10 Ways the Serve App Can Get You Serving

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10 Ways the Serve App Can Get You Serving So many of us have that feeling of wanting to serve but not knowing how. Instead of finding a way to serve, we just let it go. Well, it's time to say hello to the Serve App and goodbye to apathy. With the Serve App you can post volunteer needs or offer to "give away" your skills. Here are 10 ideas to get you started: 1. Computer help - Your church is likely full of techno geeks and the techno impaired. The Serve App can bring the two together to do some good. Your techno geeks can offer up their services to "borrow." The clueless can make their needs known. 2. Tax time - As April comes calling the accountants in your church can offer up their services. It's pro bono to borrow. 3. Dog training - Your church likely has some obedience experts who are willing to help with problem pups. They can offer their services to "borrow" and share their skill with your church community. 4. Cooking 101 - Unleash the Julia Childs in your church. Find the folks who always get the culinary kudos and encourage them to share their gift on the Table, offering to lend their expertise. 5. Music lessons - Watch your worship team grow with aspiring musicians when the rock stars offer up lessons on the Serve App. 6. Car repair - Everybody needs a good mechanic, and they can serve the church by offering up their skills. The Serve App is also a perfect place to loan tools. 7. Knitting - Knitting and crocheting isn't just for old ladies anymore. The Serve App can be a great place to loan out needles and supplies, give away extra yarn, ask for volunteer help with big projects and veteran needle pushers can even offer to share their skills. 8. Document proofing - Need help proof reading and copy editing a paper, blog or manuscript? There's likely a proofreading pro in your congregation. 9. Help other organizations - Your church likely knows about loads of volunteer needs around your community—including soup kitchens, day care centers, tutoring and more. Post the known needs of your local organizations and get your church community helping. 10. Resume help - Writing a resume is an art and when you're looking for a job you need all the help you can get. Reach out to the experts and get all the help you can.

10 Ways You Can Give it Away with the Serve App The Serve App offers your church an incredible opportunity to give. Maybe it's time to clean out the closet/basement/garage/storage unit and get rid of some of the stuff that's beginning to outnumber you. And instead of getting rid of it, you can give it away. After all, one person's trash is another person's treasure. Here are 10 ideas to get you started: 1. Regift - Instead of turning those unwanted birthday gifts into store credit or letting them just sit in the basement, give them away. 2. Craft supplies - If you've been hoarding a collection of craft supplies—whether it's juice lids, pipe cleaners or fabric scraps—that haven't been used in years, maybe it's time to share. Offer up your stash of supplies and enable a new generation of creative crafters. 3. Firewood - If you've got one of those giant suburban or rural lots loaded with trees, you've likely got a supply of firewood that will keep you warm through many a post-apocalyptic winter. Share the warmth with your urban friends who have the odd conundrum of a fireplace but no yard full of firewood. 4. College couch - You're replacing your couch and getting ready to put the old one on the curb. Stop! Your church is likely full of college students who would love that couch. Give it away! One better: Charge the student to give it away when they move on. You're paying it forward, one faded couch cushion at a time. 5. Old computer equipment - Any computer running Windows 98 is going to be completely useless to you. Unless you're a computer geek who has fun rebuilding old systems. Get that computer out of your basement into the hands of a geek who can have some fun with it. 6. Extra seeds - Bought way more seeds than you need for your vegetable garden? Give ‘em away! 7. Senior living - A grandparent just moved into a nursing home and you've got a whole basement full of random stuff to get rid of. Make it easy on yourself and let people come over and take what they could use. 8. Gift cards - Have a stash of half-used gift cards in your wallet? Share the love. You could send them off to organizations like Gift Card Giver, but you could also share them with your church. Match a couple cards up and you've got free lunch. 9. CSA leftovers - You've joined a community supported agriculture project and find yourself drowning in okra and squash. Time to share those leftovers. 10. Upgrade and give - Whenever you upgrade you've got something to give away. Your recently replaced TV, digital camera or sports equipment have plenty of life left in them. Put them up on the Serve App and share.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Get You Sharing We learned how to share in kindergarten, but by now most of us have forgotten. Let's rediscover sharing. Here are 10 ways you can start sharing with the Serve App: 1. Game group - Launch a board game group and swap and share your games. Share your love of Settlers of Catan, Risk, Killer Bunnies, Ticket to Ride or Apples to Apples. 2. Snowmobile - Sure, you ride that snowmobile all weekend long, every weekend. But you could still share the fun when you're lashed to your desk at work. Let someone else soar across the powder when you can't. 3. Paint supplies - Most people have a collection of painting supplies from the last time they redecorated. Brushes and rollers and drop cloths, oh my, sitting idly until the next great inspiration hits. Save your friends some cash and lend out your painting supplies. 4. Nursery swap - It takes a lot to wear out baby gear, so give it away and reuse it. Set up a group for your church's nursery and use the Serve App to encourage parents to give away and reuse cribs, highchairs, diaper bags, pack ‘n' plays, strollers and all the baby gear that isn't worn out after six months of drool. 5. Snow blower - You've got the biggest, baddest snow blower on the block. But your driveway and sidewalks aren't that big. You're squandering all that horsepower. Let the people borrow your snow blower after a big snowstorm. Or better yet, volunteer to lend your time and muscle to do it for them. 6. Redbox for your church - No need to hit up the Redbox or scour Netflix, borrow from your friends at church. Start a new group for movie lovers and load up the Serve App with DVDs you're willing to loan out. You can give recommendations and offer families a wider selection of appropriate movies for the kids. 7. Pickup truck - Every now and then people need a big ol' pickup truck to haul stuff. Lumber, dirt, boulders, wicker furniture—manly stuff. If you've got the truck, share the love. 8. Sports equipment - Your golf clubs, snowboard, skis, rollerblades, ice skates and more that have consumed a corner of your garage could easily be shared. You're not the sports giant rocking the field every weekend, so share the gear. 9. Share a room - If you've got a spare room you could share it. A college student with a gap between summer housing and the dorms opening, a missionary home on furlough or a guest speaker in town for the weekend could all use a place to stay. 10. Framed art - You've got posters, paintings and prints in frames that lost out to pictures of your family and multiple redecorating efforts. You can't bring yourself to get rid of them, but you can share them. That art deco print will do more good hanging on someone's wall than it will sitting in your basement.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Change Your Community We added the Serve App to the Table because we think it's a no-brainer way to get people connected offline. Sharing stuff and serving one another is a major need, going back to the early church, and it's something we desperately need today. Imagine how your community will begin to change as you start serving one another more. Here are 10 ideas to get you started: 1. Kitchen gadgets - Do you even know what's in the back of your cupboard? It's where you keep your seldom-used gadgets: the espresso maker, the fondue pot, the ice cream machine, the crock pot, the juicer, food dehydrator (admit, you bought one off the infomercial). Share the home-cooked love. 2. Snow shoveling - It breaks your heart watching your elderly neighbor shovel her snow, but you're never home in time to beat her to it. Ask for volunteers in your neighborhood to get over there during the day and shovel her sidewalk. 3. Garage giveaway - Instead of throwing a garage sale, have a garage giveaway. It's too much work and too little profit to sell everything, so just give it away. The confused looks from garage sale regulars will be priceless. 4. Community cleanup day - The local park is doing a community clean up day. Why not organize a squad of volunteers from your church? 5. Give food - "If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." -Mother Teresa Sometimes the most powerful gift is simply a home-cooked meal or a bag full of groceries. Use the Serve App to make your willingness to help known. 6. Helping an elderly neighbor with yard work - The Serve App gives you the ability to organize people from your church to help. You can also assign tasks and gather supplies all from the comfort of your Table. All it takes is initiative. 7. Start a lending library - Set up a group for book lovers and use the Serve App to swap and share books. It's your own library, complete with personal recommendations. You can start with one book that has changed your life. 8. Children's clothes - You may have hated hand-me-downs as a kid, but your thrifty parents loved them. Widen the hand-me-down pool to your church and maybe your kids won't complain so much. 9. Home repair - Some people are handy and some people are definitely not. The not-so handy can post their volunteer home repair needs and the handy can offer to give away their services. That pesky dripping faucet gets fixed and everybody's happy. 10. Disaster response - Communities come together in disaster and the Serve App can help. Post the needs and the different jobs available, whether it's clearing downed trees, sharing food, offering temporary housing, playing with the kids or just being there for somebody.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Help You Move Moving is never a simple undertaking. But the Serve App can make it easier. Whether you're moving yourself and need a helping hand or you're that helping hand, it's time for your church community to step up. Here are 10 ideas to get you started: 1. Help loading the truck - The most obvious way the Serve App can help is the move itself. Post your volunteer needs and get some strong helping hands to load the truck. You can even add multiple tasks— people to load the truck, pick up the pizza, entertain the children, etc. 2. Pack the house - You can also recruit help packing boxes, wrapping valuables and getting things ready to move. 3. Give away your stuff - Before you pack you need to clean out the house and get rid of all the stuff you don't want to move. Instead of throwing it away or giving it to Goodwill, share it with your church community. 4. Lend a truck or trailer - If you've got a truck or trailer post it to the Serve App to borrow. Make someone's moving day a little easier. 5. Fridge free for all - When it's time to clean out the fridge, offer up the leftover food to your community instead of throwing it out. 6. Pet watching - One of the many hassles of moving is clearing out of the house during open houses and showings. It's not so bad for you, but finding somewhere for your pets to go is hard. Post the need on the Serve App and find your pet a friend. 7. Painting party - The best time to paint is before you move in, but time is always limited. Collect a crew of willing painters by putting out the word with the Serve App. Be sure to mention the prevalent pizza you'll be providing. 8. Home repair - Ask for help on the Serve App with all the minor home repair projects that come up when you put your house on the market and after you move in. There are always outlet covers to fix and doorstops to install and lots of pesky projects to tackle. Solicit the help of a handy man or woman from your church. 9. Cleaning - Whenever you move in or out there's always cleaning to be done. The old house needs a thorough scrubbing before you're officially out and the new place needs a good spruce. Make your need known to the community and don't go it alone. 10. Boxes to share - When the move is finally done you'll be looking at a mountain of empty boxes in your living room. Share the love and give them away to the next family that's ready to move.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Help Your Church The Serve App is designed to get people in your church connecting with one another. But it can also be a great way for your church to get some help. Encourage your staff to make full use of the Serve App. Here are 10 ideas to get you thinking: 1. Find a new drummer Calling all worship leaders! Use the Serve App to find replacements or unique talents. Need a harmonica player for a new arrangement you've been working on? Put the call out on the Serve App. You never know what talents may lie hidden in your congregation. 2. Church closet clean out - The next time you clean out the church storage room, instead of throwing it all away, give it away. You never know when someone may want cardboard trees from last year's VBS or half working VCRs that you upgraded a decade ago or 1970s self-help books left behind by the previous pastor. One person's trash is another person's treasure. 3. Envelope stuffing party - The next time your church is doing a massive mailer, save time and money: Recruit envelope-lickers using the Serve App. 4. Decorations needed - Every time the church has a themed event, from the fund-raising dinner to the annual VBS, there's a need for stuff. A canoe for the sportsman's dinner, a tent for the jungle safari VBS, a dozen strands of Christmas lights for the charity ball. Put out the call for volunteers to supply the church's decorating needs. 5. Avoid burnout - If you've got a task one person is doing that could easily be done by more people, bring in some more help and avoid burnout. Post the opportunity to the Serve App and holler for some help. For church service volunteers, this might just mean asking for a few more folks and giving some Sundays off. Spread out the work among your volunteers and make life a little easier for everyone. 6. Unique skills needed - Every once in a while your church needs a highly skilled person. Maybe you're looking for an artist to create a mural or a writer to draft copy for a brochure or a handyman to build a set. You've likely got the skills within your congregation—post the need to the Serve App and find those hidden talents! 7. Ministry staffing - You've got volunteer needs all throughout your church—Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, parking lot help, VBS volunteers, nursery workers, finance committee—you name it. Post those needs to the Serve App and make sure your community knows where the needs are. 8. Ride to church - Getting people to church has never been so easy. Post the volunteer needs by address and they'll be served up in people's My Page tab based on location. 9. Table help - Why not ask for help with the Table on the Table? If you're in need of a fellow SuperAdmin to keep things in check or maybe a few Admins just to lighten the load, why not put out the request on the Table? You're more likely to find Table-friendly folks among current users. 10. Church workday - Organize your annual church work day with the Serve App. Post all the different jobs that need to be tackled and let folks claim the job they can handle. From installing nursery gates to touching up paint, your work day chores will be diveyed up and done in no time.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Help This Summer Summer is almost here and the Serve App can help you make the most of it. Here are 10 ways you can start serving, giving and sharing this summer: 1. Backyard party supplies - Your garage is stocked with all the backyard fun: tiki torches, chairs, mosquito fogger, lawn games and more. Offer them up to your church community so anyone can host a backyard bash. 2. Canoe or kayak - You're an outdoor adventurer who braves the rapids and the portages, but not every single weekend. Take a weekend off and let someone else put your gear to good use. 3. Lawn care - Tired of mowing the lawn? Find someone in your church to pick up the lawn care duties you're too busy to tackle. You can even "volunteer" to pay them if it doesn't feel like a real volunteer need. 4. Gardening - Some people love gardening. Some people hate it. That sounds like a perfect opportunity for the Serve App. If you've got gardening needs you can request volunteers. If you're ripping up bushes or hostas you can give them away. If you've got a green thumb you can offer to share it. 5. Camping gear - As much as you'd love to, you can't go camping every weekend. So let someone else. Offer up your tent, camping chairs, portable grill, sleeping bags, camping mat and all the goodies that make for an amazing camping weekend. 6. Landscaping materials - Pea gravel, retaining wall blocks, fence materials—you always end up with leftovers. Instead of throwing them out or or letting them sit in your garage, offer them up to someone who could use them. 7. Party planning job assignments - If you're throwing a party you can request volunteers to tackle certain jobs. Set up a volunteer opportunity for your event and then add tasks for each volunteer need: Chips & dip, drinks, snacks, clean up, invitations, decorations, etc. 8. Tandem bicycle - Let's be honest: That tandem bicycle is not getting as much use as it could. Offer it up for awesome daytime dates. 9. Community tool shed - Hedge trimmers, chain saws, and post-hole diggers don't get a lot of use throughout the year. Launch a group for your neighborhood or community and set up a community tool shed with the Serve App to share these limited-use tools. 10. Create a lawn sports enthusiasts club - OK, this one may seem like a long shot but rest assured the Serve App is perfect for it. Say your family likes playing lawn sports but you want to expand your lawn sport horizons. Create a group and invite people from around your church to join. Use the Serve app with your group to figure out who has what lawn games and then start lending and borrowing! Your garage will thank you.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Help with Vacation It's summer time and that means vacation time. The Table is here to help. You can put the Serve App to work making your vacation even easier. Here are 10 ideas to get you thinking: 1. GPS unit - You know your way around town, so that fancy GPS unit doesn't get a lot of use when you're not on vacation. Let someone else use it for their upcoming road trip or even a fun weekend of geocaching. 2. House sitting - Going out of town and need someone to watch the house? That's definitely not something you'd want to post to Facebook, but you can probably trust your church community (though you still might want to be careful about posting the dates). 3. Portable DVD player - You've discovered the secret to cross-country road trips with little kids: Portable DVD players. But not everyone has the luxury and your DVD player sits around for most of the year unused. Share your secret and your sanity. 4. Luggage - Your beautiful collection of matching luggage doesn't get around like it used to. Give it new life and let it see the world again. It's world traveling without the jet lag. 5. Travel tips - Going abroad and need some advice? Ask for volunteers in the Serve App and connect over coffee to pick their brain. You'll get the help you need and it'll be the easiest volunteering they ever did. 6. Pet sitting - Your pets are important to you. When you go out of town you can be facing some difficult options for taking care of your pets. Expensive kennels? Unreliable friends? Post it! There is guaranteed to be a pet lover in your church who would be honored to watch Felix and Fido while you're in Cancun. You get a vacation and your pet gets more attention than normal. 7. Road trip - Whether you need a ride home from college or just want to take a trip, the Serve App is a great place to post your road trippin' needs. 8. Cabin to share - Your cabin sits empty and lonely most of the year. Share the love on the Serve App and make someone's vacation. 9. Lawn mowing - No one looks forward to mowing the knee-high grass when you get back from vacation, so find a volunteer to keep the grass mowed while you're out of town. 10. Couch surfing - Make your vacation dollar go farther by spending a night at a friend's house instead of a hotel. The kids call it couch surfing and they stay with strangers, but you could ask your church community if they have friends or relatives on your route and it's one step closer to home away from home.

10 Ways the Serve App Can Make Someone's Day You can really make someone's day by going out of your way and showing them some love. Here are 10 ways the Serve App can help: 1. Name a star after someone - This is easier than you think. It starts at $19.95 (seen here) and it could make someone's day. Post on the Serve App that you want to name a star after a member of your church. Then do it! 2. Meals for mommy - When new parents aren't sleeping there's nothing better than a home cooked meal cooked by someone else. The Serve App is perfect for recruiting volunteers to provide meals to new parents. 3. Give away your car - Go big with your serve! You've probably heard of people doing this sort of thing in church communities before. Well, why not you? Make a grand sacrificial gesture like this and truly change someone's life. Rust may someday destroy that old ‘98 Ford Taurus of yours, but showing radical love by giving in epic proportions has no blue book value. 4. Lend a kid - Teach your kids about service and helping others by loaning them out for a day. They may complain about mowing your lawn, but helping someone else can bring out a new attitude. They do some good, someone else gets some needed help and you get a quiet afternoon. 5. Love your pastor day - Gather 10 others from your church and serve your pastor through yard work, window washing, house cleaning, garage organizing, etc. 6. Extra ticket - Got an extra ticket to the big game? Looks like you need a "volunteer" to go with you! Post that need on the Serve App and you'll likely find someone with a servant's heart willing to fill that seat for you. 7. Restore sanity - Frazzled parents could use a night out and a night off, but babysitting ain't cheap. Encourage parents to post their babysitting needs and rally responsible teens to step up and help. 8. Nice ride - You've got that classic car, all shiny and bright, that draws gawkers wherever you go. Offer up the car for special nights, including your own chauffer services (we know you wouldn't let anyone else drive your baby). It could be the car that whisks away the bride and groom or the killer prom transportation. You get to show off your ride and make someone's day. 9. Home theater - Are you one of those home theater enthusiasts with the projector screen, theater-style folding chairs and Dolby Digital surround sound? Give a couple high school kids an awesomely free date night. You could even make popcorn and wear a striped vest to achieve the full effect. 10. Commissioned Haiku - Offer your amazing haiku writing skills to enrich a church member's life. They pick the subject. You write the Haiku and dedicate it to them.