At the heart of volunteer retention is a desire to hear volunteers exclaim, “I love this role because I get to make a difference!” There is a direct correlation between how volunteering makes an individual feel and how long he or she will desire to stick around your church or organization. Volunteers begin to experience significance when they see a return on their investment. This very principle is what makes it important that we slow down and cheer volunteers on by elevating stories of life change and helping them understand why what they do matters.

If we forget to celebrate the progress being made by current volunteers, instead turning the majority of our attention to a need for more volunteers, we will lose already established volunteers through the back door as quickly as new ones come through the front door. The big reality we have to remember is this: volunteers are not a renewable resource.

So here’s what to do:

• Be specific when you say thank you. Volunteers need to hear the words thank you. But thank you becomes even more powerful when it is said like this, “Thank you for getting down on the floor to play cars with Joey. His mom told me he gets excited to come play and makes coming to church more enjoyable for their entire family!”

• Enlist senior leaders in celebrating volunteers. Your volunteers love you and care about what you think of them. But let’s face it – we all love a pat on the back from the big dogs. At Parker Hill, we saw volunteer satisfaction increase from something as simple as our senior pastor peeking his head into a classroom and saying, “Thanks for being here today!”

• Be available to answer questions and provide resources. Well resourced volunteers are released to be agents of change. If they know in advance what to expect and what to do, they can focus on being present with those around them, and on what their role calls them to do.

• Have fun! We will say this over and over – volunteers do not need another job! They have busy lives and you want volunteering to be so satisfying, so rewarding, so fun that it’s a can’t-miss on their calendar.