If you want your volunteers to stick around, you've got to create a culture where people like to hang out. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Being welcomed — not processed or herded — is rare. And it's got a huge impact.

If you want to create a place where your volunteers look forward to hanging out, make sure they're welcomed each time they walk through the door. What would happen if, when your nursery director slid through the door, someone shook her hand and said, "You're here! How wonderful! Now the party can start!"

I want to suggest four words that sum up how to create a volunteer-friendly culture: fun, fair, forgiving, and faithful.

Fun

Here's a radical concept: Doing ministry with kids can be fun. Sometimes, though, that's not the reality. The good news is that a wise leader can fix that. Set this tone for your volunteers: We take what we do seriously, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. Also, be certain that as a ministry leader, you confront situations and solve them for your volunteers. Don't let someone get stuck in the wrong job. And finally, if you give your volunteers too much to do, you'll suck the fun right out of their jobs.

Fair

In church we sometimes play favorites. We give special privileges to volunteers who think like we think or who tell us what we want to hear. Three things you can put in place to make sure your church culture is fair and welcoming are: 1. Set clear guidelines and expectations, 2. Set standards and hold your volunteers to them, and 3. Avoid competition.

Forgiving

How forgiving and tolerant is your ministry with volunteers? While there is no room for tolerance with something such as child abuse, you can forgive them for everyday mistakes that people tend to make. If you want your volunteers to stick, be gracious, share stories about your own failures, and have a sense of humor.

Faithful

A faithful culture is one where volunteers trust their leaders. It's where volunteers know leaders have the volunteers' best interests at heart. Can your staff trust you? Have you given them a reason to trust you? Make sure you deliver to your volunteers what you promise. Give credit where credit is due. Using "please" and "thank you" works wonders with volunteers. And take time to evaluate your ministry culture to make sure it's welcoming. Occasionally ask your volunteers if they think your program is fun, if they are treated fairly, if their mistakes are forgiven, and if they trust the ministry leaders.

Finally, creating a volunteer-welcoming church is huge, and you can't do it alone. You need to get lots of people on board, especially people in leadership. Jot down the names of people who are already making a volunteer-welcoming culture. Who's already helping? And whom do you need to recruit? And who are the people who may need a little help-who may be hurting your culture?

Your church's culture will make or break your volunteer program. If it's not fun, fair, forgiving and faithful, you won't hang on to volunteers long. Be sure to create a volunteer-welcoming church as the first step to a healthy, attractive program for long-term volunteers.

Copyright © Group's Church Volunteer Central. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.