{"id":30823,"date":"2015-10-27T03:00:01","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T09:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.churchvolunteercentral.com\/?p=30823"},"modified":"2016-09-07T18:23:59","modified_gmt":"2016-09-08T00:23:59","slug":"4-ways-to-create-a-culture-that-promotes-volunteer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwv.group.com\/childrens-ministry\/blog\/retain\/4-ways-to-create-a-culture-that-promotes-volunteer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways To Create a Culture That Promotes Volunteer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

How do you keep your volunteers motivated?\u00a0 Although it\u2019s an important question, in reality there is nothing you can do to motivate a volunteer. All volunteers are motivated, but they do things for their <\/em>reasons not yours. Since motivation is an inner drive, your role as a leader of volunteers is to create a culture that encourages serving.<\/p>\n

Here are four things volunteers need to keep motivated:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Volunteers want to be on a winning team.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Nothing frustrates today\u2019s volunteers more than being on a team that\u2019s going nowhere.\u00a0 They want to be on a winning team that\u2019s solving an important problem.\u00a0 But identifying the problem is not enough. You can\u2019t stop with the question, \u201cWhat problem are we trying to solve?\u201d\u00a0 To clarify a winning team goal, there are two more strategic questions.\u00a0 Question #2\u2014What is the solution to the problem?\u00a0 Question #3\u2014Who are the team members needed to solve that problem?\u00a0 The answers to all three questions are the first step to creating a stimulating volunteer culture. A clearly stated win for the volunteer team is the rallying point for mobilizing the power of volunteers for your team.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Volunteers want to feel valued and important.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Albert Einstein has been credited to have said, \u201cEveryone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.\u201d\u00a0 Each person has unique gifts and abilities to make contributions to ministry. It\u2019s the job of the leader to make sure those gifts and abilities are recognized and appreciated.<\/p>\n

      When people give their discretionary time and energy, they need regular feedback and affirmation to know their service is valued.\u00a0 This can be as simple as sending a hand-written thank you note to acknowledge a volunteer as an integrated, valued member of the team.\u00a0 Andy Stanley says that to keep passion alive, interdependency must be felt. Ministry leaders need to make people feel they are important and valued, or they won\u2019t stick around.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Volunteers want shorter terms of service.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The typical shelf life of a volunteer for \u201cMake a Wish\u201d in the Hudson Valley in New York is about three years, according to volunteer manager Abraham Almanza.\u00a0 He\u2019s happy to have them for three years.\u00a0 In North Carolina, a Guardian ad Litem volunteer advocate commits to at least eight hours per month on a case, and they are encouraged to serve until the case is completed, which usually takes one year. These two organizations understand the reality of today\u2019s volunteer. \u00a0Most volunteers will not make an open-ended commitment, but can be expected to help make a difference this year, or this month, or perhaps even several years. We live in a short-term culture.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Volunteers want to be an asset when present but not a liability when absent.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Several years ago our good friends were visiting us and we were engaged in a lively conversation about volunteers when Sharon Eidsness, a retired boomer, said, \u201cI want to volunteer where my presence is an asset but my absence is not a liability.\u201d\u00a0 I grabbed a pen and wrote that down because I believe Sharon\u2019s statement summed up one of the best descriptions of what today\u2019s volunteers want.\u00a0 When I show her words on a slide at a workshop, I hear sighs all over the room because leaders are thinking, \u201cGreat!\u00a0 How do I pull that off?\u201d<\/p>\n

          A key for engaging the highly mobile, very busy, 21st century volunteer is flexibility <\/em>and teams<\/em>.\u00a0 My wife Susie volunteers four to five hours on Thursdays at our local food bank.\u00a0 Because she is retired, she often travels with me when I speak and most months she is unable to fill her role at least one Thursday of the month.\u00a0 If her manager was not willing to accommodate her travel schedule, or have multiple team members, she would not have a dedicated volunteer three out of the four weeks of the month.\u00a0 And by the way, Sharon\u2019s axiom is not just for retired boomers.\u00a0 All volunteers, of all generations, share this feeling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          How do you keep your volunteers motivated?\u00a0 Although it\u2019s an important question, in reality there is nothing you can do to motivate a volunteer. All volunteers are motivated, but they do things for their reasons not yours. Since motivation is an inner drive, your role as a leader of volunteers is to create a culture that encourages serving. Here are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":30824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,670],"tags":[331,340,341,513,286],"class_list":["post-30823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retain","category-volunteers","tag-culture","tag-keeping-volunteers-2","tag-retention-blog","tag-thomas-mckee","tag-volunteer-recruitment"],"yoast_head":"\n4 Ways To Create a Culture That Promotes Volunteer Service - Group Children's Ministry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you keep your volunteers motivated?\u00a0 Although it\u2019s an important question, in reality there is nothing you can do to motivate a volunteer. 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