 | | Good Neighbor Tool Kit: Leading a Charity Recruiting Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy | | ||
|  Nonprofit Nuts and Bolts The Art of Fundraising Recruiting Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy Marketing and Public Relations Leadership and the Board Good Neighbor Tool Kit Main Page Good Neighbor Home Page | 10 Ways to Thank Volunteers Whether they contribute just a few hours a month or plenty of hours every week, volunteers can be tremendously valuable assets to your organization. Make sure you take the time and effort to acknowledge just how much you appreciate their contributions. Here are 10 starter ideas on how to thank your volunteers: 1. Give volunteers an identity. Have special T-shirts made that identify them as volunteers. Or badges. Or come up with other ways of giving them a presence. 2. Make a date with your volunteers. Plan an event especially to thank volunteers for their work. Have a picnic. Go to a movie. Or a ballgame. Take them out for lunch or dinner. 3. Create a volunteer appreciation day. Set aside a day to salute volunteers and their service. Put up posters. Make a speech. Hand out coffee and donuts or some other treat. 4. Award service pins or gifts. Recognize long terms of service by awarding service pins or other small gifts that commemorate longevity. Schedule an award ceremony. 5. Establish a volunteer hall of fame. Elect someone as the volunteer of the week, month, or year. Take his or her picture. Build a gallery of honored volunteers. 6. Advance their volunteer careers. Send your committed volunteers to classes that build their knowledge and skills related to the work they do for your organization. 7. Invite volunteers to professional events. Ask senior volunteers to attend meetings or conferences that are open to nonmembers of societies and associations related to the mission of your organization. 8. Publicize volunteer efforts. Ask your local paper to write an article about one of your volunteers who has an interesting background, reason for volunteering, or other promotable characteristics. 9. Promote volunteer work in your own communications. Be sure that your newsletters, annual reports, and other communications recognize the importance of the work of your volunteers. 10. Design a volunteer publication. Develop a special publication just for volunteers. It needn’t be elaborate. Even a periodic letter updating volunteers about the importance of their work will be appreciated. Virtual Volunteering > | |