Volunteermatch.org

Need mentors or childcare volunteers? If you live near a metropolitan area, www.volunteermatch.org might be able to help! Check this out:

"I recently posted an ad on VolunteerMatch.Org asking for help, and received eight inquiries right away! Of course you always have to be careful finding help on the internet, so make sure to set up an interview in person. I usually only respond once to their inquiry and pray that it actually goes somewhere. I also asked a woman if she was a Christian before meeting with her. She wasn't offended at all and actually was happy that it was a concern of mine! 

Our post said this:  We are looking for Christian women who have a desire to see pregnant and parenting women in their teens meet Jesus. This ministry is just getting started, so we need lots of helpers! We will need mentors, childcare workers, food help, baby donations, committee, prayer partners, and financial support! If interested, please respond so we can set up a meeting to get to know you! 

Now we have three new mentors because of an ad that I posted and it only took five minutes to sign-up!”

-Erin Kennedy, YoungLives Coordinator

Note: You will need our Young Life 501-C3 number (available on Staff Resources) in order to qualify for free postings.

How to Befriend Churches (Including a Sample Downloadable Letter!)

Churches are arguably one of YoungLives' most powerful allies. Aside from the fact that they can often easily host club (since they have nursery space, a kitchen AND club space) and that they often become some of our most consistent and long-lasting donors - churches also hold the power to hook us up with potential volunteers and mentors. And on top of all those good things, we need great churches to come alongside our teens as they enter adulthood. We need churches to be a safe place where single 20-something moms can find a home for friendship, discipleship, and support long after they have outgrown YoungLives.

But how do we initiate connections with pastors and ministry leaders who are swamped with lots of other good things? Here are a few quick ideas to get you started!

1. Download this sample letter to churches to use as a first step in introducing YoungLives in your community or as part of your volunteer recruiting strategy. Send it along with a brochure or flyer with pictures of the teen moms in your area. 
2. Don't stop with a letter! That's just step number one, remember? Follow up with a phone call, a personal visit by their office with some Young Life swag as a gift, or some other personal gesture. 
3. Find out who your friends know! Knowing someone in the church who can introduce you to the pastor - or even knowing a friend of a friend who goes to that church - can get you on the fast-track to an introduction. 
4. Join a small group or Bible study hosted by the church, or check the church calendar for other events coming up that you could attend or even volunteer for. In other words - get on their turf. 

Just like with teens, churches won't care how much you know until they see how much you care. It's all about earning the right to be heard, building bridges and forming relationships. Shall I go on? I'll stop. But in all truth, contact work with churches shouldn't look any different from contact work with teens. It's in our Young Life DNA for a reason - let's use it to our full advantage!

Sample Info Sheet for Volunteers

In our area we are always having people ask how can they get involved. A good problem to have! We give them the YoungLives adult brochure and have created this document below to give them some more area specific information. They want details on how to plan to provide a meal, or how long will they need to be there for childcare. We also sent it out to our overall Young Life committee so they know our needs and can help connect us to people. View a larger version here. 

Sample YoungLives PowerPoint Template

Here's a great template for YLVS Presentations, created by Lisa Brown, area director in Tallahasse FL. Thanks for sharing Lisa! You can download the ppt template here.

Once it opens, you can download it by clicking on the 'actions' link at the bottom left of the page and then selecting the option to download as a powerpoint document. You do have to have Microsoft Powerpoint to edit the document.