One reason people don’t volunteer

Bud Brown Aug. 17, 2019

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Imagine that Christmas is barreling down the calendar, but your volunteer roster still has a lot of blanks on it. That big Christmas Dinner for 47 families in need—the first time your church has tried something like this—is getting sketchy. It’s time to ratchet up recruitment efforts. Now, picture two scenarios in mind.

Scenario 1: Announcements, as always, are the last item on the worship schedule. Pastor Gumball steps up to the podium, arranges a few notes, and starts. “Right now the church is short about 20 volunteers for the Christmas Dinner. We’ve got lots of opportunities to serve. We could use a set-up crew to set up tables and chairs, prep cooks in the kitchen, expediters to deliver food to the tables, bussers to clear tables after the meal, and some folks to help clean up when the meal’s over. If you’d like to help, call Sister Susie at the church office on Tuesday.”

Scenario 2: Same time slot, but this time Pastor Gumball is direct and personal. 

“Friends, as a church we have taken on a serious mission to our non-believing friends in the community. At this Christmas Dinner we will show folks who’ve had a rough go in life the generosity, grace and love that God has shown to us. I need your help to pull this off.

“Right now I want you to take that card that’s in the bulletin and look at it with me. I need six of you to peel vegetables, chop lettuce and prep relish trays. I need 10 of you to carry food from the kitchen, deliver it to the tables, and clear the tables when the meal is over. Finally, I need 10 of you to show up early to put up and set tables and chairs, and ten of you to stay late to clean the place up.

“Put your name at the top of the card and put a check-mark by the item you’ll be helping me with. I have to say, I’m feeling stress over this because we want to put our very best foot forward to show these people God’s love. Thanks in advance for volunteering this morning. Ushers will stand at the doors to collect your cards on the way out.”

Which scenario will be more effective? When asking for volunteers, do what your homiletics professor taught you about preaching: put the cookies on the bottom shelf.

• Make your requests specific. Many people never move from the abstract (the church needs people to do a few tasks) to the specific (they need my help).

• Make your requests personal. Don’t use vague phrases like “the church needs” or “we agreed to” or “a few people to.” Use the personal pronouns “I” and “you.” People will respond to a personal request from someone they respect.

• Make your requests missional. Explain why this menial task matters. Are you asking people to sweep the floors before the big event, or are you asking them show world class hospitality to guests?

• Close the sale! Ask them to commit then and there, and provide a way to make that commitment known. If you give people an opportunity to forget to volunteer (“call Sister Susie at the office on Tuesday”), people will forget if you mingle your request with a bunch of other announcements.

Photo source: istock 

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Bud Brown is an experienced ministry leader, writer and educator. He is co-founder of Turnaround Pastors and co-author of the ground-breaking Pastor Unique: Becoming A Turnaround Leader. He brings special expertise to change leadership in the local church, mentoring pastors to become revitalization leaders, training churches how to find and recruit the best talent, and training leadership teams how to achieve their shared goals. Learn More »

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