It’s that time of year again! And while many people are starting to think of holidays, for leaders of ministries with volunteers, this season is a time to look beyond the holidays at the new year. Many ministries use this time to recruit new people and also to encourage past or current volunteers to sign up again for a new term.

Having an organized recommitment process will smooth the way so that a precious volunteer doesn’t get lost in the cracks. Volunteers can plan ahead and begin marking their calendars in advance—leading to fewer scheduling conflicts and more consistency in ministry commitments.

List the process on paper to see if there are gaps. What needs to be done to help your volunteer sign up again for this next quarter? Include any procedures such as updating contact information, renewing background checks, sending out schedules, returning feedback cards, distributing handbooks or curricula, scheduling training dates, and other ministry-specific details. Visually-minded people might create flowcharts. Others find that a simple list will do just fine. Think about the process from your staff’s point of view and then from a volunteer’s.

Attach dates to key tasks/deadlines. Now that you have your list of what needs to be done, put down realistic deadlines. Don’t forget to look at other church event dates; if your church is holding an all-church retreat, don’t schedule your winter volunteer training on the same date! Also, slip a little lag time into your schedule because something unexpected always seems to come up.

Assign key tasks to people. Tasks have an annoying habit of not getting done unless someone is in charge of them. For each deadline, make a note of who is in charge of that area. If you’re in a small church, you might be the only person on the list (but make sure you aren’t denying others the blessing of serving!); larger churches might have more complicated task lists. The names do not have to be listed on the documents given to volunteers—it’s an internal list for your staff to use. Make sure your staff knows when they are responsible for getting their own jobs done, too.

Put together a recommitment packet/form. Creating a paper trail greatly helps the process because going by memory becomes more unreliable the larger your ministry grows. Depending on your ministry, the contents of the packet may be as simple as a single flyer with a tear-off form to update contact information. Our worship ministry, which had dozens of people, distributed a manila envelope with forms, a handbook, new music, and a schedule for the upcoming semester. Using the envelope helped people avoid dropping all the loose materials.

Inform people of upcoming recommitment processes and times far in
advance. In our busy culture, it’s becoming more and more difficult to find times that work for everyone. Sending out a schedule as far in advance as possible will help people plan. Be careful though—if you send it out too early, most people will forget! One idea is to send out a preliminary email a few months in advance with some dates. When it gets closer to the recommitment time, hand out a detailed flyer to remind the more spontaneous types of what’s coming up.

Simplify your paperwork. The fewer forms that are required, the more likely it will be that they will be returned. People usually don’t rank filling out forms as a highly enjoyable activity, and we’re inundated with requests for more information all the time. The more you simplify, the less time it takes time for people to fill out the form so they’ll be more likely to return them to you. This is not the time to hand out something that looks like a college entrance exam. Keep to the basics and ask for only what you need.

Make instructions clear. Too much detail and too many words on the page will just boggle your volunteers’ eyes and they’ll end up skipping the directions. If you’re doing the recommitment at a group event (like a party or meeting) and your process includes some complicated instructions, you might even want to consider distributing information as a group. This is also a great time to go through any handbooks and manuals to ensure that volunteers who avoid directions will hear the information at least once.

Offer many ways for people to sign up. One important issue to think through is how to best distribute the materials. Forms sent through the mail sometimes don’t get returned. Having people sign up at a table only works if people attend at a particular Sunday. At our church, we’ve tried multiple ways of distributing the cards or forms for people to sign up: bulletin announcements; placing cards in the pews; having a table; sending emails and letters; and putting forms in mail slots, drawers of cabinets, or on top of the counter. One creative staff person even found what looked like a potato chip bag clip that stuck to her window, and she hung forms outside of her office!

Consider also grouping your events together to make the recommitment process easier. We held our end-of-the semester thank you party and handed out forms for recommitment during that time. (We scheduled the party far enough in advance so that we would have time to process all the paperwork.) It was a less-than-subtle hint that we wanted our volunteers back for the next go-round! If this is the first time you will do this, expect some raised eyebrows. Our ministry has done this for so long that sometimes people come to the party just to get their forms!

Confirm the recommitment. After volunteers are scheduled, contact them to let them know when they’ll start again. Be sure to thank them for returning. Send some confirmation materials via email or postal service. It’s amazing how many times I have heard from volunteers, “Am I supposed to serve this semester? I never heard anything back.” A simple phone call or email is an easy way to avoid the loss of a volunteer!

End with a welcome. Whether it’s a kickoff party, a small gift, special refreshments, or simply a big hug, let your volunteers know that you are delighted they are back. There’s no better way to start your quarter than with a team of people who are excited to serve and who see their value in contributing in the ministry!

Angela Yee is the director of serving ministries at Fremont Evangelical Free Church in Fremont, California. She also does writing and speaking about organizing for ministry. For more information on Angela, see www.summitstarpress.com.

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