Emerging Ideas About Volunteerism

Results of a self-study completed by our pastor in 2009, presented in 3 segments designed for presentation to the Executive Council.

Segment 1

A-     State of our Volunteer opportunities @ Calvary

a.       We will still need a number of long-term volunteers to take Council and Chair roles; but we should not design their job to do the work they oversee. These especially need to be people committed to the Church, as well as to the Lord.

b.      Fears. [i]

                                                               i.      Failure

                                                             ii.      Abuse

                                                            iii.      Not good enough

c.       Motivational preference[ii]

                                                               i.      Achievers value accomplishments and results

                                                             ii.      “Affiliators” are “people-people”

                                                            iii.      Power People

1.       Personal Power People – use their power on people for a win-loose

2.       Social Power People – use their power with people for a win-win

B-      State of our Society / Community Volunteer “force”.

a.       Fulfillment is as important to the volunteer as having the task completed is to the recruiter.

b.      Compassion and community are significant motivations.

c.       Persons not used to, or not available for long-term volunteering can be brought on board by “Episodic” volunteering, for short–term, specific projects. This takes effort to identify, oversee and reward.

d.      Some volunteers have time that is irregular or not available at the time of our programs etc. How can we accommodate them? Ministries that can be done on their schedule, or from home?

e.      Successful, fulfilling episodic volunteering should be followed by other opportunities. 

f.        Integrating short term volunteers into the larger ministry takes a great deal of effort.

Possible Actions - # 1

1.       Examine the time schedules of our existing people; including our fringe people. Roughly, what “discretionary time slots” or “time constraints” are there, roughly how many people in each?

a.       Eg

                                                               i.      Available any time – few or no time constraints

                                                             ii.      Snowbirds – not available  in winter

                                                            iii.      Summer people – only available in summer

                                                           iv.      Irregular hours – shift work, work at a distance, parenting, etc.

                                                             v.      Regular off hours – work steady nights, weekends etc

                                                           vi.      Other constraints

Is there a need, desire or motivation to provide volunteer opportunities in a short-term, virtual, episodic way?

Possible Actions - # 2

2.       10 Questions to ask of our volunteer ministry. Pg 29ff[iii]

a.       What is the purpose of your volunteer ministry?

b.      What can you say - in a “sound bite” – about your volunteer ministry?

c.       Who is your target audience?

d.      What are your assumptions about your audience?

e.      What goals do you have for your marketing?

f.        What are the benefits your volunteers can expect to receive?

g.       How do you intend to deliver your marketing message to the target audience?

h.      What marketing content do you want to deliver?

i.         How will you evaluate your marketing efforts?

j.        What trends and realities threaten your success?

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Segment 2

A-     Identifying areas where long & short term volunteers are needed

                                                               i.      Example: VolunTourism, Cross-National Volunteerism - Mission Trips.

                                                             ii.      New possibilities “Virtual Volunteerism” [i]. ESL, Tutoring etc

1. 5 Suggestions[ii]

                                                               i.      Segment volunteer roles so there are more, but less time-consuming, roles to fill

                                                             ii.      Connect the volunteer role with another valued activity

                                                            iii.      Suggest that the potential volunteer sign up for a one-shot project rather than an ongoing role

                                                           iv.      Create flexible volunteer positions that are less time sensitive

                                                             v.      Create volunteer positions that don’t require travel

B-      Can we design volunteer opportunities that

1. Develop skills
2. Document skill development

                                                               i.       

                                                             ii.      With new people will come new visions. Can we anticipate accommodating other dreams from those who add their strength to ours?

C-      Examples of jobs

1. Change road sign each week
2. Keep Community Link information updated annually.
3. Update church website calendar every two weeks.

D-     A volunteer coordinator becomes an asset. This person will be the contact person for that specific ministry the volunteer works under. This person will help the volunteer with issues that arise, aid the person with training and resources etc.

E-      A volunteer recruiter is a different asset, and will require job descriptions. This person will interview candidates, prior to a position, and after a short term position.

1. Can we look through the list of our people to identify persons who would respond to a short term opportunity?
2. How ready are we to recruit beyond the congregation? Particularly when trying to project a high visibility of the congregation to the community?
3. Homework needs to be done on the volunteer – background, interview, gifts & skills inventory, references, “what-ifs” in terms of a position under consideration.
4. Be selective in choosing a volunteer, perhaps even leaving the task undone if the right volunteer is not available.
5. Readiness checklist[iii]

                                                               i.      Are the church leaders ready to share responsibility and power?

                                                             ii.      Are job descriptions in hand?

                                                            iii.      Do we have a team of volunteer interviewers?

                                                           iv.      Have we decided whom to interview?

                                                             v.      Are we ready to collect and safeguard information?

                                                           vi.      Are we ready to respond when unexpected information is revealed?

                                                          vii.      Are we ready to provide background screenings for volunteers?

                                                        viii.      Are we ready to make a handoff to the appropriate volunteer leader?

F-      Job descriptions are a MUST and must be broken into reasonable segments

1. To take advantage of new volunteers we need new job descriptions. We  may be able to, for instance, break up the M&O into a coordinator overseeing a series of volunteers working on specific projects, for short terms. In every job description we need a statement of faith as a foundation.

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Possible Outcomes

1. A change in structure should be studied with the “Evaluation Process For A Proposal”
2. 2010 Nominations Needs / Report to be studied in the fall to determine:
3. Which personal needs are long term but can become short term in some way?
4. Which personal needs that will remain as they are have a job description? Can we ensure that a supervisory job is not expected to have “hands on” ministry?
5. Personal needs that are changed need job descriptions written
6. Will we appoint a volunteer coordinators, and at which places?
7. Will we appoint a volunteer recruiter, train and supply such a person with job descriptions?
8. Where will we create volunteer opportunities that do not exist, to supply ministry opportunities to persons outside our needs?

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Segment 3

A-     Meeting the needs of volunteers

1. Boomers value new experiences. If new experiences can be a genuine part of volunteer opportunities, they may add their strength. Eg. VolunTourism & Cross-National Volunteerism lends itself well to Mission Trips. CBMin’s “CBV”, CBOQ opportunities need to be among our first choices.

B-      Equipping volunteers

1. To teach skills, and reward volunteers can we offer them opportunity to attend workshops available at Assembly, or elsewhere? This may require small financial aid.
2. Local workshop resources need to be investigated, eg, through United Way.
3. We should be prepared to document skills the volunteers acquire, to aid them in other ways – such as employment applications.
4. Example from Charity Village: Librarian, Ellis Foundation
   Created a library that specialized in volunteer management and board development for the Ellis Foundation and its affiliate members. Created a computerized catalog of all materials, indexed and cross-referenced material, and developed circulation procedures. Developed an annual project budget. Researched materials and recommended new additions. Wrote monthly book reviews for affiliate newsletter. Supervised all local and out of state circulation of materials.
5. Interpersonal skills: listening, counseling, collaborating, teamwork, negotiating
6. Educational skills: teaching, advising, coaching, facilitating
7. Communication skills: interviewing, editing, writing, public speaking, summarizing
8. Creative skills: expressive, designing, drafting, innovative
9. Analytical skills: observing, reasoning, assessing, analyzing, evaluating
10. Problem solving skills: researching, organizing, clarifying, reviewing
11. Leadership skills: initiating, managing, planning, motivating, recruiting, leading, promoting
12. Management skills: delegating, supervising, hiring, implementing, scheduling, directing
13. Technical skills: programming, computing, record keeping, systematizing, accounting

C-      Retaining volunteers

1. Retention of volunteers also needs some attention.
2. Top Ten Strategies[i]

• Understand and meet people’s needs
• Be a matchmaker
• Set people up for success
• See volunteers as customers
• Designate a volunteer resource professional
• Maintain a positive organizational climate
• Welcome diversity
• Be flexible
• Don’t burn people out
• Recognize contributions

Possible Action

1. Identify 1 mission/experience within the CBOQ geographical area, affiliated with CBOQ, as a test opportunity.

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