Now that summer is here, are you wondering how to completely fill your club leadership in the next few months? More importantly, is it even possible when vacations and summer schedules intrude? Recruiting during the summer may involve a little more creativity, but here are some ideas to get you started.
- Here’s your best first step. Ask God to guide you to the volunteers who will bless your club members, not just fill an open slot.
- Ask current leaders. Get opinions from your current club leaders on who they would like to work with. Ask them to talk to their friends, Sunday school classmates, and Bible study members.
- Ask former leaders. Sometimes people who have taken a break from leading club may be eager to come back. Maybe the workload at their job has calmed down again or their own kids are old enough now to attend club.
- Give a church presentation. Ask the pastor for a few minutes during a Sunday service to share the excitement of your club with the congregation. Then come prepared! Show the projects you did for awards. Tell about a service project or outing. Ask kids ahead of time what they like about club, and read some of their answers. If possible, show a short video clip with testimonials from leaders and club members or interview a leader and/or club member during your presentation. You’re sure to get some funny answers as well as moving ones.
- Get in touch with the Pastor, Director of Children’s Ministries, Sunday school superintendent and Sunday school teachers. Ask these people to help you by:
- suggesting potential volunteers
- giving you insight into the strengths and weaknesses of potential volunteers
- helping with one-on-one recruiting
- Have fun. Plan a special event for the club members this summer and invite potential adult volunteers. You’ll give them the opportunity to begin getting to know the kids and the other club leaders, as well as seeing how much fun club is. If you invite parents, you may be able to approach them afterward about getting more involved in club. Event ideas:
- Police visit. See if your local police department has a children’s program about bike safety, water safety or “street smarts.”
- Pinecar derby. CLICK HERE for a derby event kit with complete plans.
- Water fun day. Think water balloons, water slides (plastic tarps and hoses), and wading pools filled with water—or sand.
- BOLT Life Skills Training. It takes four half-hour sessions to do, so choose one to do all at once in a couple of hours on a Saturday or spread it out over your summer. With 36 BOLT Life Skill Leader Guides to choose from you are sure to find a great fit for your club.
- Put kids in the bulletin. Ask club members, “What are you looking forward to about Pioneer Clubs when it starts in the fall?” Put several kids’ answers in the church bulletin each week. You may be able to choose some older kids and ask if they can write something about what they appreciated about their club leaders. Explain that you’re trying to get people interested in becoming leaders, and they can help. Give them some ideas, such as “I liked that my club leader cares about me” or “My club leader always helped us have fun.”
Trying just one or two of these ideas will put you well on your way to finding leaders for the upcoming club year.
