Retain Volunteer Leaders With These 21 Ideas

After spending time and effort getting the stellar leaders you have to help you run club, stop and thank God. Then do your best to retain your leaders by communicating with them personally and collectively throughout the year in a way that makes them feel respected, valued and celebrated. We’ve provided 21 ideas for you to add to what you already are doing.

Retain Volunteer Leaders With These 21 Ideas

1. As soon as you have your team of leaders, host a kick-off meeting to reiterate your church and ministry mission and its role in discipling the leaders of the future Church.

2. If it turns out a volunteer leader is skilled or passionate in an area in which they are not serving, do your best to put them in a role that better fits their gift mix.

3. Whatever the health situations are at the time, take the precautions necessary to keep everyone safe and healthy.

4. Schedule regular meetings to create an environment of open communication and cooperation between you and your team, and leader and leader.

5. If a leader is struggling or needs assistance, be the first to lend a helping hand.

6. Be aware of adult/kid ratios — not only for child safety issues, but also to reduce volunteer leader burnout.

7. Be cognizant of your leaders’ family situations and needs. Provide opportunities to serve every other week or remotely, if necessary.

8. Create a culture of prayer by praying together as a community of leaders for
your ministry, the kids and families involved in it, Awana throughout the world and
one another.

9. Select a passage of Scripture that all the leaders can meditate on and memorize
as a group.

10. Spend time getting to know other volunteer leaders.

11. Form a book club with your leaders and read inspiring child discipleship books such as Resilient: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church and The Faith of Our Children: Eight Timely Research Insight for Discipling the Next Generation.

12. Involve parents in all aspects of Awana so they can support their children’s efforts and the work of your leaders.

13. Encourage leaders to forge relationships with parents and share what their children have accomplished each night.

14. Inspire volunteers by asking them to recall a leader who impacted them as kids or who impacted them during the ministry year.

15. Share the story of an adult who went through your Awana program to demonstrate how influential your ministry is even after kids and teens grow up.

16. Show your appreciation in a tangible way. Consider baking cookies or giving
out a $5 gift certificate to a local coffee shop with a note that says, “Thanks a latte for all you do.”

17. Organize a midyear event to thank your leaders for their commitment to the kids and to Awana.

18. Have an end-of-year celebration just for leaders where they can share their
favorite moments of the Awana ministry year. Together, dream about what next year could be like.

19. Follow up the end of club with a more detailed survey, based on your year’s goals and previous evaluations.

20. Before everyone breaks at the end of the ministry year, approach each leader and personally ask their intentions for serving next year.

21. Stay connected with your team through the break by using social media, Zoom, and the occasional coffee or lunch.

If you’d like more tips for running your ministry, check out the Ministry Year Planning Guide and resources, read our blogs and follow us on Facebook.

Do you have an idea that isn’t on this list? Share it with everyone in the comments!