Church Liaison Coordinator

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Many areas are looking for additional ways to involve non-committee adults, and to develop stronger support from local church congregations. This role helps bring those two things together in a way that, when done effectively, can truly bless an area.

Job Description

The coordinator develops a network of friends of Young Life who are willing to go to their church once or twice a year with a request on behalf of Young Life.

Basic Strategies to Develop

  • Find out what churches are represented among the Young Life community. Places to look:
    • Committee members
    • Volunteer leaders
    • Staff members
    • The church-going parents of young people who Young Life has significantly impacted
  • Recruit these friends to undertake one or two annual tasks.
    • Request a meeting with the pastor or missions committee for the staff/committee representative to attend.
    • Request a Young Life announcement or presence at a missions Sunday or similar event.
  • Equip the team to make their asks.
  • Connect the staff (or trained volunteer/committee rep) with churches when a door opens.
  • Record what progress we make with each church annually.
  • Write yearly to churches to update them of Young Life work in their community, and to thank them for their support.

Qualifications

  • Can organize.
  • Communicates well with a group of people.
  • Is actively involved in their own church.

Time Requirement: 2 – 4 hours per month

Donor Care Specialist

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The donor care specialist job is to ensure the area’s donors are cared for and thanked.

Specifically he or she:

  • Assists Young Life staff with formulizing strategy that is appropriate to say thank you and care for donors.
  • Communicates the vision and mission to donors and the community.
  • Serves as an ambassador to donors and to youth within the community.
  • Is attentive to donors’ spiritual needs.

Job Description

  • Call donors who have made donations to say thank you.
    • Seek help from other committee members, or friends of Young Life, during busier seasons.
  • Assist staff with writing thank you letters for monthly donations.
  • Work with the Area Manager to determine who will be the primary caller for specific donors. Get to know the donors assigned to you and “earn the right to be heard.”
  • Assist Area Manager with touch points throughout the year (suggestions):
    • Invitation to club (attend with them).
    • Phone call to give update on ministry.
    • Encourage them to pray for kids at camp.
    • Personal handwritten note.
    • Be creative!
    • Invite them to be an adult guest at camp.
  • Events – you are a host, a “greeter,” the face of Young Life.

Basic Strategies to Develop

  • A thank you calendar for the entire year.
  • A written process of what steps to take when the financial month closes to:
    • Identify lapsed donors and a strategy for communicating with them.
    • Know how each one will be thanked.
  • You should work closely with the Treasurer and TDS Chair to ensure tracking and giving reports for donors are created.
  • Have a plan to include staff, committee and kids in several thank yous throughout the year.
  • Record all communications with donors in eTapestry.

Qualifications

  • Take the online TDS Course.
  • Is organized.
  • Is proactive.
  • Possesses the gifts of exhortation and encouragement.

Time Requirement: Eight hours per month

Go to TDS Course

Events Coordinator

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Young Life exists in an area because the community is willing to financially support the ministry.  It is an important to hold a major fundraising event each year in your local area. Major events serve to celebrate, inform, proclaim the Gospel, affirm, give thanks and raise financial support. Generally, the primary purpose for a major event is to raise funds. The major event should be an important part of the area’s overall Taking Donors Seriously (TDS) strategy.

In addition to a major fundraising event, additional events such as Bunnings BBQ’s and Work-for-Reward (camp fundraising with our teens) may also be placed into the Events Coordinators Role.  

Job Description

The events coordinator oversees the entire event by providing leadership and direction.  They will develop a sub-committee (which may or may not have members of the Area Committee) to ensure all aspects of the event are catered for.  Roles on the sub-committee could include:

  • prayer team
  • allocating & following up table hosts
  • finding corporate sponsors
  • food
  • decorations
  • registration

Depending on the event, additional roles may be added.

The Events Coordinator should work closely with the Alumni and Friends Coordinator, as they should have an up to date list of people willing to assist with major and other local area events.

Basic Strategies to Develop

Young Life has developed “The 10 Essentials” for planning and implementing a successful event. These 10 requirements are to:

  1. Determine the right type of event.
  2. Set date, time and place of event.
  3. Reserve event location.
  4. Delegate committee assignments.
  5. Recruit table hosts.
  6. Generate a guest list.
  7. Invite guests.
  8. Make table seating assignments.
  9. Plan program.
  10. Conduct event follow up.

Qualifications

  • Can organize.
  • Is comfortable with multi-tasking.
  • Can delegate and hold others accountable.
  • Possesses the gifts of hospitality and leadership.

Time Requirement: 4-16 hours per month, depending on the timing of your event

Go to Committee Resources to find Event Suggestions & Guides

Leader / Staff Care Coordinator

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Being a Young Life staff person or a volunteer leader is a rewarding responsibility! However, building friendships with kids in order to earn the right to tell them about Jesus and helping them grow in their faith can be taxing. Therefore, staff and leaders need extra care and support. The local committee can have a major role in providing this care.

Job Description

The care coordinator is responsible for planning and organizing the care of the local staff and volunteer leaders. The coordinator may want to develop a subcommittee to assist in this effort. This planning should involve having the committee members care for the staff and volunteer leaders in a variety of ways: prayer, befriending, mentoring, spiritual support, office work and assisting with fundraising.

Reminder: The committee is primarily responsible for the care of the Area Manager and any other staff. The staff is primarily responsible for the care of the volunteer leaders. If the committee has the time and ability to take care of the staff person(s) and also help take care of the volunteer leaders that would be great.

Basic Strategies to Develop

Area-Wide Leader Care: The coordinator should plan and organize area-wide events to care for the staff and volunteer leaders. Possibilities might include a beginning-of-the-year welcome/appreciation picnic, a Christmas meal with a white elephant exchange and an end-of-year thank you dinner with an appreciation gift. Committee members should attend all of these activities.

Individual Leader Care: The area leader/staff care coordinator or a subcommittee member COLLECTS information from the area staff and volunteer leaders about their needs and DISTRIBUTES that information to a committee member. The person is responsible for communicating with the staff member or volunteer leader and providing personal support throughout the year. Periodically, the coordinator should monitor the committee members to ensure that each member is caring for his or her staff member or volunteer leader; and should liaise with the Area Manager regularly in regards to committee care.

Hoyt Jackson has some great tips below for caring for Young Life Staff.  Have a listen to what he has to say.

Qualifications

  • Has good organizational skills.
  • Is creative.
  • Is proactive.
  • Possesses the gifts of exhortation and encouragement.

Time Requirement: 8 hours per month

Committee Manual

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Welcome to Young Life, one of the most dynamic and innovative ministries reaching un-churched young people in Australia today.

Young Life believes that every young person should have the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ from someone they know and trust.  Our approach is designed to ‘connect’ with young people, building long-term relationships based on trust and respect.  Throw in elements of fun, laughter, adrenaline-filled challenges and inspiring speakers – and you have the Young Life mix – one that has been changing millions of lives for over 60 years.

 

Accomplished By:

  • Praying for young people
  • Going to where young people are
  • Building relationships with them
  • Winning the right to be heard
  • Providing experiences that are fun, adventurous and life-changing
  • Sharing our lives
  • Sharing Jesus
  • Loving them regardless of their response
  • Discipleship
  • Helping young people develop their skills, assets and attitudes to reach their God-given potential
  • Encouraging young people to be connected and engaged in a local church
  • Working with a team of like-minded individuals – volunteer leaders, committee members, donors and staff

Thank you for your service to Young Life through your local committee.  Throughout the Bible, we see God assembling teams of servants to work out His salvation purposes. He sent 70 elders to Moses to ‘help carry the burden of the people’ so Moses ‘would not have to carry it alone’ (Numbers 11:17). The early church, as it struggled to serve growing numbers of disciples, commissioned men ‘full of the Spirit and wisdom’ (Acts 6:3) so that the Word of God could be shared with a waiting world. 

For Young Life, the waiting world is every young person, everywhere. And we can’t enter their world without adult committee members like you. Thank you!

Committee Kit

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Dear Friends,

Young Life volunteers are our greatest assets.  I don’t just mean our volunteer leaders.  We are an organisation that relies on volunteers at every level – in the schools, in our offices, at national and regional camps . . . and in our local communities.

Local volunteer committees made their early formal beginnings in 2000.  Since that time, we have attempted to sink more time and resources into supporting these committees through handbooks, training summits, visits from National Office staff and appointing a Committee Liaison person.

As we continue to grow, it is clear that we need to continue to invest in our local committees.  This Committee Resource kit is a resource that aims to assist with this.  As we’ve worked to provide increased training for our committees, it became clear that we needed to come up with a resource that could be utilised by Regional Directors and Area Managers, in partnership with their local committees.

When this kit was initially released in 2009, we polled former and existing committee from all Areas to help us determine key topic areas that were relevant to all committees from start up to veteran stages.  The kit is a living document that is intended to be revised and added to over time.  We welcome input and suggestions from you, our valued volunteers, if you have ideas to add to the committee kit.

We hope you will find this is a valuable resource as you serve in your local Young Life ministry.

Kind Regards,

Mark Stretton
Chief Executive Officer
Young Life Australia

Building the Committee Team

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This section shares a couple of articles to help you think about building your committee.

Click on Brian Summerall’s picture below to be taken to a short video on Mission Maintenance, or Monument.  It’s a great thought to reflect on as you think about continuing serving on the Committee, as well as bringing new people onto the team with you.

Committee Roles

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Each committee is made up of five to seven individuals all working together to support the local ministry.  Committees may choose how they are organised and what roles they offer, but at a minimum, we suggest a Chairperson, Treasurer and Prayer Coordinator.

Beyond that, we encourage committees to consider the primary activities it will be undertaking over the year and appointing people appropriate for those activities.  It is important that committee members feel they have a specific role that is suited to their gifts and have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.

Additional Roles might include:

  • Events
  • Church Partnerships
  • Secretary
  • Public/Community Relations (media, marketing)
  • Fundraising and Donor Relations (TDS)
  • Grant Writer

Regardless of the role, there are a few commonalities across all committee members in terms of characteristics and responsibilities.

Characteristics:

  • Walking faithfully with Christ
  • Confident of their call to the role
  • Interested in young people and the Young Life ministry
  • Willing to share time, talents and resources
  • Involved in their local church

Responsibilities:

  • Attend monthly committee meetings
  • Support local staff and volunteer leaders
  • Take a leadership role in committee activities (events, fundraising, prayer, church partnerships, etc)
  • Provide input in the local Vision Statement and Financial Master Plan
  • Financially support the ministry
  • Pray for the ministry
  • Attend one Young Life activity per year (club, camp or special school activity)
  • Make a 2-3 year commitment

Hoyt Jackson explains below the purpose of committee.  

Hoyt Jackson has some great tips below for caring for Young Life Staff.  Have a listen to what he has to say.

We would like to thank Young Life USA for the use of their committee roles documents. 

The roles listed in the topics below have been taken from Young Life USA resources, used with permission.  

The Financial Master Plan

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The Financial Master Plan (FMP) is simply a calendar that identifies when each aspect of the Strategy will take place during the year.

We have set out an example below.

Please note – this is an example only; the plan will vary for each Area. With all the activity, it is easy to see why it is critical that a TDS team is in place. It is too much work for just one person. But split between a committed team of four, including the Area Manager, it can be quite achievable.

[gview file=”https://training.younglife.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/The-Financial-Master-Plan-Example.pdf”]

 

Download a Blank Calendar

 

Monthly thank you activity: One region in the United States issued a challenge to all committees to consider incorporating monthly thank activities in their Financial Master Plan. The challenge was met with great success. Those areas who implemented such a program found phone calls and personal meeting invitations much easier to make. People were more willing to talk or meet and as a result, overall fundraising increased. It may be a lot of work, but please consider how your Area might do something similar.

We encourage all areas to do their own newsletters. But they are also a big commitment. Given that national also produces one four times per year, you can probably get away with just 2 per year, coupled with regular (monthly or quarterly) prayer emails. This keeps everyone informed on local ministry activities. If you choose to do more, be consistent!