GotQuestions.org volunteer writing team,

First, I want to thank you for your service. You all are a tremendous blessing to us. The Q&A aspect of the ministry would not exist without you. We truly are grateful for the time you put into answering questions.

Second, I wanted to remind you of how the system works. When people submit questions to us, they are promised an answer within 2 to 7 days. We refer to the end of the 7-day period as the “commitment date.” When we assign you a question, the due date is 4 days from the submission date. This gives us a couple days of room in between the due date and the commitment date. We view the due date as very important. The sooner we can get answers to people, the better. We view the commitment date as crucially important. For us to promise an answer within 7 days and then not fulfill that promise is unacceptable. In fact, it is ungodly.

In recent months, we have been having a significant problem with overdue questions. We have always had an informal policy on how to handle writers who are consistently late with their answers. As a result of the recent rash of overdue questions, we are going to strengthen the policy and enforce it consistently. We thought it would be good and fair to let you know what the policy is.

There is a three strike policy. If a writer reaches three strikes, his/her service with GotQuestions.org will be ended. Here is how strikes are earned:

(1) Allowing a question to remain unanswered for two days after the due date.

(2) Requesting reassignment of a question after the due date.

Avoiding strikes is very simple: (1) Answer the question before the due date or shortly thereafter. (2) Request reassignment before the due date. (3) If there were extenuating circumstances that prevented you from being able to answer the question in a timely manner, let us know. We completely understand that things happen that are valid excuses for not being able to answer a question or request reassignment. All you have to do is let us know.

Again, we truly value and appreciate your service with us. All we are asking is that you answer the questions by the due date, or shortly thereafter, or request reassignment before the due date so we can assign the question to someone else or answer the question ourselves and still get the answer delivered on time.

If you ever need some time off, all you have to do is let us know. If you feel you no longer have the time to serve on our question answering team, again, all you have to do is let us know. We entirely understand how busy life and ministry can be.

At the same time, we need a question answering team that is faithful at meeting deadlines.

Sincerely in Christ,

Shea (on behalf of the entire GotQuestions.org team)