Use Social Media to Recruit More Church Volunteers - The Effective Church Group

As your church grows, so does your workload. While the more congregants who want to join your community, the better, you need dedicated volunteers to ensure everything runs smoothly and keep your mission alive.

Considering there are about 5.42 billion social media users worldwide, social media is an ideal channel for expanding your reach and recruiting more volunteers. This guide will help you build a cohesive, engaging social media volunteer recruitment strategy for your church.

1. Make it easy to sign up.

Before promoting volunteer opportunities on social media, ensure a clear pathway for prospective volunteers to register. That way, you can maximize the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and create a positive volunteer experience from the start.

Simplify the signup process by:

• Developing clear calls to action. Users should know exactly what to do next when they land on your volunteer content. For example, let’s say you’re recruiting volunteers to assist with technology during your services. Your call to action may be “Sign up on our volunteer registration page to put your tech expertise to the test!” This call to action clarifies what users are signing up for and where they can do so.
• Creating a mobile-friendly version of your registration page. Since people will go directly from your social media profiles to your registration page, you must ensure this page adapts to their mobile devices. Choose a mobile-friendly theme or develop a new version of the page sized for smartphones.
• Linking to your registration page. Don’t make users look up your registration page on their own! Make the process seamless by linking to the page in your posts and account bios. Consider using a link organizer like Linktree to include multiple important links in your social media bios.

Use a comprehensive volunteer management system to make the registration process easier for volunteers and your team. As Bloomerang explains, the best volunteer platforms allow volunteers to easily sign up for events and track their volunteer hours while keeping all volunteer information organized and accessible for your church leaders.

2. Share volunteer testimonials.

You can tell prospective volunteers how rewarding your church volunteer program is, but it will be more impactful and authentic coming from volunteers themselves. Sharing volunteer testimonials on social media can pique potential volunteers’ interest and encourage them to sign up.

Start by interviewing current volunteers about their experiences. With their permission, you may record and edit the interviews to create attention-grabbing clips for social media. Alternatively, you can conduct interviews offline, pull out striking quotes that resonate with your audience, and accompany the text with a photo of each volunteer.

Here’s what the caption of your volunteer testimonial may look like:

Ellie is a star volunteer who is always willing to lend a helping hand. Recently, she volunteered at our annual spring family fundraiser, where she ran children’s games.

“It’s always rewarding to work with kids in our community,” Ellie said. “Teaching them about our church’s values makes me hopeful for the future of our congregation. Not to mention, it’s always a fun time!”

Interested in becoming a church volunteer like Ellie and improving our congregation? Check out upcoming opportunities on our volunteer page, and sign up today!

This testimonial introduces the volunteer, explains how she contributed, includes a quote from the interview, and ends with a call to action that connects the testimonial to how users can make a difference themselves.

3. Post behind-the-scenes volunteer content.

Give prospective volunteers an exclusive look at what your volunteer program entails with behind-the-scenes content. This type of content works especially well on Instagram and Facebook Stories, allowing followers to access and engage with it easily.

For example, you may post content like:

• Before and after photos of the volunteers’ setup for an event
• Videos of volunteers in action
• Clips of volunteers introducing themselves
• Volunteer spotlights

Incorporate current social media trends to grab your audience’s attention. For example, you may have your younger volunteers record themselves doing a viral TikTok dance. By creating content with viral potential, you’ll reach a wider audience and inspire more people to join your volunteer program.

Plus, letting volunteers have fun with this content helps them get more out of the experience and bond with fellow volunteers. Igniting enthusiasm will in turn make volunteers perform better and return to volunteer more often.

4. Demonstrate the impact of volunteering.

People will be more willing to volunteer when they know the difference they can make. Demonstrate the impact of your volunteer program on social media by:

• Recapping events. Let’s say you just ran a silent auction. You may post photos, videos, and a quick event summary. In your caption, thank your volunteers and include details about how they made your event successful. For instance, you may acknowledge that volunteers kept your event running smoothly by setting up the auction items, using your silent auction software to check in attendees, and answering attendee questions throughout the event.
• Describing the impact on the community at large. Explain the greater impact you were able to make with your volunteers’ help. For instance, you may say, “Thanks to our generous donors and dedicated volunteers, we raised over $15,000 for our church, allowing us to revamp our programming and accommodate even more congregants.”
• Sharing relevant impact metrics. At the end of the year, create infographics to share volunteer impact metrics from the past year. You may include how many volunteers you currently have in your program, how many new volunteers you gained this year, how many total hours they volunteered, and how much money you raised at volunteer-led events.

With more tangible numbers and examples of volunteer impact, prospective volunteers will better understand the importance of joining your program and be more inspired to get involved.

5. Create a volunteer community.

Social media is built to forge connections. Use Facebook Groups or dedicated Instagram accounts to foster a volunteer community and centralize essential program information on social media.

Within these online volunteer communities, you can:

• Post about upcoming opportunities with registration links
• Survey volunteers about their passions and skills to create opportunities that align with their interests
• Share important program updates and content, such as volunteer schedules, training sessions, and appreciation event invitations
• Allow volunteers to ask questions and interact with each other so they can bond with fellow volunteers

Encourage volunteers to repost content from your volunteer community to reach a wider audience. Have them invite local friends and family to join so they can learn more about your volunteer program and participate.

While church growth is a net positive for your congregation, you don’t want to risk burning out your current volunteers by continuously adding to their workload. By leveraging social media to recruit new volunteers, you can expand your volunteer base and sustainably grow your church.