Leadership, Travel, and International Affairs
65% of volunteers say they haven’t heard the words, “thank you” in the last year. I don’t think that’s that big of a deal if you follow these rules. Still, showing gratitude to your volunteers is a big deal. Here are 20 simple ways to show your volunteers that you appreciate them!
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I recently heard someone quote a statistic about church volunteers. Apparently, 65% of volunteers say they haven’t heard the words “thank you” in the last 12 months. Some may think that’s sad, but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Let me be clear, saying “Thank you” to your volunteers is just about pointless. Anyone can utter the words, it doesn’t mean anything.
For the record, I have no problem with saying “thank you”, on the contrary, I think it’s perfectly fine to say thank you. The problem is, saying “thank you” often becomes mindless appreciation and we say it instead of showing it. It’s far better to show gratitude than say gratitude. Anyone can say it, however, the key to appreciating your volunteers is showing it. Or at the very least displaying it in a meaningful way.
So, instead of the mindless “thank you”, do these three things instead.
The first time I heard someone say “Don’t Say Thank You to Volunteers”, I thought it was crazy. I was in Colorado Springs going through the Executive Course in Volunteer Development Ministry Level 1 taught by Al from Newell and Associates. It was a part of my initial training with Operation Christmas Child. I was kind of surprised to hear a Volunteer Management expert say those words. As he explained what he meant, though, I realized that my entire experience leading volunteers fell right in line with what he meant.
“Thanks for all you do.” – Me, as I walk past you after a long day.
How does that feel? That may happen to you all the time, and therefore, you won’t think twice when you hear it. However, although you may appreciate it, you won’t ever think of it again. It’s transactional versus transformational.
Transactional is like when a cashier at McDonald’s says “Hello” and leaves it at that.
Transformational is like when an employee of Chick-fil-A greets you with “How may I serve you?” and then follows up by really serving you!
Do this instead.
“Hey ___, I appreciate all of the hard work you put in today. I know it’s not easy to give up your Sundays like this but I want you to know what you’re doing here is having not only an eternal impact, but an impact on the lives of these families right now.” – Me, as I stop what I’m doing, stand right in front of you and look you in the eyes.
See the difference?
You might think that you can’t do that for everyone and you certainly can’t do that every week for everyone. You might be right in that, but when you begin doing that, your volunteers will begin to feel supported and appreciated more than ever before. Doing this is a transformational act.
Gossip may not be a good word to describe this but I think you get the picture. If you don’t have anything nice to say about someone, don’t say anything at all. On the other hand, if you have something nice to say about someone, tell people.
If you’re a pastor and one of your volunteers did something awesome, let the other church leaders know. Bring it up in a leadership or Pastor’s meeting, bring it up with your leader volunteers, or give a group of volunteers a shout out on social media. Do you have any idea how excited a volunteer gets when they see their name and picture on the social media profile of their church or organization where they serve?
Better yet, if you see someone else’s volunteer do a great job, tell that staff member/leader. Too often, we only hear complaints and/or bad news. It feels good to have people talk about how great your team is.
It doesn’t have to be something that you buy, but it could be. You can hand write a thank you card or a note, you can give them a gift card, take them out for coffee or lunch, bring them something they like, have a pizza night or a donut day. If you decide to buy them something or take them out for coffee or lunch, pay for it yourself! You may have a budget or get reimbursed to treat your volunteers to a coffee or lunch but don’t use it! Pay for it yourself and don’t tell anyone what you did. Yes, it may not make sense but I believe God honors that. Not in the sense that if you spend $10 God will repay you $20, but in the sense that your ministry will be blessed by treating others like that. If you don’t have the money, then think about ways you can show appreciation that don’t cost any money. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
I’ve written notes, given shout outs on social media, gave meaningful thank you speeches, and bragged about volunteers. I once had a Children’s Ministry volunteer who loved Milano cookies. I didn’t even know what they were, but I decided to buy some and bring them in. He was blown away. It only cost a few dollars but it made his and his family’s day. Totally worth it!
Are you looking to take things to the next level? You must start with your team, you need a high performance team! What characteristics do high performance teams display? These 6 Characteristics of High Performance Teams will guide you in taking your teams to the next level!
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Opportunity Cost is a commonly used economic principle. It’s a powerful principle, yet, it’s a frequently ignored principle, especially in ministry.
What did you do last week? That’s an important question, but there’s a better one. What did it cost you to do what you did last week?
The true cost of doing something includes opportunities that were given up to do said thing.
Why are those opportunities given up? Because you used up finite resources that cannot be used up again. You used up resources like time, money, and materials. That’s the essence of opportunity cost.
Your opportunity cost to watch TV for 20 hours last week is what you gave up to do that. Did you give up spending time with your family? Did you give up reading a book you’re interested in? Did you give up working on your presentation? You might have thought that that those hours of TV were free, but if you slacked off on work or school to watch your favorite programs, those may have been the most expensive shows you’ve ever seen!
Many times we don’t count the opportunity cost of doing ministry. For every thing we say yes to, we’re forced to say no to something else. If I spend $10,000 on an event, obviously, I’ll have $10,000 less to spend on other things. Many times we understand this when it comes to money because we’re all used to having limited financial resources, but we still don’t get it when it comes to time and energy.
I’ll tell you that I believe time and energy are even MORE limited than your financial resources. Why? Because your organization’s finances are not limited by time, however, your time and energy are always limited. You can always make more money. Someone can write you a million dollar check or you can develop a business that makes money while you sleep. But your time and energy are not renewable in any way. No one can write you a check for more energy. No one can develop a business or process when adds to your time. There is literally nothing more important than time and energy.
Think about what your goals are. Think about what your organization’s goals are. Is everything you do advancing those goals or are you fighting against yourself? Many times I find that we’re our own worst enemy.
By saying yes to launching a new ministry social media account (and the hours and energy that go with it), I’m saying no to further developing current social media capabilities, developing leaders, recruiting volunteers, enhancing curriculum, my own personal development, and many other things that ministry requires.
It pains me to see ministries, churches, and individuals trying to do everything. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything, at least not very well. Ultimately, it means that you’ll fail at most of it.
To do ministry well, we MUST understand the principle of opportunity cost. What do you think about opportunity cost?
January 2018 we’re launching an email course that will walk you through first 15 days of the year and put you in a position to strategically lead teams.
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There are two types of administrative activities, those that create value, and those that don’t (obviously). There are no neutral activities. Everything you do either brings you closer to your goal, or takes you farther away. In this post, we’re going to look at 8 activities that always take away value. We’ll call this 8 Deadly Wastes. You think calling this “Deadly” is overkill? Maybe, but maybe not when you think of the resources (mostly time and money) that you pour into certain activities. For every activity you choose to do, you’ve automatically said “No” to something else, that’s Opportunity Cost.
Are you a hole filler?
Does your ministry have an immediate need that you feel is so great, that you MUST put someone there, right now? Do you believe that if you don’t fill this hole, then the entire ministry will tank and you won’t be able to recover?
Guilty!
