Volunteer Appreciation - What Your Team Wants From You

Tis the season to start planning your Christmas volunteer appreciation. But what do they want? How do you make it personal?

Check out Amber's Kidmin Volunteer Gift Guide for more. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Welcome to the Kidman Huddle Amber Pi. The children that's creating us get equipped, encouraging power to disciple intentionality. Growing God's kingdom one child at a time.

SPEAKER_01: 0:16

Welcome back to the Kidman Huddle. If you are like me, you are already in full Christmas mode. I got my Christmas pants on, Christmas earrings. Our house is mostly decorated. Yes, it is mid-November, but I love Christmas. And I see so many people are asking, all right, what do I get my volunteers? So today's episode is all about your volunteers and what they might actually want from you. Now, just to kind of cover our bases, we need to show appreciation to our volunteers. So Christmas, yes, but this is an all the time thing. Who wants to go to a thankless job where they get no recognition, they get no thank you, you're doing a good job. No, we don't do it for that. No kidmen leader signs up for kidmen thinking, I'm doing this because it's the most appreciated job there is. Right? That's not the thing. You all have probably gotten the same kind of questions I have. So what exactly do you do? You know, that kind of stuff where we feel underappreciated, undervalued. Yes. But if you are the kidman leader, you are part of that leadership team, you need to be making sure that your volunteers feel appreciated. They need to know that you value them, sacrificing week after week. They need to know that you appreciate them. You might be the only person saying that to them. That's okay. They need to hear it from you. So, yes, cue up all of the appreciation things you need to be doing them. Now, we're gonna talk kind of specifically Christmas themed because we're thinking gifts, but this applies to all of the year. Think of how throughout the year are you letting them know that they are appreciated. So, kind of step one, what's your budget? You have to know what your budget is and your number of volunteers. If you have 50 volunteers and you have a hundred bucks for the whole year to show them appreciation, that's going to definitely impact how you are showing them appreciation. Figure those things out. How many volunteers do you have? And what is your budget for the year? Then go and figure out, okay, how throughout the year am I showing them appreciation? And this is where we kind of get into some things that I highly encourage you consider. I don't want to call them do's and don'ts, but things I highly recommend you consider when it comes to your volunteers. So let's do a couple of scenarios to kind of get you in this vein of thinking about your volunteers. These are some scenarios that we don't want. You do not want a leader who sorry, this is the scenarios that a kidman leader does not want. So your volunteers do not want this. They do not want a leader that doesn't care about them, never asks about their life, doesn't connect with them. Really, the only time that they hear from their kidman leader superior is when they need a volunteer. They don't want that, would you? Another scenario, they do not want a gift from you that shows just how little you know them. So maybe you've got this awesome coffee gift for people. And you give it to someone who has told you at least five times how much they don't like coffee. Nothing screams. I've taken the time to get to know you and remembered conversations, like giving them something that they really don't want. Or maybe you're even allergic to. Right? If you got everyone a pineapple for your summer lual for your volunteers, and someone is deathly allergic to pineapples, oh, you didn't take the time to get to know them. They also don't necessarily want an event or an outing, something else on their to-do list, another obligation. Now, I say necessarily with that because if you've got a group of leaders, of volunteers that love hanging out together, awesome. They might treasure that. They might love the chance to go out with their kidmen team and have a nice dinner without kids that's paid for. But not everybody likes that. So if by some crazy magical chance someone from my husband's work at the car dealership is listening to this podcast, um, we have to go every year to a manager's dinner. We would just much rather stay at home in our pajamas than have to go to this manager's dinner. It's an obligation for us. Um, it's very nice on behalf of the company. It's a very sweet gesture. They go all out, fancy dinner, nice gifts, all that, but we would just assume not have to get a babysitter and go. So these things, these three scenarios, if you boil it down, they have something in common. You need to get to know your volunteer. Because they want to feel known, seen, valued. They are not just Timmy, who is available the first and third weekend, nothing in the summer. They're not just a name on a roster. They are a person, they are a fellow brother or sister in Christ. And yes, it's something else you have to add on the list of things you have to do, but you have to take the time to get to know them. Everyone feels loved and appreciated in different ways. If you go back to the love languages by Gary Chapman, I believe, some of us feel loved and appreciated with words. So there might be that volunteer who the easiest way for you to show them that they are appreciated is for you just to verbally be like, I so appreciated what you did today. When you did, when you stepped in and you did XYZ, this was amazing. Oh, love it. Some people are gifts, they want gifts, and that makes them feel loved and appreciated. It doesn't have to be expensive, it could be a little cheesy candy bar, their favorite candy bar because you've taken the time to get to know them. And let's say it's an almond joy, and you make a cute little tag. It's a joy serving with you, or they love Starburst. I'm bursting to tell you how much I appreciate you. Cheesy is okay, especially when you don't have a lot of money. But it's the it's the you know, the little the thought that counts. Some people are physical touch, so maybe they need a hug. That is how they feel appreciated. When you see them, you hug them and you tell them how much you appreciate them. Some people are acts of service, so you could think, okay, maybe I'm supplying them with dinner. I'm ordering pizza for them and their family. I'm giving them a gift card to go out. I'm, we've got a ton of budget money, so we're getting their cars detailed. Ooh. So with that, kind of side note, maybe think about who you have in your church that could be a resource. Do you have someone at your church that owns a small business that might have a discount for you, or you're at least supporting a church member? Do they have a small business of something that you could purchase or um use services from to give to your volunteers? That's like a triple win. And then some people, their act of the feeling loved and appreciated is quality time. So maybe this is extra coffee dates or lunches or they want that big outing. How are you getting to know your volunteers to where you can know how they specifically want to feel appreciated? Now, if you have a handful of volunteers, easy peasy, you can take the time to get to know them. If you have a lot of volunteers, you're gonna need to delegate. You might have trouble on top of everything else you have to do getting to know 150 volunteers. So go through the leadership hierarchy. Who's under you? Can they, those, let's say you have three people under you. Okay, split up your volunteer team between these three people, get to know. However, it works, leaders of your team need to know all the volunteers. Easy win for this is a volunteer survey. Make this part of their onboarding process. You're gonna pass out a volunteer survey, and it's gonna have the things that you might need to know throughout the year to show them a little bit of love, including birthday. Ooh, I think every one of your volunteers would love a card in the mail telling them happy birthday. That simple little touch, anniversary as well, if they're married. Wow. Oh, my leader took the time to tell me happy birthday. Love it, thanks. It's going to include their shirt size for when you're getting kidmen swag. Or maybe that is one of your gifts. A really cool, really nice Kidman sweatshirt that they can wear. If you guys are a t-shirt or sweatshirt kind of children's ministry, that could be one of your gifts, a really cool shirt. And you, oh, look at that, you got their sweatshirt, so it gets to be a surprise instead of a all right, everybody, turn in your shirt size and 20 bucks so we can get you this new thing. Gift them that so it's not out of their pocket. You also want to ask them some of their favorites. What is their favorite soda or drink? Some people are soda people, some people are not. Some people are coffee people. Um, some people are weirdly not coffee people. I don't get that. So many things that you could do just with drink preference. I have a friend who does a gourmet soda station for her volunteers, and they've got the fancy syrups, and she's made recipes for them, printing out how they can make them. Okay, sorry about that. I thought I might have lost my recording signal because the power just flickered because we're getting some storms here, but it looks like we're good. Um, so sodas. You could do a gourmet soda thing. Maybe you just have a cart once in a while of their favorite sodas or drinks. Maybe you have a coffee bar set up as a fun little treat, a surprise. Maybe it's once a quarter you're having a special thing for them to come and grab. Maybe you have a break room for them if your church is big enough. Hey, volunteers, I know you're here early on Sundays, you're late on Wednesdays, come grab a soda, come grab a drink, make yourself a coffee from our coffee station with all the fun extras. That's awesome. Same thing with candy bars. What's their favorite candy bar, their favorite treat, their favorite chips or snacky food? What's their favorite donut flavor? Now, if you have read my book, Intentional Children's Ministry, you know donuts are my love language. And my dad, affectionately known as the donut fairy in our world, he knows my donut flavor. And he will surprise me with donuts. So the other day, I was just kind of having a rough day. And you better believe the next morning he calls me. He was on his way back, he had to run an errand, and he's like, Hey, heard you had a rough day yesterday. Well, the donut fairy thought this might make today better. And he drops off um five because one donut mysteriously disappeared out of the six-pack of my favorite Boston cream donuts. Whenever my dad does this, I feel so loved, so seen, so appreciated. Guys, donuts aren't that expensive, but it's my favorite. Maybe if donuts are your people's favorite or just a fun treat and you've got their favorite flavor. So this is one of those buffet situations, kind of like the drink cart. You could absolutely individually package donuts up. Here's your favorite donut, or you just make sure you've got your bases covered with all the fate all the flavors and you set out a big donut wall for them. Donut, you know, we love our team. Oh, make it cheesy, of course. Lots of options if you want to kind of do a buffet thing like that. You could do breakfast quarterly, yearly, whatever, lunch. Um, here's a you might want to think about though. Are you asking your volunteers to give extra time? So if you are having them stay for a lunch or come back for a dinner, that's extra time on them. What about their kids? Do they need to get a babysitter for this? Do they have to figure out child care? Is it taken care of? Is this an extra expense? Are they driving somewhere? Not everybody wants to do this, has the ability to do this. So be cautious when you are asking them to do something, to stay later, even if it's for an appreciation thing. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm saying you need to know your people. I would also recommend if you're doing uh an appreciation luncheon, make it a full thing where you add in some training to kind of kill some two birds, one stone. All right, volunteers, we are staying for the annual volunteer festival. I don't know, think of a name. I couldn't think of one off the top of my head. The um volunteer hoop law. There we go. So you're gonna have a really nice meal for them, maybe a fun gift that they get to take home. And then you're gonna add in that training piece because training our volunteers is actually a way that we're showing we appreciate them. We appreciate them. We want to set them up for success to do a good job. So I'm providing them training to better equip them to do said job. Um, with this, you can do gifts uh buffet style individually. I've seen uh a friend who they would have like a sock wall and you get to pick out a fun pair of funky socks. Man, Dollar Tree is your source for this. You can do it on the cheap. I made an event where it's pie themed and you get to take a piece of pie home or a little individual pie. I've done a candy bar thing where they get to scoop and make their own take home boxes of candy. So many options. But if you're asking them to stay for a lunch, to come for a dinner, I highly recommend adding that training piece. We care about our volunteers. We want them to do the best job that they can do, so let's equip them to do so, which wouldn't be a bad gift for your team. A book. Now, I, as much as I love donuts, I also love books. So if you gave me a book for Christmas, thank you. I love it. Intentional children's ministry would make a great book for volunteers. So would family ministry. I actually have a list, I'm gonna be making uh some social media, some blog posts, a list of some great leadership books for them in ministry. You could do just some great faith books. Maybe you don't know what books they have, what books they don't have. So you get them an Amazon gift card, or maybe you are lucky enough to have a bookstore near you. We have like Barnes and Noble, maybe in a drive. And we do have a um owned by a practicing witch bookstore in my town, but not getting gift cards for that. Give them a gift card. You know, you can do digital Amazon gift cards and just print it out, but then you know, that is a little impersonal. Just hey, everybody gets a book. Awesome. I would be super excited about that. But remember, we want our volunteers to feel known, seen, loved. Absolutely, you could write fun little notes. Or maybe you want to do my newest creation. I made custom bookmarks with like children's ministry, it's discipleship. But then on the back, I made the template where you put pictures of your volunteer serving. Because for me, I love pictures of me serving with my kids. I am so blessed. One of my favorite pictures that I have is the day that God called me into children's ministry. I was serving at vacation Bible school when I was 16. The theme was Rickshaw rally. It was like an Asian, you know, think I was wearing a kimono, I'd wear chopsticks in my hair, like we had cherry blossom trees, all the things. Like we made a fake koi pond, all the thing. And I have a picture of that day. That is a really special picture to me. So get in the mindset of always snapping pictures of your volunteer serving. They might love that too. And then it makes a really fun gift. Make this bookmark, attach it with a book. You can like Pinterest all of the fun ways to fold wrapping paper if you're wrapping a physical book and tuck this in there. Maybe do a candy bar or candy cane, cocoa, whatever. I cannot wrap. Um, I get the job done. My husband wraps beautiful presents. I get the job done. So mine would probably just go to a gift bag and the bookmark would go in there. That's okay. But it's a training piece, it's an appreciation piece. We've made it a little bit personal. Your volunteers want to be known. They want you to see them for them. So, whatever you're doing for your volunteers, remember to add some personal things at some point. So maybe I don't have a big budget in quarterly. I'm coming in with a very punny, cheesy Christmas gift. Um, you know, I'm gonna do like a packaged Christmas tree cake, and you are a tremendous volunteer, is a little tag that I make and I pass them out. You know, inexpensive. It's just a little cutesy. Hey, I see you, I appreciate you. Awesome. But then where's that personal touch that you can add in through the year? Maybe it's a text, and you've made a list of all of your volunteers so that through the year you can make sure you text all of them three times. Hey, you were just killing it today. The way that you got Timmy to calm down and oh, look at this picture that I here send here's this picture of him sitting on your lap. Oh, so precious. You're the hands and feet of Jesus today, and I so appreciate you. What about some happy mail for your volunteers? I've made postcards just for volunteers because they need it too. Happy mail, it's happy. Send a postcard to your volunteers. There are programs and apps that you can digitally send those pictures that you've been snapping while they're going there. Maybe that's someone's job, is just to take pictures. Great job for teens, tweens. Take some pictures. And you can send them like a digital postcard kind of thing. That would be a wonderful personal touch to show them that you know them, that you care about them. And like I said, get to know your volunteers. I had a lady who needed reassurance that she was doing a good job. And as I got to know her, I realized this is what she needs. So whenever she would do something a little maybe new, maybe outside of her comfort zone, I would make sure to encourage her. Oh, you did an amazing job. That was so great. The kids were so into that. You rocked it. Get to know your volunteers. Get to know how they want to feel known, seen, loved, get to know their favorites. Even if you have to make a spreadsheet for all of your volunteers, that's okay. Make the spreadsheet. I highly recommend this volunteer survey. That way you know their favorites. You don't want to give them something that they don't want. Now, you, I'm sure, have been the recipient of something that you don't love and you still appreciate the gesture. Absolutely. It's the thought that counts. Teach that to my kids, right? It's the thought that counts even if you don't love the gift. But these people, these men and women are serving week in and week out, loving on these kids, discipling them. Take the time to get to know them so that even if it's a dollar candy bar, it's a candy bar that they're going to love and they're going to feel known. They're going to feel seen. They're going to feel appreciated because you took the time to get to know them. They are not just a warm body keeping kids safe in the room. They are a fellow kingdom worker with you, a brother and sister in Christ. Get to know them. Show them that they are appreciated. This is fresh off the presses, but I just made a Kidman volunteer gift guide. It's got some ideas, some bigger stuff, some smaller stuff. I've mentioned most of it in here. It's got some books, some swag ideas. If you're making your own shirts, if not, there's some out there. Kidman Corinne has some really fun sweatshirts, t-shirts. Gift those to your team. If you're looking to make your own stuff, sticker mule, make stuff in small quantities. Sunday cool is amazing. Printify is a place where you could make them if you're looking to sell them, but that's not a very gifty gift. Stickers, if your team likes stickers, again, get to know them. My mom thinks stickers are weird. I think stickers are the most fun ever, so I'm totally gonna love a sticker. Sticky brand is great, sticker mule is great. Make the things, um treats, coffee, donuts, gift cards, buffets. It doesn't have to be big, but the best win is going to be showing that you know these volunteers. You can't do it without them. You need them faithfully showing up week after week, pouring into these kids. Maybe you can come up with some way some kids can show them love instead of this kind of bookmark. Maybe the kids are gonna make a bookmark for Miss Miss Sherry for whomever. Write them a special note, snap some pictures, make a plan to where you are intentional with showing them love and appreciation all throughout the year. You're hitting birthdays, anniversaries, you're um checking in a couple times throughout the year. I appreciate you. Here's some happy mail, here's a little treat. Maybe Christmas is the big gift. However, you're doing it, do it. Make the plan, be intentional, show those volunteers that they matter because they do. Those volunteers matter for the boys and girls that they are helping to disciple. So, happy Christmas shopping, my friend. Go make a plan, get some cocoa, put on your dinosaur Christmas earrings like I have. How are you loving on your volunteers this Christmas? And then all throughout the year. And remember, what you do matters.