by Darin Gemmer

Working with former staff to form

a standout summer team

26 March/April 2011 CCCA InSite www.ccca.org

 our summer staff from camp to be interesting or a position in and memorable, and ensure that when
years past no doubt which they would excel. If informed in students see it over and over they
includes some standouts: the right way, however, outstanding recognize multiple people in their
the ones who knew why prospective team members can become school are involved with camp. Make
they were there, worked excited about serving at camp. sure it is relevant to the people you’re
hard and embodied your The best individual to tell a potential trying to recruit.
camp’s vision and mission. staff member about opportunities at A short slogan is good; a slogan and
How different would your summer your camp is a friend who has had a logo are better. We started the first year
ministry look if your whole seasonal positive experience at the ministry. The with “I M CAMP” and modified it
staff understood the vision the way best former staff members will recruit slightly the second year to “I A CAMP.”
those individuals did? Do you wish the best future team, as they know the These were both our logo and our
they could tell everyone about the expectations and can look for people slogan, designed to encourage Miracle
amazing experience they had? with whom they would want to serve. Ranch staff members to start conversa-
Relational recruiting harnesses the tions about why they like camp and
positive energy of social networks to The Tools their experience there.
promote serving at your ministry and Encouraging friends to serve at camp
broadcasts your camp or conference may not be the most natural thing for Equip the Students
center’s vision to a wider audience. many college and high-school students In addition, equip the strongest
to do. How do you get the right people former staff members with recruiting
The Environment motivated to be your hands and feet in tools. Miracle Ranch used stickers as
It is important that relational recruiting the community, positively represent- well as the T-shirts.
efforts be built on an understanding ing your ministry and bringing others We encouraged former staff mem-
and acceptance of the current recruit- on board with the mission? bers to wear the shirts. Selecting a cut,
ing environment. Start by thinking about your best color and design that appealed to
The truth is that an abundance of people—the ones who came to mind students meant that they actually
quality, potential summer staff earlier as exceptional summer team wore them around campus regularly.
members is available, but most don’t members. What interests do they The stickers gave the alumni some-
know about summer opportunities. have? How do they spend their spare thing they could distribute to their
They don’t consider serving at time? How do they prefer to interact interested friends. We gave these away
with others both in and out of camp? liberally to ensure wide distribution.
Thoughtful answers to these questions Our simple 4-inch-square stickers
will help you develop recruitment were high quality to hold up for use
tools that fit their relational style, on cars and water bottles. Recruiting
environment and lifestyle. contact info was listed on the back of
During my second summer at Mira- the stickers’ peel-off portions.
cle Ranch in Washington, my
colleague Anne Eby and I were tasked Provide a Pep Talk
with improving both the quality and Gathering summer staff alumni mid-
quantity of our camp staff. We were year is another helpful recruiting tool.
struggling to fill our nearly 200 For us, this took the form of a summer
summer positions, and we knew that staff reunion, where we remembered
we needed to do something unique the past summer, celebrated our
continued relationships, and got
to capture the attention of our ideal
potential staff members. alumni pumped up about the coming
summer and about recruiting. This
As we worked through this process,
we developed a few recruitment tools was also a great opportunity to
that could help you equip your alumnidistribute recruiting tools to inter-
Thinkstock / iStockphoto

ested young adults.

staff and attract more potential staff.
At your camp, you might host a
Develop the Brand winter banquet, lost-and-found auction
First, develop a cohesive recruiting or leadership retreat that brings alumni
brand. It should be something catchy back as leaders for the event.

www.ccca.org CCCA InSite March/April 2011 27

Keep in mind these five suggestions for relational recruiting success: series of short, humorous “public
service announcements.” Make it your
• Be patient. Relationships take time to build and so does a quality summer goal to launch something new, even if
staff. The momentum builds over time as one quality staff member recruits it’s small, every week or two.
three; those three recruit seven; those seven recruit 16, and so on. Lastly, we had a designated week
• Maintain consistency. Make sure the vision for the summer ministry and for alumni staff to talk about their
staff expectations are clearly and frequently explained, and hold true to camp experiences, share pictures,
them. Nothing will scare away quality staff faster than your overlooking invite friends and change their profile
misconduct or poor attitudes in less-invested staff members. picture to the recruiting logo. The
goal of the week was to keep people
• Value your people. Treat each member of your summer staff as aware that summer was approaching
equally important to accomplishing the mission. Make sure each and to give them glimpses of the great
person is aware of how much his or her efforts contribute to the experience and opportunity that
overall goal. Never let an individual think that you perceive his or summer service represents.
her time or service as less important than another staff member’s.
• Don’t compete. Remember an abundance of potential staff members is Make Strong Connections
available. There is no need to view other camps or other ministries as At some point, the relationship must
rivals in your recruiting efforts. Each camp is unique and needs uniquely pass from your former staff members
gifted staff members to fill their summer roles. Encourage cross-camp to the person who hires and manages
participation if possible, and validate the unique and vital role that other the summer staff. This is best done in
ministries play in the kingdom. person if possible, and intentional
campus visits are great for this.
• Build your culture. For the positivity to flow year round, your staff Even though with an emphasis on
members need to have a great experience while they are at camp. relational recruiting your campus
Make every effort to create an upbeat summer staff culture without visits may be few, be sure to make
losing focus on ministry to campers. connections when you do visit. Let all
—Darin Gemmer the former staff members who attend
that school know when you’re coming
Champion the Leaders book presence is critical. Millions of and where you’ll be so they can bring
We found that focusing on students today’s high school and college interested people by to meet you and
who could be viewed as leaders was students use social media networks ask any questions they may have.
valuable, too. Select a few who are far more than e-mail with increasingly Bring stickers and snacks.
extra excited about your mission to high expectations for content. While I encourage you to use these
become recruiting champions. Ask Make sure that you connect with six recruiting strategies, it’s important
them to encourage the other staff people through an individual’s profile, to stay flexible in order to meet the
alumni to recruit their friends. not just your camp’s Facebook page; needs of your former and future staff.
We briefly discussed the idea of an
students today want to know with You may find that other strategies
award for the most people recruited, whom they are interacting. work best in your ministry based on
but we dismissed it because many of The social networking site offers a your unique staff culture and history.
the applicants were friends with wide range of helpful tools. We built Done right, relational recruiting can
multiple former staff. But that type of
“events” that people could invite their maximize the efforts you and your
contest might work in your situation.friends to, which gave them more team put forth while increasing appli-
Our recruiting champions organizedinformation about the summer and cant pools and overall quality, reducing
their friends for informal recruitinghow to apply. Events allow you to costs and bolstering your ministry’s
events and even manned the table at the
send messages to all of the people who reputation in the community.
schools’ camp day, saving us the trip and
may be thinking about summer,
providing a more familiar face with getting them excited about working Darin Gemmer spent 10 summers at camp, the last
whom the future staff could connect. with other returning staff. three as program director at Miracle Ranch in Port
We also recorded a series of videos Orchard, Wash. Currently he is the
Engage Them Online that drew former staff members to city life director for West Sound
In addition to in-person strategies, share the clips on their individual Youth for Christ in Bremerton, Wash.
developing an active, engaging Face- pages. You might consider releasing a He holds a degree in recreation.

28 March/April 2011 CCCA InSite www.ccca.org