4 Pools to Recruit Volunteers

Photo by Jeff Dunham on Unsplash

Volunteer recruitment is hard. One question asked most often is, “How do you get volunteers?” There are a whole lot of different strategies, but I'll cover those in a different post.

Since the Pandemic, I’ve had the responsibility of finding volunteers for our Wednesday Preschool ministry. We changed our strategy for Wednesday nights to groups instead of an adult service, and I can tell you it has not been easy. I love the model and our people are growing but finding adults who are willing to leave their group to serve is a tough ask.

Recently, I found myself with only one volunteer on a particular Wednesday night with less than two days to find new volunteers. Closing the ministry for the night was not an option, but it was looking like it may happen. It’s not a fun place to be. As I thought about who I can recruit, I found that there are four pools of people I can ask to serve.

1. Parents

I looked for parents first. But as I went over the roster of all the kids who attend Wednesday night and the parents that currently serve, I realized for this service it wasn’t a viable option. I discovered that 98% of parents who attend Wednesday night currently serve at least once a month. If there aren’t any fish, go somewhere else.

For NextGen ministries, your parents are your best resource. They are the most engaged and interested in what you’re doing. In addition, they’re the primary influence on the kids in your ministry. That said, not everyone who has kids is cut out to work with them. That’s one of many reasons why I’m against mandating parents serve. However, if you can get a parent to serve, they may be with you for years to come and your best resource for ideas and other serving opportunities.

2. People who attend that service

The next group of people I asked were the people who attend that service but aren’t parents. I asked my Small Group Pastor with help on this one because she knows these people better. I’m frequently in the elementary room and don’t see the other adults, much less have relationships with them. Thankfully, she found some people, but my problem wasn’t completely solved.

Whether you have one service or five over the weekend this is the next best pool of people to find volunteers. They’ve already adjusted their lives to fit the rhythm of coming at that time and you’ll have more opportunity to interact with them during the service.

3. Youth

One thought was to bring in teenagers. The Youth don’t meet on the first Wednesday of the month and attend our monthly adult service. I’ve asked a few to serve with me on First Wednesdays, however my problem was on a different Wednesday, and I didn’t want to take them away from their service.

Many children’s ministries are run on the backs of our teenagers. I’m all for it. They bring a level of energy, creativity, and joy that’s missing so often in older volunteers. They can be the most committed, and what’s more, you have an opportunity to invest in their spiritual growth as they try new things and discover who they are.

They’re some of my favorite volunteers.

4. People who attend other services

I finally filled all my spots with this pool of people. I pulled volunteers who serve in preschool on Sunday mornings and asked a few if they would be willing. I also approached some people who don’t normally attend on Wednesday, but I knew would probably come in and serve as a onetime thing.

Sometimes you need to start another service, or one service is larger than another and you need more volunteers to handle more kids. Finding these people are harder and a bigger ask than the previous pools because you’re asking them to adjust their schedule to make room for a new service time. The people in this pool usually serve best when you have back-to-back services. This way they can worship one and serve one and not have to come back at a different time.

There is no easy way to recruit for volunteers and when you’re staring at that roster with so many holes it can be daunting. Nevertheless, if we know where to look, we can be successful. And sometimes you’ll find that diamond in the rough of a great ministry partner that stays with you for years. Ministry was never meant to be done alone, so don’t try it. Cast great vision and ask people to join you in the mission. Your life and your ministry will be so much better for it.