The Findings

Problem Statement

 

Churches often struggle to identify and recruit talented visual communicators because of a lack of familiarity with visual communication, limited resources, and an inability to recruit to an area of ministry they do not understand. 

“This team is a microcosm of the church as a whole: gifted people empowered by God to serve in their areas of their gifting.”

— Lori Salomo

A Research Summary.

This study analyzes the demographics, motivation, recruitment, management, and the sub-classification of arts and culture volunteers. This research inspired the development of a tool in the form of a template recruitment campaign for churches to address their visual communication needs to their patrons and the public.

 

Demographics

Understanding who is actively volunteering is paramount in the development of new volunteer initiatives. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that religious organizations provide the most hours during the year. If a specific demographic is desired for volunteering, it is certainly helpful in the recruitment process to know that one demographic group’s volunteer rate is higher than another. The marketing tactics could presumably shift to focus on a particular demographic, depending on the needs of an organization.

Motivation

In his TED talk entitled, Volunteer Engagement: The Freedom to do Something Important, Brian Tenclinger, a global membership and education manager, claims that people join volunteer programs because they want to do something bigger than themselves. Relationships and purpose should remain on the forefront of any recruiter’s agenda. If these values are not present in the volunteer project, it might not succeed.

Recruitment

In his TED talk entitled, How to Master Recruiting, Faurholt-Jorgensen expresses that when recruiters are searching for new talent, they should ask themselves three questions: “Will the person be able to do the job?” “Will the person fit the culture?” and finally, “Will we fit this person’s life?” Faurholt-Jorgensen emphasizes the importance of something he calls “Need Identification” (Faurholt-Jorgensen 13:00) He says that this is the area that most people go wrong.

 

Management

In her TED talk entitled, How to Turn a Group of Strangers into a Team, Amy Edmondson explains the concept of teaming. She provides three elements needed to turn a group of strangers into a team. The first requires managers to be “humble in the face of the challenge ahead” (8:25). If managers feel the pressure to always have the best idea, the best idea might get unrealized. Edmondson says that, “when teaming works, you can be sure some leaders have been crystal clear that they don’t have the answers” (10:00). The second element asks managers to be “curious about what others bring” (8:35). The final element encourages the “willingness to take risks and learn quickly” (8:30).

Differentiation

Arts and culture volunteers are indeed distinguishable from others based on several indicators. These indicators consist of social and lifestyle variables, personality, and personal values. Volunteers in general display higher levels of empathy than those who don’t offer their time up in service. It was determined that volunteers of this category express some of their values through their service. These individuals value their namesake: arts and culture.

Justification

In the book, Mission in Central and Eastern Europe: Realities, Perspectives, Trends, Branimir Dukić writes about marketing for religious organizations in the digital age. Dukić strives to define what marketing’s relationship is with the modern church. Dukić makes a critical point when he states, “for religious organizations, the question is not: Should we do it? [engage in marketing strategies or the like] The right question is: How shall we do it?” (Dukić 620).

The Case Studies

  • NYC Service

    NYC Service was looking to raise volunteer rates from 18 percent to 50 percent. To address the issue, Mayor Bill de Blasio partnered with well-known New York creative agency Sidlee to develop a new ad campaign.

    Details

  • Brooklyn Free Clinic

    The Brooklyn Free Clinic provides comprehensive, high-quality medical care. The “We Need U” print campaign was born. Organized by ad agency, Patients & Purpose, the campaign was implemented to motivate volunteer action from physicians.

    Details

  • Royal Voluntary Service

    The “Step Forward” campaign originated from a partnership between the Royal Voluntary Service and Legal & General. The campaign was developed to galvanize the British public to volunteer to support their local community.

    Details

“Through my research, I determined that an appropriate course of action to address the need for arts and culture volunteers in ministry should materialize as a recruitment campaign.”

— Landon Benson

Discussion

 

It was found that the existing studies provided no correlation to the three variables of religion, arts and culture, and volunteering. If the findings are extrapolated, it may be worth organizing a small social network of arts and culturally minded individuals to engage and volunteer their unique but relevant services to the church.

A recruitment campaign that inspires the creation of a volunteer team would seem to provide a solution to this issue. Each case study determined that a recruitment campaign of some capacity was fruitful for its organization. Objective success was linked to all three campaigns.

Download the Entire Thesis

 

If you desire to learn more about the topic of volunteering creativity, I have provided a link to download the completed thesis below.