When it comes to high-capacity volunteers, what should you be looking for? At our church, we took a good bit of time to look across the landscape of volunteers serving most effectively and we found five common qualities:
1. Available Time
Having time available is a really important quality (pretty spiritual too, haha) for high-capacity volunteers. Most of our volunteer leaders put in a lot of time for the church, so in identifying new volunteers, the first thing we check is to make sure they have time available.
2. Already Busy
This might seem counter-intuitive with the “Available Time” point above, however, your best potential volunteers are likely not sitting around with their feet kicked up. If they’re truly a high-capacity volunteer, they’re that way for a reason. They get stuff done! A lot of stuff. They’re likely busy with important projects, but if they are the right leader, a clear role and a compelling ask might just capture their attention.
3. Passion
The best volunteer leaders are passionate about the mission and vision of the church. It ignites their imagination. They rally behind it and don’t try to shoehorn their own agenda into it. Look for volunteers who have the passion to own the mission of your church at a deep level.
4. Servant-Minded
Most people think the most successful business leaders and CEOs are cutthroat and power-hungry. But there is a breed of top-level leaders that display a powerful mixture of personal humility and indomitable will. These are servant-minded leaders and the type you should invite to volunteer at your church.
5. Unoffendable
By the nature of their position, high-capacity volunteer leaders are in a difficult spot. Often, these positions require thick skin, flexibility, loyalty, and patience. Ministry can come along with a huge target on your chest and the best volunteers that will last are the ones that are unoffendable.
Begin looking out for people with these thrive character traits and you’ll be well on your way to finding your potential top notch high-capacity leaders.
To learn more about this topic, as well as the red flags to watch out for when looking for volunteers to invite to your team, be sure to check out my book where I go into greater detail.