No matter your church’s size or type, all churches have one thing in common: people. Whether you are a church of 200 or 20,000, engaging volunteers is a key to success. Ephesians 4 calls churches to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Effectively engaging volunteers can reduce the need for staff to manage your church’s activities. Here are four ways that you can use technology to improve volunteer engagement:
1) Help people serve according to their gifts.
Are you using a bullhorn to find volunteers? Searching via pulpit announcement may generate volunteers, but are they serving based on their passions and gifts, or simply because they were the first person to step forward? Your church management software should help you create a volunteer recruitment process that focuses on people’s gifts and interests. Your volunteers will be more satisfied if they are engaged in their passion. With effective technology, your request can change from “Is there anyone at all out there that can help with children’s ministry?” to “David, it seems like you would be good at working with children. Have you considered teaching our 5th grade Sunday school class?”
2) Ensure that volunteers don’t slip through the cracks.
Without an effective followup system, you may be missing opportunities to connect people to serve. By using Process Queues, you can ensure that people who indicate a willingness to get involved are plugged in.
3) Keep track of your serving opportunities.
Do you know where you need volunteers? By knowing which ministries need volunteers in which roles, you will be better able to plan for ministry needs. As a leader, you are a connector of people. Don’t miss the opportunity to invite someone to engage because you don’t know where they can plug in.
4) Train your volunteers to invite others.
Often the best volunteer recruiters are your existing volunteers. Churches should establish an intentional training program that provides ministry-specific training as well as church-wide vision-casting and planning. By training you volunteers, you will create positive experiences for them. Creating a solid volunteer program primarily comes down to being intentional about focusing on your volunteers just as much as you focus on the ministry they are trying to carry out. To make this happen, church leaders must look to how technology can engage volunteers. Your technology can help you identify, train, engage, and expand your volunteer engagement.
I recently come across http://www.easychurchtools.com/church-management-software/ I enjoyed there free trail and I think this is the cost effective solution. May be this help.
Thanks for your comment, Stella! I found a couple of good reviews on Capterra’s software review site: http://www.capterra.com/church-management-software/spotlight/127034/Connect%20Manage/Easy%20Church%20Tools#reviews
Let us know if you intend to move forward with Easy Church Tools and let us know how it goes!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for your reply. For now I am enjoying my 30 days free trial 🙂 I will decide once this free trial period expire. I already had a look at the link you suggested on capterra. Thanks for your response.
Stella.
[…] 4 Ways Technology Can Improve Volunteer Engagement […]
[…] 4 Ways Technology Can Improve Volunteer Engagement No matter your church’s size or type, all churches have one thing in common: people. Whether you are a church of 200 or 20,000, engaging volunteers is a key to success. Ephesians 4 calls churches to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. Effectively engaging volunteers can reduce the need for staff to manage your church’s activities. @ChurchTechToday […]
We use Elvanto http://elvanto.com
It manages rosters as well as people
The challenge is getting non-staff to engage electronically
Hi, we use “volgistics” and I am a huge fan after using this database for the past 3 years. We have about 880 volunteers currently listed and I continue to be impressed. The cost is very reasonable also.
[…] See on churchtechtoday.com […]
Have any suggestions for online services/software to manage volunteers and volunteer opportunities?
Hi Robert, Many church management software programs have volunteer management built right in. One great option is Church Community Builder (http://churchcommunitybuilder.com). I haven’t personally used any stand-alone volunteer management software systems, but I’m sure they exist. Just be careful how many “data silos” separate databases can create – sometimes it causes more confusion than help. Capterra.com is a great place to start out to review church software: http://www.capterra.com/church-management-software/
Robert,
You might benefit from looking into ProclaimCRM. Here’s a quick video that highlights its volunteer management solution: http://www.proclaimcrm.com/volunteer-management.html