Childrens Ministry Online

Volunteer Expo (Extras)

Posted on 12. Feb, 2009 by Kenny.

Okay, Sara talked about several great things here. So, I’ve attached images of all the files we used. Feel free to use them to get some ideas:

Here is the poster we hung in all the bathrooms:

Banners over each of the three areas:

Actual logo of “I’m In”

Live Production Trifold:

Kids Quest Trifold:

Hospitality Trifold:

Sign up cards (we had these at the booths as well as in the programs):

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Volunteer Expo (Part Two)

Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 by Sara.

Here is “part two” of the blog post from yesterday.

5. BE ORGANIZED.
Think through the details of your event and plan accordingly.

We recruited for three ministries at our recent expo. Each ministry was assigned a color. Banners, balloons and booth paperwork in these colors quickly visually distinguished the ministries from each other.

Each booth was equipped with sign up cards, trifolds listing job descriptions for volunteer positions, pens and clipboards. The children’s ministry booth also had applications and background checks available for every recruit to fill out on the spot.

6. PLAN FOLLOW UP.
As a recruiter, I hate to see people fall through the cracks. By Sunday night following the Expo all the data entry of our prospective volunteers was complete. The staff could start follow up first thing Monday morning.

I personally find that this method for follow up is very effective:
1. A follow up phone call within a couple days following the Expo to confirm the volunteer’s interest and scheduling preferences.
2. A formal or on-the-job training within a few weeks of the Expo to equip the new volunteer.
3. A personal welcome the first day of service. Introduce your new volunteer to their coworkers. Help them get settled that first day.
4. Occasional phone calls to check in on the new volunteer over the first few months of service. Give them a venue to ask questions, express concerns and know their input is valued.

7. PRAY.
Sound pretty basic? Perhaps it is. Invite God to show off. He loves your kids more than you do. He knows who he’s calling to ministry. He knows what adults are crying out to him for connection with others. Pray that he will speak to the hearts of your future volunteers through your Expo efforts.

SUMMARY
Okay friends. Those are my ideas. Some of you are old pros at this recruiting thing and others of you bring young new fresh energy and creativity to the table. Please, share your ideas and experiences in the comments. We’ll learn from each other.

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Volunteer Expo (Details)

Posted on 10. Feb, 2009 by Kenny.

Okay, I thought I’d elaborate on something Sara mentioned, but it provided to be a huge success. At the very end of the service, the staff member who oversees live production was doing announcements. She made the announcements and then ended with a big push for live production. She went on to talk about the power you have as a light and sound operator… plus who doesn’t like to where the cool headsets. Then the staff member who oversees hospitality came out telling everyone that if they really want to be where it’s at, they’ll want to serve in hospitality. He “randomly” selects someone from the audience and asks them what they want most on a Sunday. She obviously reads from a script revealing that she’s a fake and as she talks about wanting connection, people run in bringing her coffee and a muffin. She finishes reading her script with difficulty with a muffin in her mouth. Finally I came walking out on stage with the cutest baby I could find. The crowd does the gasp and “awwwww” thing. Then I went on to say that people really want to change the world, to leave a legacy and how we serve 18,000 kids every weekend in kids quest. One of the other staff members asks who the child is and I reply quickly “it’s not important, it’s a valued member of our ministry.” The other staff member jabs with… “come on, is that your own kid?” At this point we start arguing and the lead teacher walks out and stops us and goes on to say how all the areas are great and people can plug in anywhere. Then he looks at me and says while shaking his head, “Wow Kenny, I can’t believe you played the kid card.”

It was a riot and the audience reacted very well. We had many people coming up to the booths still laughing.

So, be sure to do something where you have fun and engage the audience.

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Volunteer Expo (Part One)

Posted on 10. Feb, 2009 by Sara.

Hi Friends!

My sweet hubby Kenny invited me to chat with you about a subject I love dearly – volunteer recruiting.
My, oh my. Children’s ministry is a hungry beast when it comes to volunteer recruiting huh? Ever feel like you’re nonstop asking for volunteers? I’ve been there.

Today, we’ll specifically chat about Volunteer Expos.

Recently at Gateway Community Church I was hired as a contract employee to plan a volunteer expo. Our goal was 150 total new volunteers for three ministries in the church. Guess how many people signed up? 350! Can you believe it?! We had more sign up than we hoped for! Wow!

This was not my first Expo. I’ll share with you a few things I’ve learned.
Here are my tips to a successful volunteer expo:

1. COORDINATE WITH “BIG CHURCH”.
Sometimes in children’s ministry we become little islands. THIS IS NOT HEALTHY PEOPLE! We are the body of Christ. Your arm would do you no good if it was not attached to your body.
Don’t willy-nilly plan an expo. Talk to your pastor or the creative team who plans sermons. Plan your expo around a sermon or series of sermons about volunteering and serving. Let the pastor pump vision into people through his words from the stage.
Incorporate the expo message into the sermon for the day. Plan a fun skit to share your ministry’s heart. Design a slide to use in the announcements. Film a creative video. Make people laugh. Tug at their heartstrings. Photos of wide-eyed kids are great for this.

2. MAKE IT FUN!

I like expos that feel like parties. I’ve been to my share of dull navy-blue-colored-pipe-and-drape business expos. YAWN! That’s no fun!

Give your Expo a theme. Use bold colors! Design fun graphics! Play music. Blow up balloons. Give away food and candy.

Details, details, details! Don’t forget to incorporate details that represent you, your ministry, your church or your community.

We’re proud of our live music in Austin, Texas. You bet we invited live bands to play in the courtyard by our expo booths. The energy the music added was immediate and it reflected our culture as a church and as a city.

3. PUT TOGETHER A TEAM.
What are your strengths? Put together an Expo planning team with members who are strong in your weaknesses. Here are a few roles I like to have on every event team I put together:
• The project planner. This is my favorite role. This is the person who can give legs to dreams. They can map out goals and milestones and deadlines with the same ease it takes most people to eat or breathe. They can communicate and check in with people to make sure the event will happen on time.
• The decorator. We all know someone like this. Their house looks like a magazine. They are cute and polished. Invite this person on your team. Let them own making the theme come to life in booth décor.
• The administrator. This person likes details. Let them handle the printing of sign up cards, the data entry of people who sign up, etc.
• The party planner. This person can throw a party! They bring fun to every situation. Let them own the giveaways and food and music. Let them work with the decorator to make the Expo full of life.
• The communicator. Let this person own the marketing pieces for the Expo. (As a personal note let me plead with you all: PLEASE! NO CLIP ART OR RIDICULOUS FONTS! If you do not personally know how to make your printed materials look like a million bucks, invite a graphic designer to join your team! )

4. CREATE MOMENTUM. DON’T LET PEOPLE GET AWAY.
We experimented with our recent Expo at Gateway. We tried our best to post our message at every turn and get people talking. How’d we do this?
• Days before the expo we started sharing volunteer stories on our church website blogs.
• The night before our first expo weekend, we invited our Facebook Gateway Church group to the expo.
• We printed cheap posters announcing our Expo at www.sircooper.com and hung them in every bathroom stall on the church campus.
• We printed cheap stickers in house with our Expo theme “I’m In”. The weekends of the Expo, every volunteer on campus was given a sticker to wear. Every person who signed up at the booths was also given a sticker to wear. If the “I Voted” stickers create momentum on Election Day, I was sure stickers could work for us.
• We ran our expo for two weekends, since our attendees are not regular every week.
• We printed our sign up cards and stuffed one in every program. Families don’t have time to visit the Expo booths? Not a problem. They could sign up and drop their cards in the offering bucket.
• We positioned our Expo booths in the courtyard, the heart of our campus. All traffic on campus flows through this area. The booths were impossible to miss.

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Volunteers: When you don’t have enough (Part 2)

Posted on 29. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.

I was hoping to get a little more feedback from my previous post about how you fill the gaps. If you didn’t read it or didn’t have a chance to post, I’d still like to hear some more ideas. You can post your comments with this post or the original one.

So, if you’re recruiting or you need to recruit to fill some holes, what do you do in the mean time?

Last year at the Orange Conference I heard Craig Jutila talk about this. He said, whatever you do, don’t fill the spot yourself. You’ll get stuck and if you’re the leader, how can you lead when you’re stuck in a spot that should be filled by someone you’re leading. It’s a very good point and I do the very best I can to plan for that. I’ve found that in the few times that’ I’ve gotten sucked into a spot, it was because of a no show or unexpected emergency. Otherwise, I try to follow this advise fully.

I combine if necessary. I launched small groups on Sunday mornings in elementary in September. I started with a few open spots that need to be filled. I have two groups that I had to combine. 4th and 5th grade girls during one service and 4th and 5th grade boys at the other.  They were combined for about 7 weeks. Another group I utilized one volunteer who could only serve every other week. He’s leading on his schedule and I have another leader who is pulling a double shift and serving on the weeks the other leader can’t be there. Not ideal, but it’s holding those spots until I find the right person.

Utilizing subs. If found that subs are better than once a month workers. Once a month workers seem to never remember when they are supposed to work. So, when I’m calling and recruiting and someone says no, they can’t do the job, I ask them if they’d at least be willing to serve. In mos cases, they say yes. I assure them that they won’t be called to work more than once a month. Then, when I have my subs, I call them when I know I’ll be short and they jump right in. I also have a few spots that I’ve used subs to fill. Unfortunately, when I use my subs to fill an empty spot, I don’t have my sub when a volunteer calls in sick the morning of. Then I have to combine or something. Not ideal, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Work the phones and emails. I always take care of my open spots before Sunday. I’ve had staff who would pull people on Sunday. I told them to stop it. Why? It was usually the same people every week. If we have a healthy sub list then I can work that list and get my people in place before Sunday. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know that I could sleep if I didn’t have all the spots filled before I went to bed on Saturday night.

Trained monkeys. Always my last resort, but I haven’t had to use them yet!

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Volunteers: When you don’t have enough

Posted on 28. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.

I’m really curious about something.

One of the most popular subject to discuss in children’s ministry is the recruiting, retention and leading of volunteers. Why? Because we all need ‘em. I’ve never met anyone who had all the volunteers they’ve needed. When I was just starting out in ministry and feeling the responsibilities of recruiting, I felt comfort in the fact that a really big church down the road that I respected for their excellence and quality in ministry was also in the midst of trying to recruit several hundred new volunteers. Even when in Malaysia several years ago when doing some CM training, several local CP’s would come up and say, “but you don’t understand. It’s different here. We never have enough volunteers!” It’s a global challenge.

This post is not about volunteer recruiting though. It’s about what you are doing in the mean time. No one ever really talks about this part. I know for a lot of us, it means staff and already over-committed volunteers getting sucked into last minute spots (yeah, we all know it happens… we just don’t want to admit it). For some it is utilizing subs to fill empty spots rather than just subbing for workers who are out. I know others have even recruited temporary volunteers (just give us until the end of the year and we can fill this spot).

I’m not sure if anyone else has ever wondered about this. What are you doing and how do you cope with the open spots while recruiting? Tell your story.

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Gateway’s “new” elementary program

Posted on 09. Sep, 2008 by Kenny.

It’s been a very busy summer. The week I got here I shared with my elementary production director (my only staff member in the elementary area) my vision for what elementary ministry would look like in the fall. It would look almost completely different from anything I had ever done as well. So we’ve been working very hard all summer to build new teams to launch our new program. Essentially we doubled our volunteer force already (it had gotten pretty skimpy) and I’d say we still have about 20 more people to fill out our teams. So this is what it looks like now.

Elementary Production

We have four production teams. Each team consists of a leader, two actors, two worship leaders and two tech/A/V volunteers.Each team works one Sunday a month. The team that is serving that weekend will meet one day that week for a two hour rehearsal and then they will serve all three services on Sunday. Then they have the rest of the month off.

Elementary Small Groups

We divide our kids into grade and gender groups and place a leader in each of those groups. Some grade/gender groups are big enough for two groups.These small group leaders serve during just one of our services, but they server every week.

Subs and General Help

We’ve got several other people who can’t commit to serve every week or all services in one weekend or they may not meet our qualifications to be a leader. The General help volunteer help greet at the doors, make sure small group leaders have what they need and help out where ever else they are needed. Subs just jump in and sub where a small group leader is absent.

These are our roles right now. We have pretty much doubled our volunteer force in the last three months; however, we are still short close to 20 volunteers. Here our our current needs:

Top needs

• 4th grade girls small group leader at 9:30
• 5th grade boys small group leader at 11:00
• 2nd grade boys co-small group leader at 11:00
• 4th grade girls co-small group leader at 11:00

Secondary needs

During our 9:00 service, I have two groups where I am missing a leader but subs who work every other week are co-owning a group. Here is where I need a permanent leaders.

• 1st grade boys at 9:30
• 5th grade girls at 9:30

Last but not least

I essentially need 4-5 more small group leaders at our 12:30 service. Getting leaders for this service is like pulling teeth. I have enough general help that we can break out into groups (they aren’t as small as I’d like) but the environment is still really good. I’ve chosen not to really focus on this service as much because it is a small service, it’s really relaxed and not having enough small group leaders isn’t stressing anyone out. However, there is a stress level associated with the holes during the 9:30 and 11:00 service. If I don’t fill them soon, it will created frustration for my other leaders.

So, say a little prayer for us as we continue to find people to step into these roles. I’m using subs to fill these spots, but when I have a leader out because their sick, then I’ll be hurting. I don’t have many leads right now, so we’re going to have to roll up our sleeves, get creative and really depend on the Holy Spirit to show us who is next.

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Lame Excuse: The Gibeonite deception

Posted on 08. Jul, 2008 by Kenny.

Has this ever happened to you? A volunteer who’s been serving in your ministry for a few months informs you that they need to step down. You ask why and the throw down the stinkin’ God card. “I feel the Lord is calling me to do something else.” Again, I haven’t heard this one in a while as I’ve been in churches lately that were a lot less “spiritual.” Where I’m at now they just stop showing up.

What the heck are you supposed to do with that? Who am I to argue with God?

Actually, this one isn’t that difficult. It’s Joshua chapter nine. The Deception of the Gibeonites. Just before this chapter, God had given very specific instructions. He told the armies of Israelites to wipe out all the enemies. No peace treaties what so ever! So, Israel went about their business claiming their land. The Gibeonites then crafted a plan. They pretended to be from a far off land and offered to sign a peace treaty. Israel accepted. A few days later, Israel realized that they had been duped. Bamboozled. The Gibeonites were not from a far off land, but were a close by tribe that should have been annihilated.

So, what happened? Israel honored the treaty. Even though it was God’s will and command that they be wiped out, there was honor in the commitment signified by the treaty. Beautiful.

So, when our volunteers sign a commitment to serve by signing a contract, they’ve given their word. On several occasions, I’ve had volunteers pull the God card. I have responded by saying, “you know, I really don’t feel it’s God’s nature to ask someone to break a commitment.” I can’t say that it’s really changed anyone’s mind, but I feel better calling people on the truth. So go ahead. The next time someone plays the God card on you, go ahead and drop Joshua 9 on them… they never saw it coming!

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Grow up and feed yourself already!

Posted on 08. Jul, 2008 by Kenny.

My son Titus is making a certain situation amazingly clear for me lately. In the process of us moving to Austin, we interrupted his eating development plan. Okay, maybe there wasn’t really a plan, but he was moving forward, baby. Before we got to Austin, he was starting to eat little bits of food on his own. When we were living in a one roomed hotel in Austin for a month, he was back to eating baby food out of the jar while sitting in his umbrella stroller. Fortunately we are back in a house and he has his own highchair now. We’ve made every effort to cut up little bits of food for him so he can feed himself. Guess what? He’s not having any of it. He’ll look at the food, maybe even poke at it (on occasion when we are not looking, he’ll pick it up and drop it on the floor) but he’s not eating it. Funny thing is that this is food he’s eaten before and has enjoyed. However, when we place the food in his mouth, he acts as if we just put the most detestable thing possible in his mouth. We’ve been going through this for a few days now and it is getting better, but there is still some wailing and gnashing of teeth at each meal.

So what’s the problem? Titus is lazy. He’d rather his mom or dad feed him. Instead, we’re allowing him to be a big boy and feed himself. The same is true for his bottle. He’d much rather me hold the bottle while he drinks away… but I have to take both of his hands and place them on the bottle and then remove my hands. He usually offers a quick grunt of protest, but then takes over. Hey, I don’t blame him. If I could lay around and have other people feed me each bite of food, I think I might like that. As much as we love our baby, he needs to grow up and feed himself already!

This past Sunday, Brian Tome from Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, OH spoke. It was very good… talking about pride. He made one point that hit the nail on the head and it was about the “super spiritual” people who either back out of serving or leave your church because they’re not being fed. Brian put it into beautiful perspective. There are only two kinds of people who need to “be fed.” Either an infant or an invalid. All others learn to feed themselves as a sign of maturity.

It’s actually been a while since I’ve heard someone use this excuse. I know when I’ve had volunteers suddenly quit on me because the “want to be fed” I would get so frustrated. However, I think these people are a product of our own doing to some degree. They feel the need to “get fed” because we’ve created the environment where they come back week after week to be fed. Perhaps we haven’t taught them how to feed themselves. In addition, are we providing opportunities for individuals who are serving in our ministries to get encouraged and filled up through their volunteer connection. It’s a good idea.

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Training timeliness: Volunteer edition

Posted on 02. Jul, 2008 by Kenny.

Since we’re talking about timeliness, I figured I’d breach this topic since we’re all thinking it.

So, how do you get your volunteers to show up on time? No really, how do you get your volunteers to show up on time?

Every church I’ve been at I’ve experienced difficulty in this area. We’d have volunteers show up just minutes before the kids… or sometimes several minutes after the kids. It frustrates the staff and key/committed volunteers like crazy. So, how do you get them there on time?

This is an issue that I think has a deeper root. It’s actually something that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about, especially in my role here at Gateway. I don’t think the real question is “how do I get my volunteers to show up on time?” I think the real question is, “why don’t my volunteers truly value their role in the children’s ministry?” Honestly, I believe that we show up on time for the things that we value. Even for me, getting to the movies on time to see the previews is a value. So I’m there on time.

Yes, I think it’s inconsiderate that volunteers show up 10 minutes late when they’ve committed to being there on time. However, I’m not convinced that they are the ones to blame. No, really! I think the solution lies with us. Too many of our volunteers are serving because in their mind they’re doing us a favor. They signed up because we needed help and the fact that they’re even showing up is a huge “blessing” for the children’s ministry (this also points to the ineffective recruiting strategies we use at times as well). I don’t think they show up on time because they don’t value their serving in the children’s ministry enough to show up on time. Whether they say it or not, every volunteer is asking the “what am I going to get out of this?’ question in relationship to serving. Right now, my best answer to that question is “to make a difference in the lives of kids.” For many volunteers, that is enough. For others, it’s not enough to make them get their on time. The thing that is challenging me right now (and maybe something for you to think about) is to further develop answers to the “what am I going to get out of this?” question. What if I could honestly answer that question with the following answers:

• You get to make a tangible difference in the lives of kids
• You’ll develop deep and meaningful friendships with other adults on your serving teams
• You’ll be challenged to grow spiritually and given the tools to take the next step in your faith
• You’ll feel like a part of a community you didn’t know existed

I don’t know, but I just think that if I could provide these experiences for my volunteers, they may just value their role enough to show up on time. What do you think?

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