A ministry’s organizational success is dependent on the success of its volunteer leaders.

An effective church must equip, empower and encourage leaders to influence their churches, workplaces and families. Your investment in people exponentially multiplies your reach and impact for the kingdom of God.

It may take months, or even years, for growth and development to become evident, but your volunteer leaders are worth your time. God gives them the gifts and abilities to help fulfill the church’s vision.

As leaders, we must intentionally learn from those we serve. Great leaders recognize that the success of their volunteer leaders is the pulse of their churches.

Consider some practical next steps toward successfully investing in your volunteer leaders.

Equip Your Leaders

Identify and define the win. As leaders, it is up to us to stake out the boundaries of the playground. When we clearly identify and define the win, we’re starting with the end result in mind. Begin by fleshing out the answers to questions like, “What are we trying to achieve? Why do we do what we do?”

Clearly defining goals opens the door for volunteers to win in the categories that matter most.

Separate the committed from the committee. Create a leadership pipeline to help you identify the unique character, strengths, capabilities and capacity of your current team. A lot of people want to help, but the degree of their character, capacity and commitment can vary. So, it is important to have an objective approach to developing volunteer leaders.

Start a system now for identifying, developing and training leaders within your church or organization.

Your investment in people multiplies your reach for the kingdom of God.

Empower Your Leaders

Give away decision making. The degree to which you delegate decisions to your key volunteers indicates the level of trust you have in your volunteer leadership.

Of course, you can’t casually entrust every volunteer with the responsibility of making important decisions, but ask yourself, How many decisions a day am I making that others in my volunteer leadership team can be making on my behalf? Decision making builds confidence in your volunteer leaders and increases their ownership, creativity and innovation.

Be available. Your volunteer leaders want to know that you care for them and what they do matters to you on a personal level. Give them your time and attention, and you’ll be surprised how long they’ll be willing to serve.

Expect and inspect. It’s important to manage a healthy tension between excellence and development. Excellence demands innovation, but integrity demands people development. If we are to release leaders to do Kingdom business, we must provide clear expectations and consistent guidance.

Encourage Your Leaders

Make spiritual deposits. If you had to check the balances on the spiritual bank accounts of your volunteer leaders, what would you find? Every interaction is an opportunity to make a spiritual deposit for discipleship.

Jesus never had a job description for His followers. Instead, He had a come-follow-me approach and regularly made spiritual deposits into their lives. A great practical way to do this is by spending time praying with (together) and for (personally) your volunteers.

Compensate well. Cultivate a value for gratitude by acknowledging the talents, gifts and time of your volunteers. Consider handwriting thank-you notes, hosting dinner nights, and providing special perks and discounts for events and products at your church.

Celebrate and communicate your volunteers’ accomplishments, and let people know that what they’re doing has immense value to the mission of your organization. Share stories, and acknowledge your volunteers weekly, monthly and annually.

Authenticity matters. Don’t forget the power of simply looking someone in the eye and expressing your gratitude for that person’s contribution.

Let’s advance the mission of the kingdom of God and help others — especially your volunteer leaders — succeed.

This article originally appeared in the June/July 2017 edition of Influence magazine.