Most people who’ve spent time around churches understand how important Easter is for engaging new people with the good news about Jesus. People who wouldn’t show up at any other time of the year will show up for your Easter services.
While Easter is critical for reaching new people, it’s also an important first step for many new volunteers. If you’re like most churches, you’ll need additional volunteers to handle the extra people God brings your way during Easter. For some of those volunteers, it’ll be the first time they serve in a church setting.
That’s why an important goal of your church’s Easter experience is to turn first-time volunteers into regulars. This blog post will walk you through five key strategies to develop long-term commitment from first-time volunteers during Easter.
Make the First Experience Amazing
First impressions matter—not just for your guests during Easter but also for your volunteers. If their first serving experience feels chaotic or frustrating, they probably won’t stick around for the long haul. Make it smooth and welcoming, and you’ll build a team that’s excited to come back.
Strategies to consider:
- Pair new volunteers with experienced ones. Easter will most likely not be a typical Sunday. It’ll be incredibly busy. An experienced volunteer can help newcomers navigate this stressful day.
- Provide simple and clear training. Effective training that gives new volunteers a glimpse of what to expect can help them avoid getting overwhelmed.
- Say, thank you often. Let your volunteers know you appreciate their service before, during, and after their service. Don’t forget to drop a thank-you note in the mail for them.
Follow Up Quickly
If you’ve done part 1 (provided them with an amazing experience), it’s essential you re-engage your first-time volunteers as soon as possible — before they forget that experience!
Strategies to consider:
- Send a thank-you message on the first day after Easter. Whether you send the message via a hand-written note, text, or e-mail, let them know you appreciate their contribution. Be as specific as possible.
- Gather feedback. You want to ask for feedback as soon as you can so new volunteers don’t forget the experience. Focus on questions that help you improve your volunteer experience the next year. Make sure you ask about the training and how it prepared them to serve.
- Offer a low-pressure, low-commitment opportunity to serve again. Focus on upcoming volunteer options that don’t require a long commitment. Simply give them the opportunity to take part. Don’t lay on a guilt trip if they choose not to do so.
Show Them the Bigger Picture
One way to get people to invest long-term as volunteers in your church is to show them they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Sometimes, that’s hard to see from a volunteer’s viewpoint as one small part of the larger Easter service.
Strategies to consider:
- Share stories of volunteer impact. Tell a story of what God did in the life of a member or a guest during Easter services. Tie that story to the many volunteer roles that engaged with the person (from the parking attendant to the greeter to the children’s workers who cared for the kids).
- Connect roles to your church’s mission. Your church has a reason for each volunteer role during Easter. You wouldn’t have spent the time and effort to resource the role if you hadn’t done so. But often, that purpose doesn’t get communicated. Help your team leads understand that purpose so they can communicate it to their teams.
Create Easy On-Ramps for Ongoing Service
Easter is a great time for churches to boost their volunteer numbers because people can get involved without feeling like they’re signing up for a long-term commitment. It’s a chance to test the waters and see if volunteering is a good fit for them. After Easter, offering simple, low-pressure opportunities to serve can help keep that momentum going. These smaller steps make it easier for people to build confidence and stay engaged until they’re ready to take on more consistent roles.
Strategies to consider:
- Offer flexible serving options. Consider how you can provide one-time or monthly volunteer opportunities along with your typical weekly options. (For example, create rotating shifts when possible.)
- Clearly communicate next steps. Mention opportunities to volunteer in your Easter thank-you notes and follow-up messages. Make sure it’s easy for new volunteers to sign up for those roles.
- Allow volunteers to try different roles. As you communicate opportunities to serve, provide some new roles. Your volunteers may have discovered during Easter that they didn’t enjoy serving in the capacity they were in. Giving them other options lets them find a role that fits better.
Build a Community, Not Just a Team
Part of the allure of volunteering (inside or outside of the church) is the opportunity to build meaningful relationships. It doesn’t take long for new volunteers to realize whether they’re just additional manpower to complete a task or part of a family working together toward a bigger goal.
- Host a celebration dinner for volunteers. Make it a potluck dinner (maybe provide the main dish). Don’t overplan the event. Give people plenty of time to get to know one another.
- Encourage teams to pray together before and after serving. Ask people to share requests before praying.
- Connect new volunteers to long-term ones. Even if you don’t do this formally, ask some of your more established volunteers to take new ones under their wing and spend some time getting to know them.
Keep the Momentum Going
Easter presents a fantastic opportunity to grow your church’s volunteer team for the future. Make the most of it by providing an excellent experience for your first-time volunteers. Following up quickly, providing easy-on ramps, showing them the bigger picture of their role, and developing a sense of community among your volunteers also helps to encourage first-timers to make a longer commitment to your church’s ministries.
Engaged volunteers strengthen every aspect of your church. Make developing a volunteer-friendly culture a priority in your church, and you’ll never struggle to find new volunteers again.
For more information about making the most of the volunteer experience during Easter, check out The Ultimate Easter Volunteer Toolkit.
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