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Metrics: Show Up Rate
Another metrics of measurement that is important to us is the show-up-rate of volunteers. This number can give us insight into the leadership and vision-buy-in at a campus.
We want to know how many serving spots are necessary for a campus. We measure the percentage of people who show up. (This number is rarely 100% because of sickness, conflicts, etc.)
If the show-up-rate is 90% at one campus and 68% at another, this probably indicates a problem at the second campus.
- We may not be placing the right people in the right roles.
- We may not be adequately training volunteers.
- We may not be appreciating volunteers.
- We may not be communicating well.
You might consider tracking the show up rate over time to see if you are improving or slipping in helping your volunteers make a difference by serving.
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great series of posts by the way…but my question would be if there is a percentage that you allow things to get to before you think there is a problem?
Craig,
Thanks so much for doing this “metrics” series of posts. It has been an enormous help to me. I served at a church where the focus was how can we get everything reduced to one experience…I am beginning to see now the better question would have been, “how can we add more?”
Thanks for passing on what God has been teaching…
Jarret, Glad these have been helpful.
Jon asked if there is a percentage that tips us off that there is a problem…
Jon, I’m not involved analyzing these numbers so I’m not sure. If anyone at Central or on a Campus team knows specifics, please help Jon out.
This is a really good series Craig. It really demonstrates how to quantify things that matter. And underneath the surface each of the things you’ve written about represent some very important qualitative components.
Really good stuff. I tend to read a lot in the business genre and find a lot that is totally applicable. There’s a really good The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action vibe to the kinds of measurements you’re writing about. And that leads to the right kind of understanding.
Thanks for sharing these posts with us! Great stuff.
Jon, a lot of the time these numbers do not have specific thresholds in which a problem is discovered. In fact, a leader will most likely be aware of a problem area before the numbers reflect it. The numbers DO point to trends and serve as an indicator of how certain changes positively or negatively effect a situation.
For instance, if I ask my LifeKids Director to have personal contact with each volunteer this week and then on the weekend her volunteer participation was down from usual numbers, then I need to do some evaluating. Did she communicate effectively during those phone calls? Was she leading the individual according to their strengths or just treating everyone the same?
If anything, numbers help indicate minor adjustment areas, not just full blown problem areas (that kind of sounds like semantics). Any other thoughts from LC staff??
good stuff! thanks!
my first response is always to blame myself for communication issues…like recently when we have a service project in the community and our “show up rate” drops 20%-30%…then i find, like you said, there are minor adjustments needed…some not even involving me…
thanks!
Quick question for all in SwerveLand:
Is anyone using SMS technology to communicate with people in their church? Has anyone found any SMS tools to be particularly helpful? Thanks!
-Matt
I lead a student band and creative arts team in my church and I have found that the best way to connect with my volunteers is through SMS. I have 15 volunteers on this team and when I send out questions or alerts about our next meeting I get a 86% response rate within 5-10 minutes. Most of the time I am talking to them while they are still in school and I can not just call them up.
We use SMS on a semi-regular basis. Our creative arts director uses it almost exclusively to communicate with his team…way faster than e-mail…way better response rate.
Our Children’s staff uses it to remind people of which experience they are serving in on a weekly basis.
We’ve also used to pass on invites to church, and encouraged our people to pass it on to their addressbook.
I would echo that I have a much higher and faster response rate with sms than email, now I just have to get an unlimited text message plan.
I really like the four questions to ask when volunteers commitment is low.
Matt –
FYI - you can send SMS just like email if you know what provider they are with. For example, to SMS someone on Cingular or AT&T, just send an email to, for instance, 9185551234@txt.att.net and it will SMS them. Be sure to keep it short! I think SMS maxes out at around 160 characters.
Jon, LifeKIDS uses three numbers to track volunteers: number needed, number scheduled, and number present. The role is considered scheduled if you had no communication prior to Friday about them missing. If they call before that, you can’t count them as scheduled and try to fill the role somehow–calling another volunteer, moving people around, etc. This helps us know if we’re just flat out not scheduling enough people (including anticipating the occasional inevitable absences), or if we’re scheduling people and they are not showing up.
My accountability partner, Toni Quinton, is the LifeKIDS Cast Member Relations Director at the OKC campus and manages about 300 volunteers. Even at that scale, if someone doesn’t show up–even one time–she responds quickly. It is almost always that they were too sick to call, had something really unexpected come up, or just forgot.
By letting the person know they were missed and cared for, the problem overall stays very low (less than 10%). With repeat offenders, she coaches them to find a better match for them–a different time, a different age group, a different role, moving to Host Team or Youth, or stepping out for a break.
She also schedules at a percentage to accomodate that 10% rate so that the rooms are still covered. Overall, a campus is considered to have reached the “excellence” level if each experience is 90% covered as needed.
Timely, loving follow-up is imperative to keep the show up rate high. We’ve had really unfortunate situations in the past where, because of no follow up, people stayed on the schedule even though they hadn’t shown up in weeks. That’s not doing us any good filling roles–even worse it means there are people sitting out there feeling unneeded and uncared for. Extreme overscheduling has the same result for those who show up though so you have to be careful.
Hey Kendra:
Maybe it’s just a “term of art”, but “repeat OFFENDERS” is a little strong a way to put it, isn’t it?
Just a thought from a LifeKids volunteer…
thanks Kendra!!!
Doug, You’re so right! How about “those who have been unable to meet their commitment more than once in a short period of time without calling.”
Much longer, but more what I’m trying to describe.
BTW, I serve in Studio 45 each week on Saturday at 5:00. I can’t get away with ever ditching (even once) since my Cast Member Relations staff has me on speed dial.
Oh the joys of a good accountability partner…