We all know that volunteers are the lifeblood of any church. If churches had to pay each of their children’s ministry teachers, small group leaders, women’s and men’s ministry leaders, and vacation Bible school teachers, they’d be up a creek, fast. Some churches keep their staff incredibly lean and rely predominantly on volunteers while other churches have more robust staff members and fewer volunteers; either way, volunteers need to be screened, trained, and thanked.
Below are five resources aimed at helping your church lean into the volunteer management process:
#1 – Life Church Open Network
The Open Network by Life.Church has put an incredible amount of time and energy into their Open Network. This network includes many valuable videos and articles ranging from children's ministry, to volunteer training, to welcome team tips. Check out their vast selection of volunteer resources here.
#2 – The Challenge of Leading Volunteers – Free Ebook
Written by Don Simmons and Steve Caton for Church Community Builder, a web-based church management system, this free ebook includes the following chapters: Volunteers Are An Opportunity, Not An Aggravation, The Challenges Of Leading Volunteers, Seven Ways To Boost Volunteer Engagement, Making A Volunteer System Work In Your Church, Keeping Volunteers Engaged, Healthy Volunteers Are Consistent With A Healthy Ministry. It offers 16 pages of helpful guidance to grow and sustain volunteering at your church.
#3 – Church Volunteer Central by Group Publishing
Volunteer-focused website by Group Publishing: Church Volunteer Central
This website aims to help guide you, according to your role. Whether you’re a recruiter, a trainer, a leader, or a church staff member, you can find helpful articles and advice related specifically to what you do related to the church. From background checks, to recruiting, to training, to retention, to gifting, to leadership development, Group has done an amazing job with this site to empower the church with free resources.
#4 – The Volunteer Management Toolkit by Deborah Ike
Every church needs a committed volunteer base to achieve its vision at weekly services and special events. Based on her extensive experience as a volunteer and volunteer manager, Deborah Ike has developed this toolkit as a step-by-step guide to developing and improving your volunteer program. Complete with templates and sample volunteer job descriptions, this goes way beyond theory and into the practical day-to-day application of getting and keeping volunteers. This book is available on Kindle or in paperback at Amazon. Deborah also has a number of good blog posts on volunteering over at her company website.
#5 – ChurchTechToday Articles on Volunteers
We’ve written quite a bit on church volunteers over the years. These articles might be helpful as you reevaluate your volunteer management at your church:
- 5 Overlooked Ways to Use Technology in Church Volunteer Management
- 4 Ways to Control Church Presentations Without Volunteers
- 10 Things you Can't Expect from Church Volunteers
- Creating a Sustainable Volunteer Training Program for Your Church
- 7 Free (or nearly free) Ways to Bless Your Volunteers
- 10 Ways to be Thankful by Blessing Church Volunteers
There you have it, five awesome resources to help you prepare to refine, retool, or retain your church volunteer system.
[…] 5 Helpful Church Volunteer Resources – Church Tech Today […]
Awesome resources, Lauren (and Luke by Proxy :). Thanks. It feels like this is a very neglected side of churches. They want volunteers, but gathering, organizing, and communicating with them requires strategy and commitment. These tools and tips look great.
Just came across this article by Luke McElroy over at SALT – great ideas!
https://saltcommunity.com/articles/appreciating-volunteers-christmas/
Also, here’s a whole list of great volunteer articles:
https://saltcommunity.com/articles/volunteers/
Thanks, Luke!
Thanks Lauren!