Summary: Make it hard for your volunteers to walk away. Establish relationships and show them value so it is “worth it” for them to stay in ministry with you.

Read Article

There is a set of scales in the secret spaces of our volunteers’ minds. One side reads, “Worth It” while the other side reads, “Not Worth It”. Each week, marbles get added. As you might expect, when the scale falls hard to one side, your volunteers will approach and say, “I think God is calling me to do something different.” Game over.

The cost to their life, the time it took and more tipped the scales. Yet, there are variables we can influence. Listen, I want to make it hard for them to walk away. I want to make it hard for volunteers to leave. Great relationships with other volunteers makes people WANT to stay. A stimulating and appropriately challenging volunteer role makes people WANT to stay. Being in an area of supreme gifting makes people WANT to stay. Being appreciated for serving makes people WANT to stay.

I want to make it hard to leave. I want people to WANT to stay.

Lead Volunteers is a marble-filled resource, allowing you to creatively and continually add marbles and make the wonderful experience of serving the Lord "Worth It”. LEADVOLUNTEERS helps you get organized, stops the revolving door of volunteers and prevents burnout.

Join LEADVOLUNTEERS.com today!

Summary: Stories inspire and compel us. As a leader in ministry, you must collect and share stories of ministry success to encourage and inspire all of your volunteers.

Read Article

Stories matter. Stories inspire. Stories compel us. As leaders in ministry, we must be collectors, curators and conveyors of stories. Great things are happening all around your ministry. A kid came back to church after being gone for 7 months, a volunteer remembered their name and their face lit up. This is a winning story.

Yet the power of a story lies in that story being retold. A fellow volunteer might gain inspiration and motivation to learn the names of kids in their group because of the simple victory of another volunteer. Are you collecting stories? Are you curating stories and putting them on display? Be a megaphone for the small victories of your volunteers. Create a scalable system to gain stories and pass those stories to others. Lead Volunteers is here to help you win in ministry. We are here to help you create a repeatable system and make ministry easier for you.

LEADVOLUNTEERS helps you get organized, stops the revolving door of volunteers and prevents burnout.

Join LEADVOLUNTEERS.com today!

Summary: Venture out of your specific ministry area and make yourself known to new groups of people in your church.

Read Article

When was the last time you were caught outside the children’s ministry wing of your church? When was the last time you made an appearance in the adult Sunday school classroom, even for a moment. You need to rub shoulders with people currently NOT serving in your area. Here is a radical idea: Consider sitting in a different section of church during worship.

I know, I know, that is radical. But trust me when I say that you will be instantly exposed to an entirely new group of people. We are all creatures of habit. People typically sit in the exact same seat and row of a church for 20+ years. As a leader in the church, shake it up a bit and make the rounds. Sit somewhere new and let your presence be known.

Out of sight is typically out of mind. Stop the “ministry of invisibility” and get around some fresh faces.

Summary: As a leader of volunteers, you constantly worry about volunteer burn out. But you may find yourself in a place of burn out as ministry encroaches on your personal life and quality of life.

Read Article

Here is a reality when it comes to leading volunteers. You constantly worry about volunteers burning out. I get it. That was my biggest fear when I oversaw a team of 450 volunteers, scores of people to pull off live events and more. We work tirelessly to ensure volunteers do not experience burnout. This fear of you burning out volunteers is top of mind for you on a weekly basis.

Before long, however, your mind begins to shift from volunteer burnout. You begin to worry about YOUR OWN burn out. I have met that villain burnout. I have been away from family when I needed to be home. I have taken calls that were urgent but ultimately were less important. Ministry encroached on my personal life and my quality of life. Has this happened to you?

Do you have any ministry battle wounds and scars where ministry burnout and that feeling over-extended sought to take you out? But the show must go on and you have roles to fill. The candle is burning at both ends. Your family is being dogged out. You are either losing weight from the stress or you are adding weight from the stress. These are simply symptoms of an impending burnout.

One of my personal goals with building the Lead Volunteers course is to provide a path for sustainable ministry. This is an achievable goal. Trust me. But some of the responsibility falls on you. Betterment is not passive. Betterment is active. However, you do not need to do it alone.

Let me help you. Join the Lead Volunteers team and let’s start YOUR personal betterment as a leader of volunteers TODAY.

Summary: It is normal for ministry leaders to ask themselves “is it worth it?” as they work through their many tasks and to dos. It is worth it! But you can do the work you are called to with a healthy team working with you.

Read Article

Leading volunteers is filled with pressure. But it is not what most people would think. It’s not the pressure the volunteers put on you. It’s that this role requires THIS MANY volunteers. You begin to wonder “Is this even worth it?”

Here is the thing. I will guarantee you have asked that question. Is this truly worth this cost? It may be 11:42pm and you are the last dog standing. You are now alone picking up pieces of leftover popcorn from the event you led. Sometimes you feel alone and just are exhausted. You have that question arise again. Is this worth it?

First, let me say this directly to you. YOU ARE NORMAL. This is not abnormal. If you have felt like throwing in the towel, you are experiencing a good case of the normal. I need you to hear this! I need to hear that you are normal. For me, it is so helpful to hear I am not crazy. My mind is not the ONLY one filled with thoughts of just quitting and walking away from these hard things. Your mind is not the only one wondering if it is really worth it.

Now let me plant a different seed in your mind. It is worth it. This is the Kingdom of God. You will receive treasure untold for toiling for His purposes.

But what if there was a way to labor for the Lord in a way that does not cause you to want to throw in the towel. Why in the world would any of us be standing there alone at 11:42pm? We all need a team. I am here to help you. You do NOT have to lead alone. Part of YOUR health is having a healthy team. I want you to envision a group of people surrounding you, supporting you and they just feel like family. You deserve a team.

I want to invite you on a path toward that healthier future. Lead Volunteers is a powerful course that gives you a proven path toward building a healthy volunteer ministry team. Join the Lead Volunteers family today. Let’s do this.

Summary: You know that it is important to share the vision and the need of your ministry. But it can be so hard to accomplish that when your week is filled with innumerable ministry tasks. Use our “Done For You” resource to help!

Read Article

You know you need to share more VISION and share the need. Yet the bigger problem is that people are just checking out. Now we are left alone holding an empty piece of paper with no names and no volunteers. Sharing vision is paramount. We need to remind them why this is so important and why they are so valuable to carrying out the Kingdom mission. We need to be adding to volunteers as they are giving out.

Let’s think of a bucket with a ¼ inch hole in the bottom and water leaking out at a particular rate. So many leaders wonder why their volunteers are empty, barren and parched. The ¼ inch opening is GIVING OUT water constantly. Each week, your volunteers are being poured out. However, if you as their leader are only PUTTING IN water through an 1/8 inch hose, of course they are going to go dry! You need the amount you are pouring IN to be at least equal to what they are giving OUT.

The Lead Volunteers Course has dozens of instantly implementable resources to connect with and add value to your volunteers. This is a “Done for You” resource and not a “Do it Yourself” resource. Literally, you can print and implement. You can print off over 50 scripture cards. Place one in your pocket THIS WEEK and verbally share vision with as many people as you possibly can.

We have made it simple. We made it the way it should be! This is a “Done For You” resource. I cannot wait to provide value to YOU as you seek to provide value YOUR volunteers. We have so many ways to support the busy ministry leader that it is hard to quantify. Lead Volunteers helps make the hard work of ministry easier.

Summary: Recruiting training and retaining volunteers is at the core of your job. Volunteer leadership is both an art as well as a science. The Lead Volunteers Course teaches you strategies for effectiveness and efficiency so that you can win.

Read Article

There is a pressure that can haunt you in ministry. Recruiting training and retaining volunteers is at the core of your job. If you cannot successfully recruit and retain volunteers, you are failing at one of the central reasons you were hired. Volunteer management and volunteer leadership IS a major part of your job.

None of us want to fall short. If we do begin to fall behind, volunteers are no longer signing up and following us, one of our deeper fears might come true. You know that the senior pastor will disapprove of your inability to fulfill this critical part of your job. This is so hard, because you want to work as unto the Lord and not people. But we are human and see disappointing people as one of the worst possible outcomes. Bottom line, none of us wants to fail, especially at something as important and close to our hearts as a role in ministry.

This is why I created Lead Volunteers. Through the proven path laid out in the Lead Volunteers Course, you will begin to gain the confidence you need to lead. You will begin to gather a team of well-trained and eager leaders. Volunteer leadership is both an art as well as a science. The Lead Volunteers Course teaches you proven strategies for personal effectiveness and efficiency, so you can win in a way that does not cost you so much pain.

You need a proven plan to make ministry easier. Your family needs you to have a proven plan to make ministry easier. It is time to take back your life and learn how to recruit, train and retain volunteers in a way that works for you. Join the Lead Volunteers Community today and get your personal life back.

Summary: One of the hardest seasons of a ministry leader is when volunteers stop serving in your ministry. It can be a difficult cycle. Lead Volunteers can help you through coaching, developing a plan, and having someone who’s been there in your corner.

Read Article

Have you ever had that horrible season when volunteers are dropping like flies? You ask yourself, “Is it me? Is it a weird and busy season for people? Is God trying to tell me something?” Then another good volunteer quits. So much is lost when a good volunteer says, “I think God is calling me to do something different”. Your heart sinks. Why?

Well, you know that it is so time consuming to START OVER with someone new. Now we go right back to the starting block and do it all over again. It’s a terrible cycle. You begin to feel like the guy in Dante’s Inferno, who’s plight is to push a huge boulder up a huge hill only for it to roll right back down before it reaches the top. Over and over the cycle goes. You feel like you are stuck somewhere between an impossibility and a cruel form of mental torture.

I want to tell you of a better day. There is a day coming when you WILL push that rock up onto a plateau. It does NOT need to be an uphill battle forever. I know it is hard. And sometimes, it brings tears. Do not quit.

Here is what I have to offer you. It may not be much. I offer you myself. I give you my friendship through this Lead Volunteers course and through these videos and through the Lead Volunteers coaching platform. I am here to help. I built this to help. You need someone in your corner who has been there. You need someone who has found a way OUT of the insanity. Let me help you. I want to invite you to join the Lead Volunteers Community and start gaining traction as a leader. It is time to get a plan. Let’s get that huge bolder up that hill. We can do this together.

Summary: When we spend all of our time recruiting, we cannot get to the bigger things. Having a healthy volunteer system will give you the margin you need to accomplish your ministry dreams.

Read Article

Here is a painful reality: When we spend all of our time recruiting, we CANNOT GET TO THE BIGGER THINGS. If you are always recruiting and filling holes, you are not appreciating and developing those you already have. If you can’t keep those you already have, you will be sunk all over again.

Dream with me for a moment what you could do to shore up OTHER AREAS if you simply had your volunteer needs in a healthy place. Imagine with me the margin. Imagine that extra mental and emotional space. Maybe even a space to dream of the future and not be stuck in the present rut. What if you had margin at your fingertips? What would you try to move ahead? What would you do with that extra margin?

Someone out there likely whispered, “Take a Nap”. I get it. Would you do me a favor? Would you write down on a scrap of paper just one thing you would love to tackle or address if you had the time? Now I want you to envision that thing getting completed.

Through the Lead Volunteers Course you will get better. You will get organized. You will have a systematized plan for approaching recruiting, training and retaining volunteers. And that item or items you wrote down, yes, those items you only dream could get accomplished? You can make them a reality.

I want to personally invite you to take the next step. I want you to join the Lead Volunteers Community today. Lead Volunteers IS an investment. It will cost you some of your budget. Lead Volunteers will cost you some time. However, what is the cost of you NOT investing in yourself as a leader? What is NOT getting done because you lack a healthy volunteer system? Stop the chaos. Start dreaming again. Join Lead Volunteers and let’s do this thing…together.

Summary: Ministry can be a lonely place. You may be surrounded by people but unable to share deep concerns with even your closest friends. Lift your needs up to God in prayer.

Read Article

Volunteers grow in the Lord when they serve. When people don’t catch the vision for THEIR OWN personal betterment through serving, so much is lost. You end up compromising what is BEST for people and what is BEST for the ministry under the heading of “slot filling”. The worst part is that people miss out on seeing transformation within their own lives and on making an impact on others.

Listen. People who serve in ministry have a tremendous opportunity to grow as people and grow in their relationship with God. But we often settle for doing it….alone. Ministry can be a lonely place. We see how great it could be, but we as leaders, end up feeling like a failure. You end up feeling isolated.

Years ago, I told another leader, “Ministry is the loneliest people job there is.” Here is the thing: We are surrounded by people but there things we cannot share nor confide with even our closest friends at the church. They can tell YOU their job is not going that well, but it is hard to tell people at church YOUR job isn’t going well. My best answer for you today – lift this up to the Lord.

The Lead Volunteers course pales in comparison to what God can do for us through prayer. The Bible says, “You receive not because you ask not.” Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few”. He is the Good Shepherd. He gets it. Stop right now and talk to Him.

I want to ask you something as well. What is holding you back from joining the Lead Volunteers Learning Community? I know we could help support you in some great ways. Let me know what is holding you back. Send me an email and let’s start the discussion.