Volunteer Recruitment

Courage to Do What Needs to Be Done

September 21, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

Here is the definition of courage that I found in the dictionary:

the ability to do something that frightens one; strength in the face of pain or grief.

It takes courage to persevere in this ministry. It is important to think about how to build or at least invite courage into your volunteer program.

Let’s think about this:

It takes courage to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
It takes courage to persevere in the face of women choosing abortion.
It takes courage to love.
It takes courage to believe that love wins.
It takes courage to pursue people who believe differently than we do.
It takes courage to choose relationship over being right.
It takes courage to listen to people’s difficult stories and painful choices.
It takes courage to be vulnerable.
It takes courage to believe that Jesus is in charge.
It takes at least some measure of courage to do almost everything that volunteers are asked to do, especially when meeting with clients.

So how do we build courage into our volunteer programs?

I think we must remind ourselves, as trainers and leaders, the courage it does, in fact, take to work with clients at the Pregnancy Center. Then we have to hold that reality as we plan all aspects of the volunteer program.

In all aspects of the volunteer program we can build in the reality of the courage it takes to volunteer.

When recruiting volunteers it is important not to “sugar coat” what it means to work with clients. Our prayers must be that God sends us volunteers who are up to the task and come with willing and open hearts to learn how to interact with clients based on your ministry model.
When screening potential volunteers we must ask the hard questions to help us both understand what is the motivation behind their choice to volunteer.
Volunteer training can give volunteers the skills they need to utilize when a situation arises where they need to be courageous. Having skills to help volunteers navigate their way through difficult client situations can provide them with the ability and strength they need to be courageous in the face of personal fears or pain and grief.
Setting clear job expectations and giving regular positive and helpful feedback allows volunteers to know what is expected of them, how they are doing and that you are available to help them improve. This can sometimes be difficult and time consuming for staff. If this is not in place volunteers are often left wondering how they are doing or not knowing how to evaluate their own performance. Without standards, feedback and encouragement volunteer rarely grow in their abilities to work with clients.
Encouraging volunteers with prayer and the word of God is invaluable. Finding scriptures, books quotes, films, etc. that will encourage them to live-out your ministry model is essential in building courage.
I think any kind of volunteer appreciation should include a nod to the courage it takes to volunteer and continue to volunteer.

Courage in the Pregnancy Center ministry is like a muscle that your volunteers are constantly building with your help. How you screen, train, evaluate, encourage and appreciate volunteer are the tools that will help them build the courage muscle they need to become long-time volunteers in your ministry.

How are you building courage into your volunteer program?

Envisioning Out of the Ordinary Volunteer Opportunities

August 24, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

When I was a director I was always focused on recruiting what I will call “hands on” volunteers such as receptionists, client advocates, sonographers, people to help with the materials assistance program, people to help with fundraising events.

As I spoke at churches to recruit volunteers many people would come up to me and express how much they would like to volunteer but they could not give the time required by the volunteer jobs I had mentioned. Others expressed interest in supporting the Center but did not feel their gifts and talents lined up with what we were asking for in terms of volunteer positions.

For about 7 years I was the volunteer coordinator for a local hospice here in Pennsylvania where I now live. In order to meet Medicare requirements for hospice I had to reach a quota of volunteer hours each month based on the hands-on services we provided to our clients. It was pretty overwhelming some months. The good thing about the mandatory quota was, it caused me to think very creatively about how I could create volunteer jobs that would interest a wide variety of people.

I have been utilizing that same thinking for envisioning out of the ordinary volunteer positions for Pregnancy Centers. Hopefully these positions might engage more volunteers and help in the day to day of the Center and the long-term vision(s) of the Center. Some can be done from home and might not require a weekly commitment.

Depending upon the size of your Center and your budget many of these positions might be filled by a paid staff position. Other Centers may not have the resources to pay someone to do these tasks and need to look towards filling them with volunteers. Some are fun ideas and positions that may allow your clients to feel welcomed and honored and your volunteer appreciated.

So here is a list of possible volunteer jobs:

Librarians – Recruit volunteer librarians to source and set up a lending library of books, movies and other resources that volunteers can borrow. Use the resources for book and/or movie clubs, in-service trainings, etc.
Role-players – people who fancy themselves good actors or who have had previous life experiences with an unplanned pregnancy who are willing to come in as needed to role-play with client advocates who are in training.
Graphic Designers – some Centers might already have a website designer or a graphic designer that they turn to for their graphic needs but if you don’t you might try and recruit a volunteer designer. Maybe there might be a small project, like designing note cards to send to clients that a graphic designer could help you with.
Social Media Managers – Do you have a presence on a social media platform? Might that be helpful? A social media manager, once trained, could do this job from wherever. I can see one social media platform focused on reaching clients and another on your supporters. They would be two very different types of content so you could probably use two social media managers.
Training Mentors– Do you have wonderful volunteers who have left because their life situation has changed and they cannot give as much time as they used to? If they were highly skilled client advocates maybe you can ask them to help get volunteers from the classroom or online training into the counseling room by reviewing the training wor, answering questions and engaging in role-play. Much of this can be done via a Zoom meeting from their own home.
Training Administrator – Someone to help with the administrative tasks of training such as gathering the materials, communicating with prospective volunteers who are attending the training, collecting training fees, coordinating and keeping track of the progress of the people who are doing online or video training, being the go-to person if trainees have questions, etc. This could be done from home.
Hospitality Volunteers – When I go to the salon where I get my hair cut the receptionist offers me, actually serves me, not only my beverage of choice but some lovely kind of baked good as well. I cannot tell you how welcoming and honoring that small gesture feels even if I say no to the offering. Now, in this time of Covid-19, this is not possible but hopefully it will be possible sometime in the future. Volunteers could offer to bring in a baked good for clients on a weekly or monthly basis. They can bring several at one time and staff members can take them home and put them in the freezer. Better yet, recruit volunteers who have the gift of hospitality to come once a month to the Center, bring a baked good and offer to serve clients who come that day.
Contemplative Stone Makers – There are instructions on how to make contemplative stones for clients to take away with them here on the website. You can recruit a team of crafty volunteers or individuals to meet and make the stones on a semi-regular basis so you have plenty of stones to offer to clients. The downloadable instructions are here.
Crafty Volunteers – Volunteers love to get little tokens of appreciation. Pinterest is full of some great inexpensive ideas that can easily be created by a group of crafty women. You might be able to gather a group together once or twice a month to work on projects or have a crafty volunteer assemble packets of supplies that can be picked up and then assembled at home.

Of course all of these volunteer opportunities will need job descriptions. The more detailed the better with approximate time commitments, necessary training, etc.

Next month I will focus on crafting clear, effective job descriptions.

Leaders Provide Vision to See What Ought to Be Done

August 17, 2020 By cyndi4ETS

Vision

It’s a word we hear often. It is important in an organization to have a vision. It is even more important to know the, who, what, when, how and especially the why of that vision. Hopefully it will drive the way your organization makes decisions.

Within the larger vision of an organization there can be smaller visions that will help achieve the larger vision. Every volunteer program should have a vision that will help the organization realize its larger stated vision.

For example the organization’s vision might be to make abortion rare in your sphere of influence such as your town, city, county, etc. Defining the why, how, when and who will give direction to staff and board members when making decisions in almost every aspect of the ministry.

For those of you who are responsible for the volunteer program in your Centers, it would help you to have your own vision for the program. It should be a vision that will support and uphold the organization’s vision and not be in competition with it.

Here are a few examples of volunteer program vision statements:

Our volunteers will treat each client with compassion & dignity.
Our volunteers will serve clients with integrity.
Our volunteers will be the hands and feet of Jesus to the clients God sends to the Center.
Our volunteers will seek first to understand and then to be understood.
Our volunteers will treat people with opposing views on abortion with love and respect.

Many of these volunteer program visions would contribute to the larger vision of making abortion rare in your community. They would be complimentary visions that would focus the work of volunteers and their staff supervisors in helpful ways.

These are only examples but the important part, once you have chosen your vision, is to answer the following questions:

Why does this support the larger organization’s vision? Be very specific and descriptive here so everyone can understand their part in reaching the large vision.
What does this vision statement actually mean? Make sure everyone knows what the statement means. Define words. Write out a detailed description of what the vision statement means.
Who is responsible to work towards this vision? Clear answers here provide great job descriptions and a sense of who is responsible for what. Everyone can’t do everything.
How will this be accomplished? What training, support, supervision, etc. will be provided so volunteers can achieve this vision?
When are volunteers responsible for working towards this vision? When they are with clients? When they are speaking to others about their work at the Center?

Of course we are always praying towards our vision but we also must be actively involved in working towards the vision as well. Being very clear about your vision is helpful in your prayer time where you are asking for the Lord’s help in your own transformation and your responsibility in helping to achieve the vision.

How is having a vision for your volunteer program helpful?

Volunteers will know what they are working towards and how they will be held accountable.
There is clarity about how you are going to work to try and achieve that vision.
If the vision is stated during the volunteer interview process, people will clearly know what they are saying yes to or have the opportunity to opt out.
A clearly defined vision clarifies people’s roles and responsibilities in the organization.
The vision can unite all volunteers no matter what role they are filling in the organization.
A vision can clarify performance evaluation criteria across all volunteer job descriptions.

So, what is the vision for your volunteer program?

I would be happy to help you define the vision or help answer some of the questions I have listed in this article. Call or email me if I can be of help to you.

cyndi@equippedtoserve.com