4 Tools for Collecting Volunteer Feedback
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Have you ever had an ongoing problem in your ministry that you knew nothing about until it blew up in your face? I have and it’s not fun. The best way to get ahead of problems and minimize the damage is to collect feedback. But collecting feedback is hard and sometimes uncomfortable. It can feel like you’re fishing for compliments, or opening pandora’s box of complaints.
But, unless you have an intentional system of collecting feedback, you’re just feeling around in the dark. Sure, you might feel things are going well. You did just here that really encouraging story. However, feelings and anecdotes won’t give you a clear picture of how your ministry is doing. Collecting feedback is about gaining valuable insights into your ministry. It’s identifying areas for improvement, and empowering your volunteers to feel heard and valued. Things may seem to be going great. But there could be something very wrong and you have no idea. You can’t be everywhere at once, and as a result, you can’t know everything that’s happening.
Your volunteers are a treasure trove of information. But if we never ask them what they think, we’ll never know. In my own ministry, I collected feedback by asking a few volunteers what they thought after service. The information I got was useful, but I knew we could do better. I needed a system to collect information. I needed to know about the ministries they served in, and their impressions of serving.
So, I studied the best practices of some of the best churches in the world. Then after a few years of trial and error, I came up with a follow up system that works. The system will help you take better care of your volunteers, understand what’s happening in your ministry, and ultimately, reach more people for Jesus.
1. 6 Weeks after a volunteer starts
I consider this part of the volunteer onboarding process. After you’ve trained your volunteer, follow back up with them after they’ve served a few times. They may love what they’re doing or hate it. I usually tell my volunteers that the first few weeks are a probationary period. They are testing us out as much as we are.
You always want to make sure your volunteer has found the right fit. This survey helps figure that out. Some of the questions I ask are:
Do you feel like you know what you’re doing in your area?
Do you know who you can ask questions?
On a scale from hate it to love it, how do you feel about where you’re serving?
Is there somewhere else you’ve seen that you’d like to serve instead of where you are? If so, where?
These are great questions to ask any volunteer. And I do use them in other tools. However, since the volunteer is new, I want to get the information while it’s fresh.
In addition to asking about fit, these new volunteers can show you your blind spots. Because they don’t have organizational history, they are asking a lot of questions. They see things with fresh eyes. So, I’ll also ask:
Is there anything that we do that doesn’t make sense?
What do you love about serving here?
What can we do to improve?
Is there something broken that you think we need to fix?
Your newest volunteer may help you see something that you’ve missed. Or remove that one thing that’s been holding you back. You never know if you don’t ask.
2. 6 Months after start
Six weeks is a great time to ask questions, but after 6 months, your volunteer should really know what’s going on in your ministry. I ask very similar questions to the ones I ask after 6 weeks. Since they’ve served longer, the answers will be different.
At this point, they’ve had time to notice or annoyed by things that have been overlooked. You need to know about these things so that you can fix them. Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions and show them that you’re working to improve. Otherwise, they’ll look at your questions as a waste of time.
3. Annual survey
While the first two tools are for new volunteers, this tool is for every volunteer. I use this survey to get a pulse on how the ministry is doing. I ask questions like:
What events did you enjoy most over the last year?
What was the best part of serving this year?
What can we do to improve next year?
Do you still enjoy where you’re serving, or would you like to make a change?
In addition to getting a pulse on the ministry, I like to test ideas for new ministry initiatives. I also get a feel for changes to existing events or ministries.
For example, some of my people were complaining about the long hours of VBS. They wondered if it would be better during the day. So, I asked about it in my next survey. While there was some support for a day VBS, the overwhelming majority liked it at night. They were in favor, however, of shortening the event. Having this information helped me solidify my decision and ultimately make the event better.
Your volunteers are your most bought in congregants. You need to get them on board first when making a big change or starting something new. By asking their opinion, you’re planting a seed for change. Then you’ll see less resistance and maybe even celebration.
4. Weekly Report
No matter where you lead in the church, chances are ministry is happening where you aren’t. When I was leading kids week to week, I was with the elementary age kids. Which means, I wasn’t in the nursery or preschool. Also, when we broke for small group, I was only with my fifth grades boys group. The only way I knew what’s happening in the other spaces was by asking.
This is where I instituted a weekly report. At first it was a sheet of paper in my volunteer area, but this became cumbersome and many of my volunteers didn’t do it. Thankfully, automation tools and technology have helped. I still don’t get 100% participation, but some information is better than no information.
On the weekly report, I only ask three questions.
What was great about serving today?
What can we improve upon next time?
What do you need to serve better?
These questions give me a snapshot of the day and alert me to any potential issues I need to be aware of.
If you’d like to start your own feedback process, I’d suggest starting with the weekly report. You don’t want to start all these at once. You’ll overwhelm yourself and your volunteers. You can always add from there. I use the forms and automation tools in Planning Center. If you don't have that you can make a simple Google form or use Survey Monkey.
Collecting feedback is vital to the health and vitality of your ministry. If you go by gut feeling, you may be successful for a time. However, you will develop blind spots. Feedback shows you where those are and helps direct your ministry. Do you collect feedback in your ministry? What have you learned?