Many of our volunteers already have jobs. Jobs where they spend the majority of their waking hours. The last thing they want is another boring, meaningless job at their church!  So if you want to retain volunteers, make their volunteer experience fun!  Added bonus: They’ll recruit more volunteers!

(FUN + CONNECTION = HAPPY VOLUNTEERS!)

As adults we’ve forgotten how to have fun, and tend to take ourselves too seriously. Part of leading volunteers is helping people to take what they do seriously while taking themselves and one another lightly. Fun is natural for children, who have been observed in studies to laugh about 400 times per day compared to adults who laugh only an average of 15 times day. Fun and playfulness have been shown to decrease stress and increase retention, communication, energy levels, and cooperation.

One aspect of leading volunteers that needs an infusion of fun is the area of meetings and trainings. Have you ever wondered why people don’t show up to meetings and trainings?  The answer is simple… MEETINGS ARE BORING! So here’s an idea…instead of calling these times together meetings or trainings, call them parties or come up with another creative name.

So what makes a great volunteer “party” and how can you ensure that 90-95% of your volunteers will attend? Here’s a few key ingredients that you may want to consider as you plan your next volunteer party:

• Always include coffee, food and/or dessert (every church seems to have someone who loves to bake and loves to serve in that capacity).
• Have silly contests and give away prizes.
• Play team-building games.
• Have a theme with décor to match
• Provide play doh and fun fidget toys on each table for the tactile learners and to bring out the playful and creative side of people.
• Break out into small discussion groups.
• Include storyboarding to give everyone a voice when trying to elicit the best way to do something.
• Encourage your volunteers to dress the part and give a prize for the best costume.
• Don’t waste a single opportunity to give people value for their entire lives… not just ministry but home, work, etc.
• Celebrate the volunteers who are knocking it out of the park.  What gets rewarded, gets repeated.
• Try to schedule them when your volunteers are already in the building. (For an idea on how to do this, check out Steph’s post HuddleUP from October 31, 2013.)
• Agendas are important but what is equally important is building community.  If people feel connected and are having FUN, they are more receptive to learn, retain and come back.