“I want to invite you” are my favorite words to use for recruiting volunteers. How are you doing recruiting volunteers in this season? Do you find that your volunteer team is consistently growing?
Whether you lead or serve on a kid’s ministry or student ministry team, this is likely a topic that you have spent some time processing and working through. Not only is the need for volunteers driven by the attendance in your ministry, the need is not just for ANY volunteer, but to actually find the RIGHT volunteers. Today I want to share my very best tip for recruiting volunteers for your team. It’s all about making a ‘direct ask.’
What is a Direct Ask?
Simply stated, a direct ask is ‘approaching someone and personally inviting them to be a part of your team.’ The steps require some boldness and intentionality, but they aren’t overly complicated.
- Notice someone that you want to invite.
- Identify and call-out their gifts, qualifications, personality and potential.
- Celebrate what is already happening in your ministry, highlighting what they could be a part of.
- Invite them to whatever is the the very next step. (For me, the very next step often sounds like…is it alright if I give you a call this week to talk some more? After that the step may be a Sunday tour of the different environments or possibly an invitation to attend membership class or whatever your church expects before individuals begin to volunteer.)
In this video, I give a detailed example of what this might look like in action. The possibilities are endless.
What to Look For
Here are just some of the gifts, personalities, qualifications that I look for, in people I am inviting to be on the team.
- students who seem very interested in tech = tech/production team
- individuals who are people magnets = check-in or small group leaders
- anyone standing around still singing the worship songs after service = worship team
- high-energy, dynamic personality = large group leader
- parent wrangling their preschooler with patience & a kind demeanor = preschool ministry
- person who walks to the nursery with their ‘mom’ friend and immediately takes the baby to hold = nursery
- adult that gets down on kid’s level to high-five and talk to them = small group leader
I think you get the picture. There are so many unique gifts and talents that combine together to make a dynamic, highly qualified, engaging kids or student ministry team. Be on the lookout, call out what you see and invite people to join you.
A ‘direct ask’ is extending an invitation for people to be a part of something great because you believe they have something to contribute and that their own life will be blessed.
It doesn’t stop there.
To build a healthy, consistently growing team culture, you have to build for growth rather than only from a place of need.
Involve the Team
Building for growth is initiated from a heart that believes that God is going to bring more kids and families in the season ahead and now is the best time to get prepared.
This requires us to shift from urgently trying to find people to ‘fill open spots’ towards identifying and equipping the right people NOW to be ready for the future.
When the focus becomes long term growth instead of emergency recovery, we actually create a ‘recruiting culture.’
If direct asks are the key to a healthy, growing team, and you are only one person, it makes sense that the team is not going to grow very quickly if you are the only one making direct asks.
A recruiting culture is one that has leaders constantly looking for the right people to join the team. The path to a recruiting culture involves training volunteer/leaders on your team helping make direct asks.
Steps to Train your Team for Making Direct Asks:
- Identify 3-5 key leaders who are easily approachable and who carry and can verbalize the vision and mission of your ministry.
- Create a 2 minute elevator pitch that explains your ministry (the wins, the opportunity, the benefit to those who serve).
- Model for the leaders how to make a direct ask. (See the steps I outlined above and model them with these leaders. Talk about different possible scenarios.)
- Teach the best language for making an invitation (reference your 2 minute ‘elevator pitch’). No one wants to be a part of something that is dying, or loosing. “We NEED help so bad, do you want to be on the team?” = not a great approach. “You are the perfect person to make an impact on the next generation, so I want to invite you to be a part. I know that you will LOVE it and be personally blessed by the investment you get to make.” = AMAZING invitation!
- Work with each leader individually, to identify and make a direct ask together. (Take the lead and let them observe first hand the interaction.)
- Follow Up. Stay in regular communication to support, motivate and encourage these leaders as they step WAY out of their comfort zone.
Of Special Note:
There have been a few circumstances where one of my key leaders has identified someone that would be a great fit but has been unable to have the conversation to ‘make the ask.’ So as an alternative, they passed the information on to me. I was able to make a phone call and say, “____ told me they have gotten to know you and you are _______ and they think you would be an excellent addition to our team. They said I had to call you and invite you to join the team.”
Building for growth happens best when multiple leaders and volunteers are working to recruit. I would make the priority to train and equip leaders on your team to make direct asks and use the above alternative on an ‘as needed’ basis only.
I Want to Invite You
Ministry leader, I want to invite you outside of your comfort zone. I cannot think of anyone that I have served alongside over the years who has felt completely comfortable making direct asks right out of the box.
I can however list SO MANY personal, individual wins that have come from making direct asks. Volunteers that have been stretched to further develop their leadership potential, individuals in our church that have been called to action and taken their next steps and teams that have healthy, recruiting cultures and are equipped to walk into seasons of growth and expansion.
It is worth for your team and very much worth it for those who will accept your invitation to become generation shapers!
How will you and your team use ‘direct asks’ to invite people to be a part of the mission that you have been so blessed by? Feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment below, I’d love to hear what is working for your team!
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