How to Keep Volunteers Accountable

It is essential to make sure that barriers to volunteer participation do not exist. People who are sitting on the sidelines want to feel welcomed and not hindered. An established culture of service needs to also be present in order to grow a team of volunteers. Conditioning your existing volunteers to energize new volunteers is a key to keeping church volunteers accountable.

The face of your volunteer team should collaboratively exhibit joy and fulfillment. As your church grows, so grows the array of serving opportunities and the need for more volunteers.  When the appearance of your volunteer team is one of stability, there will be less turnover. Furthermore, the level of experienced volunteers will allow people to be more effectively served.

A lack of fit or commitment by a large number of volunteers can deplete your team in a short period of time. Your establishment of a coherent volunteer accountability program can mitigate issues regarding commitment and participation. How can you establish a system of accountability in your church? How are you going to maximize your volunteer accountability with the culture you create?

Accountability is constructed with a monitoring process that compares performance to expectations, meaning that someone must have eyes and ears engaged to assist volunteers in consistently following established written guidelines. In any place of service, accountability has proven to enhance capability in volunteers and may even foster innovation. Conversely, one thing you don’t want to see is a loss of zeal or thriving slackness where a lack of accountability leads to decreased timeliness and service. The resulting tension will be visible when a handful of hardworking volunteers is taking up the slack for a host of unreliable ones.

In this video:

We discuss eight important steps in setting a process for volunteer accountability. We encourage you to use these tips in order to keep volunteers accountable in your church.