Take Time to Evaluate . . . What are Your Volunteer Needs?

When it comes to recruiting, do you "settle" for insufficient volunteer levels? If you have one teacher in a class, do you go with it, or do you staff your classes based upon the number of students you have and the number of volunteers you actually need to be genuinely effective? Think about the following . . . 

• A good "rule of thumb" when it comes to staffing your Children's Ministry is to have one volunteer for every year old the children are in each class. For example, in a class of two-year olds, you want to have one volunteer for every two children. In a class of eight year olds, you want to have one volunteer for every eight children.
• When you have married couples serving together, always have at least one unrelated adult in the class as well.
• Ask your volunteers to serve a minimum of a quarter at a time. Preferably have them serve for the school year, but if they serve one Sunday a month for a year, serving for one quarter is the same number of Sundays, but gives children - and volunteers - the opportunity to develop relationships, and this makes your Children's Ministry stronger and more effective.

Evaluate what your real needs are as far as the number of volunteers you need for your Children's Ministry to be strong and effective and then plan to recruit accordingly.