Hundreds of kids and parents arrived at our campuses ready jump in. Some came for the first time.

Preparation for this day takes months. We really aren’t preparing for just one day. We’re preparing for the whole year.

Where does most of our preparation lie? Volunteers!

We find them, recruit them, meet with them, train them, screen them, apprentice them, and hopefully inspire them.

This year we started the year with a HUGE kick off event!

We planned fun, we asked our campus pastors to communicate, we inspired, we celebrated, and we informed.

Here’s what the program for the day looked like:

1. Opening Video and Live Band Combo.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Of this song:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We created the percussion track using the noises of items found in our children’s environments. The band came in live as the percussion built.

2. Kidmin Staff came out and welcomed everyone.

3. Then we showed this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

4. The Talk. It was given by each campus pastor.

The bottom line of the talk was to encourage our volunteers to be more than just skilled at their role. We wanted to challenge them to engage in the individual stories of the children and families that they would encounter in the coming year. We are not herding the masses, we are leading each individual child into a growing relationship with their Heavenly Father. We have an opportunity, this year, to be a part of each child’s story of faith.

5. The Closer. Live performance of Van Halen’s Right Now.

We created a video similar to this - but with our message.

Click here to view the embedded video.

6. Meet Your Team.

Everyone went to their classroom and met their team, got their t-shirt, and their small group roster.

It was a GREAT day that got us off to a great start for the year.

How did you prepare your volunteers for the upcoming year?

It’s just a fun way to remind our volunteers of a few important things.

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Volunteers have a lot of questions!

We need to ease their concerns and provide answers. It is very important that all of our volunteers are trained and prepared to do a great job. It’s difficult to make sure that every new volunteer receives the same information in the best possible way.

If you want to deliver an excellent and consistent outcome - create a system! This is our system for New Volunteers.

To read the entire process, you will want to check our Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

That last few steps:

Step 7: Staff will follow up the Monday after the volunteer apprentices. The Groups Director will personalize the “Apprentice 1 Follow Up” email. This email  will ask to set up a time to talk about his first experience in the environment as well as a time to personally interview the new volunteer.

Apprentice 1 Follow Up:

Hey!

Thanks for coming to observe yesterday. I hope you enjoyed your time with (grade). I’d love to connect with you this week to see how things went and for a short interview.

Please let me know what day, time, and number would be best to reach you. I look forward to talking with you!

Name

Everyone MUST be interviewed before apprenticing the second time!

Step 8: Call or meet with the apprentice for the interview. Use the “SGL Interview” sheet. Complete the document and place it in his file.

Small Group Leader Interview Sheet:

Step 9: Confirm his second apprenticing time. Send him the “Apprentice 2″ email. This email will notify him of where and when he will meet to apprentice as well as inform him of any paperwork that is still incomplete. During this apprenticing time he meets with staff or a coach. Attach the curriculum for the age group that he will be apprenticing with.

Apprentice 2 Email:

Hey!

It was great getting to know you and hearing your story. You signed to apprentice this Sunday, at the service.

Please arrive at . If you want to, come a little early and grab breakfast in Room .

If you get lost or forget the room number, there will be someone at the UpStreet front desk to help you find the room.

We still need the following from you in order to complete the volunteer process:

Top of Form

Reference Form

Bottom of Form

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Staff Name

Step 10: Staff or Coach meets with the apprentice and covers everything on the “Staff Apprenticing Checklist”. This list includes things like general “need to knows” about UpStreet (example: donut room), and important things like the evacuation process, safety policies, etc.

Staff Apprenticing Checklist (for a new Small Group Leader):

1.Morning Schedule

Time to arrive 8:20/10:20; Time to be in your classroom- 8:30/10:30

Breakfast- you can come earlier and grab breakfast

Emphasize importance of being on time

There is a meeting in your classroom on Sunday morning with your coach before opening room to check kids in

2. Setting up for your morning

Staff will hand each person curriculum and pass out supplies and walk them through this.

3. Curriculum

Early Arriver

Kids arrive at all different times. Early arriver is design to be self directed giving you the opportunity to greet each child individual as they arrive and make them feel welcomed and comfortable

Opening Activity

This activity hints to setting up what they will be learning (Bible Story in lg)

4. Large Group

Model worshiping God and listening during the Bible story

Stay with you group of kids at ALL times

Please make sure your kids are participating and monitor any distracting behaviors

Importance of staying with their kids- fire or emergency

Younger grades- adults kneel during worship so kids can see

5.   Curriculum

Catch On

Do not go back to opening activities unless it is something you are using after large group

Prioritize activities according to the kids in your group- however we try to prioritize them. (Bible Story review, Bottom Line Activity, Prayer, Memory Verse Activity)

Personalize- talk about the importance of being prepared and thinking through examples from their own life to help their kids get to know them

Jump Start- kids asking questions in their group to direct them and their parents to attend (kept in all classrooms and prompted in the curriculum at least once a quarter). Don’t steal parents thunder.

6. KidStuf

1^st Sunday of the month

Happens after 9am and 11am service hours

Parents pick kids up from UpStreet and attend together

7. Pick Up

Importance of kids staying seated during pick up time

Take the opportunity to say hi to parents as they come to pick up their child from your group. Getting to know the parents of your kids could help us find a sub for you when you are out ; )

8. Straighten Up

Make sure your area is picked up and read for the next hour

LG rooms with tubs- remember you share it with another group so keep it cleaned out

*Restroom- let coach or greeter know; no one in a bathroom w/child

*SGL commitment/overview sheet

*Kick Off Meeting: (list of kids, classroom placement, t-shirt)

Step 11: Staff will follow up the Monday after his second apprenticing. The Groups Director will personalize the “Apprentice 2 Follow Up” email. Staff will personalize this email as to whether the volunteer is ready to start immediately or not until August. Staff will decide if additional apprenticing is needed and schedule accordingly.

Apprentice 2 Follow Up Email:

Well, you’ve done it! You’ve jumped through every hoop to be a UpStreet volunteer. I know it’s a long, thorough process. Thank you for being patient. We just want to make sure we have great, qualified volunteers working with our children. We’re very excited that you will be serving with us.

When we talked, you said you’d like to start serving right away. I’d love to have you join (grade), Room .

will be your coach. (He/She) will be your main point of contact going forward. Of course, you are welcome to contact me, but (he/she) will be your team leader!  He/She is also the person you will inform when you are not available to serve on a Sunday. Here is ’s contact information:

Email:

Cell phone:

OR

When we talked, you said you’d like to start serving on Promotion Sunday, August 14. You’ll be receiving additional information in the mail as the date gets closer. We’ll also have a “Kickoff” event on August to give you everything you need to get started and to meet the team you’ll be serving with in UpStreet. Please save the date. You won’t want to miss it!

Over the summer, many of our volunteers go on vacation and we need extra help in the classrooms. Would you be willing to serve a few Sundays this summer? Please let me know if you would be available.

Can’t wait to have you on our team! It’s going to be a great year on UpStreet.

Name

Step 12: Staff places the volunteer in his new position. Hooray! If the volunteer is starting right away, staff assigns him to a classroom, small group, and coach. She also sends the “Coach’s Intro” email so that he can be introduced to his team. The coach will have his contact information and take it from there!

Coaches Intro Email:

Hi!

My name is and I am your UpStreet Coach. I am so excited you’re on our team and I’m looking forward to getting to know you!

Each week, I will send you an email to share announcements, updates, and (curriculum) for Sunday. If you know you will be unavailable on a Sunday, please contact me so I can make sure we have someone to replace you.

If you have any questions or need anything throughout the year, I am here for you.

Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Name

Cell number

Email

This is a 3 Part series. You might want to read Part 1 and Part 2.

Question: What is one thing you do to make sure that your new volunteers are prepared to do a great job?

It can be challenging to keep up with where potential volunteers are in the process, and to make sure that all new volunteers complete every step. A clear system will help!

We are right in the middle of talking about our New Volunteer Process. If you missed the first few steps, you can find them here.

One thing that we’ve learned is that we only communicate the NEXT STEP to our volunteers. We try not to overwhelm them with too much information at one time. If they feel overwhelmed, they might walk away.

We break it down into steps they can handle and only tell them what they need to know, when they need to know it.

So far our New Volunteer has expressed an interest in serving, attended an orientation, and completed paperwork.

Here’s what happens next:

Step 4: Staff member follows up the next day after the orientation.

If he did attend, there is a form email that we personalize called the “Orientation Follow Up”. This email gives him his apprenticing dates, and introduces him to the person who will be walking through the process with him.

Orientation Follow Up Email

Hello!

Thanks so much for attending the orientation yesterday! My name is ____________ and I am your Groups Director. I will be walking you through the process to become a new volunteer and will be able to answer any questions or concerns you might have along the way.

Your next step in becoming a volunteer with us is to observe in a classroom. You have signed up to observe with us on the following date:

I will send you a reminder email the week before with information on what time to arrive and where to go. In the meantime, please make sure to get your Reference Form completed.

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions.

We are excited for you to join our team!

Thanks,

If he did NOT attend, there is a form email that we personalize called the “No Show Orientation”. This email gives him the available dates and times for future New Volunteer Orientations.

No Show Orientation Email

We’re sorry we missed you at the UpStreet New Volunteer Orientation yesterday. We’re really looking forward to meeting you and getting you plugged in to serving with us!

Our next available orientations are:

Please let me know which date works best for you!

Thank you,

Staff Name

Step 5: Choose the BEST person/room for your potential volunteer to observe/apprentice.

You want your new volunteer to get the BEST training. Not all of your existing volunteers are good at this.

Prepare the Coach, Small Group Leader, or Greeter for what he needs to go over when he is apprenticing.

Have the coach give the “Classroom Apprentice Card” to the Small Group Leader (or whoever is doing the training) for him to refer to and write notes as needed.

Step 6: Potential volunteer comes to his first observing/apprenticing time.

Staff personalizes the form email “Apprenticing 1″ the week before his first apprenticing date. She attaches the curriculum for the age group and the week he will be apprenticing. She also copies the COACH of this classroom on this email so that she knows to expect an apprentice to her classroom and knows his name.

Apprenticing 1 Email:

Hi ________,

The next step in becoming a volunteer is to observe on Sunday morning in the grade/area in which you would like to serve.

You signed up to observe this Sunday, , at the           service. Here’s what you need to know:

Please arrive at           . If you want to, come a little early and grab breakfast in Room .

You will be in (grade), Room        . If you get lost or forget your room number, there will be someone at the UpStreet front desk to help you.

Introduce yourself to the Coach in the classroom. They will be expecting you! _______________ is the coach for this room and can answer any questions you might have.

To help you prepare for Sunday, I’ve attached the curriculum for you.

I’ll be in touch with you next week to talk about your apprenticing experience. Please let me know if you have any questions.

See you Sunday!

Staff Name

Staff also sends the Host Team Director a list of apprentices that are coming for the day along with the service hour they are coming to observe and their room assignments. This allows Host Team to help any apprentice that forgets the room number or is unfamiliar with the environment.

Have a “volunteer” name tag/lanyard ready for the apprentice when he arrives. This lets him know that we’re expecting him and that he belongs. Put the nametag and the “Apprentice Checklist Card” on the coach’s clipboard.

This will be a 3 Part series. You can catch Part 1 here.

Question: How do you give your new volunteers “hands-on” training?

It is challenging to get hundreds of new volunteers moving in the same direction with excellence!

We are in the thick of recruiting, training, orientating, apprenticing, and placing new volunteers for the fall. EVERYONE on our team has some responsibility for new volunteers.

We know that our ability to place volunteers who feel prepared, want to stay, and do a great job has EVERYTHING to do with our New Volunteer Process. If we don’t do a good job through this process, then they probably won’t stay. If we don’t do a good job through this process and they do stay, they probably won’t be prepared to do a great job.

There are 12 STEPS in our process.

You might say, “Yikes!” But once you read through them, you will see that you probably follow very similar steps. Between all of our campuses we could easily have 1000 volunteers going through this process. It’s important for us to be specific and systematic so we don’t lose anyone in the process.

I’m sure MOST of the steps are going to seem obvious.

Our teams created them together.

We wrote them down.

Everyone has them.

Everyone does them.

Here we go:

Step 1: We get the name of a potential volunteer. We can receive a name from the push we do in the main service once a year, from another volunteer, from a card that someone fills out requesting more information, from our website, etc.

Step 2: Staff member emails this person and invites him to a New Volunteer Orientation. We use a form email for this step that our staff personalizes.

Orientation Invite Email:

Hello!

Thank you so much for your willingness to volunteer in UpStreet at North Point Community Church. UpStreet is our environment for kids k - 5^th grade. We are excited about the possibility of serving with you.

I am sure you have a lot of questions about how to get involved. The first step is to attend an orientation. At the orientation, you will learn all the details about serving.

Our next orientation is _____________________(date/time). The orientation will be held in ___________________ (room).

Thanks again, and we look forward to talking with you about joining the UpStreet team. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Staff Name

Step 3: Volunteer attends orientation. At this orientation we will cast vision for the environement, discuss job descriptions, let him know where our greatest needs are, and talk about next steps.

We also collect the following paperwork at this point in the process: Application, Background Release Form, Next Step Card, and Reference Form.

We will talk about the NEXT steps in our New Volunteer Process in Part 2.

Question: What is the FIRST step in your New Volunteer Process?

Sometimes we combine both potential new Waumba Land (preschool) and UpStreet (elementary) volunteers into the same orientation. This means that the communicator has to be well versed in both departments and create an outline that encourages people to get involved in the area that best suits them.

This orientation must be rich with a compelling vision for why they need to get involved.

We created this video to help communicate and celebrate the connection and value of both environments.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I loved it! There was an orange Christmas tree! There were verses written on the wall. And there was a bulletin board with candid team pictures. It was basically just a backstage space we had carved out for our team to wait in, but they made it their own.

Yes, that’s an orange Christmas tree!

Silver sharpie, red wall, and their favorite verses

Win statements for their volunteer positions and a mirror for those last minute costume checks

How have you personalized your volunteer’s space?

From time to time I get the opportunity to tell the Bible Story to our kids in both Waumba Land and UpStreet. I love it!

As I hang out backstage with our different volunteers, I can see that everyone has a different way of preparing. Some methods work better than others and some people are more prepared than others.

I hate it when a communicator is not prepared. It always shows and is such a wasted opportunity. If you’re going to communicate to kids, give it your best!  Be prepared. The message is too important to just wing it!

Here’s how I prepare to communicate to kids:

• I receive the script early in the week and I read it through to get a good sense for what I will be doing and how difficult it will be to memorize or prepare. This lets me know how much preparation time I need to schedule into the week.

• Two or three days before Sunday, I read the script several times and work on the drama, the pacing, the use of props, and transitions. I practice how I want to deliver the script.

• On the day before, I start memorizing for real. I write the bottom line for the script at the top of a piece of paper and then I write simple statements that help me break the script into segments so that I teach to certain transitions. This is easier for me than memorizing the script as a whole.  Each point represents a paragraph or two of the script that I am memorizing. The statements are triggers for me and help me to map out where I’m going with the story and know the flow as I memorize.

Here’s an example of my notes from a few weeks ago:

BL: We should celebrate that Jesus is born!

1.     Transition from Never Ending Story opening video to God always had a plan.

2.     Shepherds were taking care of their sheep.

(video segment)

3.     Angels appeared & they were terrified.

4.     Angles told them where they would find Jesus, wrapped in a cloth & lying in a manger.

5.     Host of angels join - celebrating that Jesus is born.

(video segment)

6.     Shepherds go and find Jesus.

7.     Shepherds tell EVERYONE that Jesus is born.

(video segment)

8.     Shepherds celebrate.

9.     God kept his promise. He sent a Savior.

(celebrate video)

10. We should celebrate that Jesus is born - build to Celebrate Song

(worship team comes out)

• Arrive early and practice on the stage with the props. I’ve found several times that I misunderstood the prop or needed to work through where I would stand or where lighting cues would be. I practice several times without my script.

• I keep practicing until I go on. I’m not great at memorizing so I have to keep the script in my short term-memory until right before I go up!

There is nothing more frustrating than knowing that we’ve wasted an opportunity to communicate a clear and engaging message to our kids. Nobody does a perfect job, but preparation will carry you a long way towards creating an excellent experience.

How do you prepare to communicate to kids?

I got an email asking how we have celebrated and appreciated volunteers during the Christmas season in past years. I asked all of our directors and here’s what they said!

Volunteer Christmas Ideas from our Directors to YOU!

1. The last couple years we’ve just done a special hot breakfast on the Sunday before Christmas with fun flavored creamers and fun Christmas decor.
2. One year we gave every volunteer a Christmas CD made by our musicians especially for our volunteers. They loved it! (If you haven’t gotten the new North Point Christmas CD, you should!)
3. For several years we planned a dinner out for all of our leaders (coaches, captains, producers) with their spouses. It was GREAT to really connect with them personally and to spend time with their spouses.
4. Everyone loves to get our UpStreet Staff Christmas picture postcard!
5. We’ve created a progressive dinner/potluck in the Waumba Land hall. Every volunteer team provides food and sets up their room. Then all of the volunteers travel room to room and get food. We eat at the little tables and chairs. It’s fun.
6. One year, I bought out all the scarves at Old Navy and let everyone pick what they wanted.
7. We’ve done ornaments but I think that’s kind of lame.
8. Honestly, the favorite thing we still do which everyone raves about is on the last Sunday of UpStreet before Christmas, each UpStreet Staff person makes four or five batches of their favorite homemade treat. Bethany usually makes peppermint bark. I usually make chocolate chip cookies. Mike brings coffee cake and we put them out at breakfast on Christmas plates with a little sign that says “From the Kitchen of…..” and what it is. They LOVE this! And it’s fun for us to feel like we’ve made something for them.
9. Served them a special breakfast on Sunday morning: biscuits, hot breakfast, casseroles, etc.
10. Once we had Cinnabons brought in.
11. We’ve combined a training and a Christmas lunch. The centerpieces and décor were Christmas-y. The meeting was mostly vision oriented. We gave them round table questions to talk about as they came in. What was your favorite Christmas gift as a child? Share one of your families favorite Christmas traditions. Etc. This allowed the teams to get to know each other better.
12. Special breakfast — decorate the room, create a personalized thank you in the room, special music, casseroles, biscuits, special coffee, etc. (I will do this again this year.  We will set up a coffee “barista” station and mix up the breakfast.  We also are having a Happy Birthday Jesus party so we will have a cake!
13. Small gift - sometimes it has been a candy cane with a hand-written card.  At times, it has been a CD, candy bar, key chain, or ornament.  This year, my coaches all got together at the church last Saturday and brought breakfast casseroles to eat and they made all the small group leaders the same gift for Christmas.  They put hot chocolate mix in a cone-shaped bag, topped with mini marshmallows, tied a bow with a really cute note on it!  It is the little things that matter!
14. Parties! I have only had a party for key leaders (Coaches/Captains, Producers). At times, we took them out to a restaurant.  They have been to my house for dinner and white elephant game night!  The last two years, we had a potluck at the church.  This was so much fun.  The first year, we did “tacky Christmas” theme and everyone wore the “worst” Christmas sweater they could find and we had so much fun.  Last year, we themed it game night and split up into teams after dinner and played a few games competing against the other groups.
15. Gingerbread house-making competition.
16. This year, we are having a “date” night themed party.  We gave them a few questions to talk about (mostly about favorite Christmas memories) on the drive to the party.  Once they get there, we will take their picture — because everyone is going to be dressed up as their favorite couple — Mr. and Mrs. Clause, Ketchup and Mustard — WHATEVER!  We then will serve them popcorn and a soda and we are going to watch Elf together.  My team and I watched the movie ahead of time and came up with some interactive things for them to do.  Example:  Every time the word Santa is spoken in the movie, the men have to stand up and say “ho ho ho.”  The list goes on.  I won’t bore you, but it will be a fun night.
17. Tacky Christmas party. Everyone brings their tackiest Christmas decorations to decorate the table in their Waumba Land classroom. They all wear tacky Christmas clothes, hats, or socks. And then bring food to share.
18. Take a picture of the kids in their room with a Christmas theme. Have copies made and put them in a Christmas ornament frame. We’ve done things like a Christmas hat on every child in the room or Christmas socks on all the babies.

I hope these ideas spark a creative idea for you! Christmas is a GREAT time to celebrate your volunteers. No matter what you do . . . silly, fun, crazy, fancy, tacky . . . make sure your volunteers know how much you APPRECIATE all that they do!

Share your favorite volunteer Christmas idea!