5 Smart Ways to Recruit Church Tech Volunteers
Cathy Hutchison
If you want to recruit great volunteers and have some to spare, consider using these methods to shift your volunteer strategy from point-of-need to pipeline.
You just found out your audio mixer is moving. To Australia.
And your lighting tech just had a baby at the same time your backup lighting tech is pulling too many hours at his day job to help.
There are lots of reasons that volunteers leave. (Usually unexpected and at the worst possible time.
… volunteers are rarely plug-and-play. They need training-which is why the unexpected vacancies produce so much stress for church tech teams.
And every time it happens, there is a scramble to fill the gap. Usually after a bit of negotiating in the hopes there might be some way the volunteer will stay.
Ugh. Recruiting.
It’s a necessary part of every tech director’s skill set,yet finding volunteers at the point when you need them is a stressful set up. After all, volunteers are rarely plug-and-play. They need training-which is why the unexpected vacancies produce so much stress for church tech teams.
Creating regular systems for recruiting that happen on an ongoing basis, moves you from scrambling to meet a need to producing a pipeline of volunteers. It’s an effective way to build a sustainable volunteer base.
Here are five systems you might set up to build your volunteer pipeline:
1-Become part of the onboarding process
Most churches have an onboarding process that helps new members connect into ministries they are interested in. While technical arts is probably already a check box on the new member interest card, there is an opportunity to take it a step further. What if part of the onboarding process was an introduction to the technical arts ministry? After all, it’s already highly visible on a Sunday morning. Having tech arts own a section of the onboarding education helps people see what it takes to create a Sunday morning in a more tangible way than a PowerPoint slide can deliver.
2-Host a quarterly check-it-out lunch
Surprisingly, people with an interest in technical arts can often be intimidated by a well-established crew. When you are the new kid on the block, it can feel that everyone has more training than you do. Even people who work in production may feel that their skills won’t be a match.
… when First Baptist Dallas surveyed its tech volunteers to find out how they got involved in the ministry, they learned that the majority had first connected via the lunch.
Setting up a regular, convenient, low-key event like a lunch can help you meet those who are interested without the intimidation factor. In fact, when First Baptist Dallas surveyed its tech volunteers to find out how they got involved in the ministry, they learned that the majority had first connected via the lunch.
3-Get the high school kids involved
Many church technical leaders had their interest sparked in technical ministry through experience they gained in high school.
Designing youth spaces with oversized booths so there is the ability to shadow, in addition to creating opportunities for youth to run their own tech, builds skills and interest. For many, it ignites a passion that lasts their whole lives.
4-Create internships
Companies often fill their entry-level positions by building strong relationships with universities. By creating internships, you get to pour into people who aren’t even connected to your church yet. And, you can specialize beyond theatre and broadcast, creating internships for film, stage management, or graphic design.
It is worth reaching out to your local university to find out what types of internships would benefit their students.
5-Leverage #FOMO
Building a team with great culture often results in people inviting their friends, but many times people don’t think to ask.
When you have recruiting systems in place, you start to build pipelines. Not only do you have a full crew of volunteers, but there are also people on deck.
Creating “fear of missing out” takes a little bit of intention on the part of the tech leader. When you fill your personal social media feed with behind-the-scenes shots and tag the crew, it shows people in their friend feed what they are involved in. And because you are working in production, it not only looks fun, it also looks cool. Create the #FOMO.
When you have recruiting systems in place, you start to build pipelines. Not only do you have a full crew of volunteers, but there are also people on deck.
So, when your video tech wins the lottery and decides to move to Bali, you don’t stress. You have bench.
The above article, “5 Smart Ways to Recruit Church Tech Volunteers” was written by Cathy Hutchison. The article was excerpted from https://www.churchproduction.com/.
The material is copyrighted and should not be reprinted under any other name or author. However, this material may be freely used for personal study or research purposes.
This article may not be written by an Apostolic author, but it contains many excellent principles and concepts that can be adapted to most churches. As the old saying goes, “Eat the meat. Throw away the bones.”
