These are the 3 volunteer currencies:
1 | Time
The number one asset your volunteers have is time. This is their personal currency. It's what they're spending when they volunteer. Everyone has the same amount of time to spend in a day but not all hours are equal. When you buy a product with real money, you exchange currency for value. The same is true of your volunteers. When they spend their time, they want that time to be valuable. They want to feel like what they did provided value - not necessarily to themselves but to the church at large.
So how do you make their time valuable? First, respect their time. Set a starting and an ending time and stick to it the best you can. Second, have a plan for the time their going to spend serving. People like to see progress. So when you have a plan for people to accomplish, they recognize that they've completed a goal. Third, give them meaningful work. Don't have them do menial tasks - give them work to do that actually pushes the mission forward.
2 | Thanks
This is one way you can pay your volunteers. Give them praise. Thank them. It's easy to take your volunteers for granted but a simple thank you can go a long way. When was the last time you thanked someone for serving? Send them a text. Write them a letter. Leave a little note of encouragement somewhere unexpected for them to find. Let them know you appreciate the work that they're doing to fulfill the mission God has put before your church.
3 | Purpose
People who serve want to know that what they're doing is making an impact. The good news is that that is super easy to communicate that to them in a church setting. The problem is we often assume that they know and remember the purpose they're serving. Connect what your volunteers are doing to life change. Let them know the difference that they are making by leading worship, running sound, greeting people, or running slides.
How do you "pay" your volunteers? Let us know in the comments!
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