Equipped to Serve

Preparing volunteers to serve with confidence & integrity.

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Writing & Using Case Studies in Volunteer Training

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I like to use Case Studies when training volunteers because:

  • They capture a situation for trainees to respond to.
  • They give trainees some real-world exposure to possible clients.
  • They are a good exercise for putting skills into practice.
  • They allow the trainer to see first-hand if trainees are grasping the skills being taught in the training.
  • They provide a different training activity and can replace some lectures in the training.
  • They provide an opportunity for trainees to work together and, at the same time, get to know one another a little.

As a trainer, writing for a variety of Pregnancy Centers, it is hard to develop Case Studies that are appropriate for all Centers. In the Equipped to Serve training manual I have tried to write Case Studies that are generic enough to use in most Centers. The goal is not to have written the perfect client scenario but to write a scenarios that best help trainees apply the concepts being taught in that section of the training.

If the Case Studies in the manual are so different from your clients, I hope you feel free to write your own Case Studies for those sections of the manual.

What is important in writing your own Case Studies is that:

  1. You provide enough client information in the story so the trainees can apply the skills being taught in that section of the manual.
  2. You provide very clear instructions as to what you are looking for as trainees work on the Case Studies.
  3. Ask trainees to work in groups as many heads are always better than just one and trainees get to see the Case Study processing through a variety of different people’s perspectives.
  4. You continue to use the same or very similar processing questions that are in the Case Studies in the Equipped to Serve Manual. The continuity is important.
  5. You remember the whole purpose of a Case Study is to reinforce a skill or concept you are expecting them to utilize when they are serving clients.
  6. You know what you are expecting to hear from your trainees when you are processing the questions about the Case Study. This is important as the training facilitator to you know where they have gone astray and can guide them to the correct insights and also reinforce when they give you correct answers and provide great insights.

In the revised volunteer training manual I have changed some of the Case Studies and added extra Case Studies submitted to me by other trainers. But as I mentioned above, please feel free to craft your own Case Studies if need be.

How to Design Graphics for Social Media to Recruit Volunteers

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Probably one of the most difficult tasks for Pregnancy Center staff is volunteer recruitment.

Does volunteer recruitment feel exhausting to you?

I thought I might try and brainstorm a few creative ideas for volunteer recruitment, especially focusing on this difficult time of social distancing and people staying close to home.

First I think you might need to think creatively about how you can use volunteers during this pandemic.

Here are a few ideas.

Of course you will need client permission and contact information for some of these ideas. I imagine that most of these ideas you might have already thought about an incorporated into your volunteer program. If so, good for you!

  1. Following up with current clients via zoom and phone calls
  2. Client sessions via zoom
  3. Parenting classes and post-abortion groups via zoom
  4. Door-drop deliveries of materials to clients who need materials assistance
  5. Organize a virtual baby shower for the Center with a safe drop-off location after the event.  If people order gifts online have them delivered to the Center or the organizing volunteer’s home.
  6. Organize a Phone-A-Thon to call donors and personally update them on the state of affairs at the Pregnancy Center

Creating Recruitment Ads for Social Media

Social Media seems to be the thing for quite a while now for just about everything. Almost everyone has either a Facebook page and an Instagram account or both. There is a free website called Canva where you can design ads with many templates to choose from that are formatted for Instagram and Facebook.

Here is a design I created for one of the ideas listed above, a Virtual Baby Shower, with some notations to think about when designing your own volunteer ads.

Design Elements For A Volunteer Recruitment Ad for Instagram or Facebook

Here are some other samples of recruitment ads.

I would be happy to help anyone who is interested in designing some ads for their Center. If you like any of the ads I have designed I can change the logo and use your brand colors.

Once you have your designs, I would suggest the following:

  1. Send the ad for the position you are currently recruiting for, to your current volunteers and ask them to upload it to their Facebook or Instagram page. They can say yes or no but you will reach a lot more people with their help.
  2. For just $10 Facebook will boost your post on the Center’s Facebook page which will reach many more people than just the folks who have chosen to follow you.
  3. Since currently many churches are not meeting in person, you might call the churches that support you financially and ask if you could put one of these ads you have designed on the church’s website.
  4. Use the graphics in your donor and volunteer newsletters
  5. Use the graphics on the Center’s website page you use for recruiting volunteers. Graphics draw people in and capture their interest much more that long blocks of text. You can have a different graphic for each position and the viewer would have to click on the graphic to gather more in-depth information about that position.

Can Strengthening Their Faith Increase Volunteer Longevity?

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Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

Have you ever thought about all the things you are asking volunteers to believe and have faith in?

In addition to having faith in Christ, volunteers must believe or have faith in many areas in order to have staying power at a Pregnancy Center.

I’ve thought of just a few:

  • The sanctity of human life
  • Speaking the truth in love is our calling
  • The importance of ministry over manipulation
  • The Holy Spirit is always by their side when they are with a client
  • Their job is not to save or transform but to love and serve
  • They are being transformed into the image of Christ
  • What they are doing matters in the kingdom of God

Have you ever thought about how to reinforce and strengthen your volunteers’ faith in these areas? I imagine that it could improve how long a volunteer might continue to volunteer.

Consistent communication, support and envisioning volunteers in these faith areas are so important.

How might you do that?

  • Sign up for a free Mail Chimp or Convert Kit account and design a lovely template for a volunteer newsletter and send regular volunteer newsletters that focus on these topics.
  • Pick a faith issue to discuss during each in-service.
  • Address the faith and belief issues during your initial volunteer training. Some of them are already built-in to the Equipped to Serve training.
  • Send volunteers notes and cards to encourage them in these areas.
  • Ask volunteers to re-read certain sections of their training manual to renew and refresh certain topics.
  • Hang inspiring scripture verses up in the volunteer break room that specifically address the various faith issues:
  • Ask volunteers good questions to see how they are doing with a specific faith issue. For example:
    • “Now that you have been volunteering for a while, how do you better understand the difference between ministry and manipulation?”
    • “How have you experienced the Holy Spirit’s help when you are with a client?”
  • Give verbal encouragement to volunteers in a specific faith area. For example:
    • “It might not seem like it some days, but I want you to know what you are doing here matters for the kingdom of God. Thanks so much for coming in today.”
    • “I am so grateful that you have chosen to volunteer with us. I see you reflecting Christ in your care for clients in the following ways . . . .”

How do you build faith in your volunteers? Email me your ideas.  I would love to share them with others.

The Volunteer’s Navigation Tool

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Photo by Wendelin Jacober from Pexels

Have you ever gotten lost or overwhelmed when serving a client?

Clients can come to the Center:

  • With very complex problems
  • Very abortion-minded
  • With overwhelming circumstances
  • English as their second language
  • Very emotional
  • Closed-down and not saying very much

Often when presented with these situations it is easy to feel overwhelmed and a little lost as to how to proceed. When feeling out of control we tend to jump too quickly to solutions and rush the process. It is at this point we need to pull out our navigation tool – Fundamental #7: The Steps to Crisis Intervention otherwise known as MR FEEF.

How does our navigational tool, MR FEEF, help us in these situations?

The Steps to Crisis Intervention reminds us:

  • to slow down  . . . and breathe
  • that there is a path forward if we follow the road map
  • we must listen and validate feelings before offering solutions
  • we must earn the right to ask deep questions
  • connecting comes before giving advice or solutions
  • we can’t solve all the problems a client might share with us
  • creates good boundaries
  • the decisions is hers to make, we are here to help her think it through
  • there is a purposeful order to the steps to crisis intervention
  • when we spend most of our time on the first two steps the rest of the steps are easier to climb

In other words, it gives us a way forward, a reminder of the skills we need to use to climb the steps to crisis intervention. MR FEEF reminds us to work and pray towards connecting with our client no matter what she brings into the session. It is not about whether we finish climbing all the steps with each client. It’s about climbing the most important steps well (make contact & reduce anxiety) to earn the right to move up to the next steps.

It’s like having a flashlight or lantern to light the way when we are fumbling around in the dark.

How well are your volunteers utilizing the steps to crisis intervention?

Remind them of the road map they have to help them when they are with a client and find themselves overwhelmed, lost and fumbling in the dark.

The 6 Steps to Crisis Intervention spell MR FEEF

How to Recruit and Retain Quality Volunteers

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Do you become frustrated when you spend time conducting a training class but when training is over only half, or less than half, of the attendees end up volunteering?

You get what you ask for, so start by defining what you want.

Start by developing a list of the qualities you are looking for in your volunteers. A short list of qualities might include:

  • Committed
  • Consistent / Faithful
  • Reliable
  • Teachable
  • Aligned with your ministry vision

How do you screen for and educate to these qualities?

You must search for and honor these qualities in all aspects of your volunteer program – recruitment, screening, training, supervision and appreciation. It is especially important in the recruitment and screening phases. It is important to establish expectations and requirements from the very beginning.

Recruitment

  • Your volunteer recruitment materials must keep in mind the qualities you are looking for
  • How do you talk about what you do and how you do it in your recruitment?
  • How can you utilize the actual words of the qualities you are looking for in your recruitment text?

Screening: Interviewing, Job Descriptions and References

Interviewing  
  • The questions you ask in an interview should enable you to see how these qualities have been utilized in other areas of their lives
  • Some sample questions:
    • Where have you volunteered? What were the requirements there? What did you enjoy the most? What was the hardest part of that experience?
    • How have you invested in your own personal growth in the last year?
    • What attracted you to volunteering at the Pregnancy Center?
    • What are you hoping to learn from volunteering with us?
    • What are you most committed to in your life right now?
    • Consistency/Faithfulness is an important quality we are looking for in volunteers. Please share a situation in your life where you were consistent/faithful in the face of adversity.
    • What does being reliable mean to you?
    • Give me an example of when you had to learn something new and how you learned to do that something.
Job Descriptions
  • All of the qualities your are looking for should be reflected in the job description.
    • What time commitment you are looking for – weekly, monthly, yearly?
    • Training required – basic & in-service trainings (Be VERY clear about these.) Include make-up responsibilities if they do not attend the in-services
    • What is their responsibility if they cannot make a scheduled shift?
    • Reading and signing your ministry mission and vision so they are very clear about what you do and how you do it.
References
  • Many of the questions you ask a reference should revolve around the qualities you are looking for.
  • If you are using a written reference, you can ask them to rate the person from 1 to 5 on the qualities. If there are any 1s or 2s you should follow up with a phone call to clarify their answers.
  • If you are using a verbal interview, you can ask them to tell you about a time they have observed the potential volunteer exhibiting these qualities.

Training

  • There should always be responsibility put on the volunteer for knowing and showing that they are applying the fundamentals taught in the training.
  • Tell volunteers how and when they are going to be responsible for knowing and showing what is taught in the training.
  • What happens when volunteers are not teachable or are not capable to be in an advocate position with clients? Will other positions be offered to them?
  • Emphasize the importance of ongoing learning and practice (role-play).

Supervision

  • Hold all volunteers accountable to the standards you established and informed them about.
  • Be a role-model for the qualities you are asking of them.
  • Creatively hold them accountable for the fundamentals.
  • Role-play . . . role-play . . .role-play

Appreciation

  • Appreciate volunteers for the qualities they are exhibiting
  • Honor these volunteer qualities in a special way. Here are a few examples:
    • On their volunteering yearly anniversaries
    • Who have never missed an in-service.
    • Who have logged in the most client hours in the past month, year, etc.
    • Who have never missed a shift in ____ months.
    • Who are always practicing and learning and applying the skills
  • These honors can be in private (flowers, small gifts, etc.) to encourage the person who deserves the appreciation while not making others feel competitive or left out. This privately shows the qualities you value in volunteers and reinforces those qualities and behaviors.
  • Public honors can also be utilized by highlighting them in a newsletter or donor letter, honoring them at a banquet, putting their photos up on a bulletin board in the volunteer room, etc. This publicly shows the qualities you value in volunteers and reinforces those qualities and behaviors.

What qualities are you looking for in your volunteer program? Align all the components of your volunteer program to recruit, screen, train and appreciate for these qualities.

Remember . . . You get what you ask for!