lord of the harvest to send workers.

• Are you investing time daily in prayer for fellow ministers to join you?
• Are you making your needs known to other prayer warriors at your church?

Invite as many people as you can to join your ministry prayer team and provide specific prayer request needs so they can be praying for the right person with the right gifts and experience for this season of ministry at your church.