Today’s Mission

Day 6

Focusing on Next Year Before This Year

Someone’s sitting in the shade today because

someone planted a tree a long time ago.

WARREN BUFFETT

I know it sounds crazy. But I’m suggesting that, when it comes to recruiting your volunteer team, you focus as much or more on next year’s team as you do on this year’s team.

Here’s why:

Yes, you need to stop the bleeding around the urgent needs of this week. But tending to those needs first will only perpetuate the stuckness.

Your best potential, high-leverage, load-bearing volunteers are not likely available for the urgent needs you have this week. Because your best volunteers are natural leaders, they have organized their major commitments months, sometimes even years, in advance. You never get the greatest volunteers when you ask at the last minute.

The earlier you ask, the more likely you are to get a yes. I sometimes say that the difficulty of recruiting next fall’s volunteers doubles each month after March, if this is your initial ask.

The earlier you ask, the more value your new volunteer will place on the position. I’m pretty certain that the PTA at the school across town already knows right now who its next president will be. Knowing your commitment six months or so in advance simply puts this new responsibility higher on your list.

So here’s the challenge: before you deal with the crisis de jour with your current ministry this week, spend time first working to build a full team of leaders for the coming year. In a normal setting, we recommend starting the recruiting process of major, load-bearing, partner volunteers six months before they are to begin serving.

Today’s Mission

Now that you’ve matched your pool list with your needs list, now that every blank is filled, it’s time to get a single ask out to every person on your master needs list (we also call this your master recruiting list now that it has names in the blanks).

Send a personal email (like the one on the next page) to each person on your master list.

Hey [NAME],

I hope all is well in your world.

I’ve got a quick question for you, one that I realize may not have a quick answer!

I’m putting my team together for next year’s _____________ [for example, seventh grade Sunday school, small group program], and I would love for you [or you and spouse—using his or her name] to consider being a part of this team.

You may know right now that you can’t take on another thing next year, starting [DATE]. If so, just give me a quick “call me another year” message, and I’ll get back to you in six months or so. If you’re a “maybe,” let me know and I can give you a little more detail about what we’re looking for and give you the chance to ask any questions you might have.

There are a handful of folks in the church who get to work with our teenagers, and I’d love for you to be one of them next year!

I look forward to hearing from you.

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