I’ve been talking to my team about a big volunteer push. More than likely we’re going to do a 2-3 week push in October which I expect will be pretty good. A few years ago we did a really big push in January which was very well received. However, when have you found to be the most effective time to recruit volunteers? I know a lot of people like to do April and May volunteer drives so they’re all screened, trained and ready for the fall. What has worked best for you?
Tell me your story. What’s the most creative or effective thing you’ve done to recruit a boatload of new volunteers? What made it so successful? I’d love to hear some new and creative ideas and strategies that we can implement as we recruit. I’ve found that strong exposure/communication as well as creativity tend to yield great success.
Summer is just a terrible time for recruiting.
One idea we did in my last ministry was a volunteer fair. Kind of like a job fair. We did a two week sermon series on serving, and then during and after the worship experiences we had all the ministries set up booths for their particular ministry. We were given I think about $200 dollars to be as creative and unique as possible. It was great, and something they had not seen before.
Always looking for new ideas…
We have a “Serve Expo” in the fall each year with booths set up showcasing all the different areas of ministry in the church from parking to preschool and beyond. It’s staffed with both volunteer leaders and church staff and gives people the opportunity to see and get a sense for all the opportunities for them to get involved. “Boatload” is not a term that comes to mind when I think of our past Serve Expo’s, but I personally have enjoyed seeing all the details and opportuinities for ministry at our church.