Your association has no doubt benefited from the time and work of volunteers. Even though volunteers knowingly sign up to help for nothing in return, it’s still important to let volunteers know how much they mean to your association. Here are 5 ways to show your volunteers you appreciate them:
1. Volunteer of the Year Award
An award for Volunteer of the Year is a great way to recognize someone who has had outstanding service for the past year. It’s also something you can really make your own. The award could be a trophy, a framed photo, public recognition, etc. It can be whatever you want it to be and the message remains the same to the volunteer that they are appreciated. If you have more than one volunteer who deserves this recognition, you could award them all with Volunteers of the Year. It is better to over-appreciate than leave people out who are giving valuable time to your association.
2. Mail a Hand-Written Letter
This option is less public and more personal. You could write one letter or a letter to every volunteer you have. An email could say the same thing the letter could, but there is something special about receiving a hand-written letter.
3. Buy a Meal
This is a great way to get to know some of your volunteers more and works especially well if the volunteering was for an event. Afterwards, get a group of staff and volunteers and have a meal together. This doesn’t carry a lot of recognition, but free food always translates to “thank you.”
4. Social Media Post
This is another option that you can really make your own. Social media is a great way to recognize someone for outstanding work. Depending on what you want to do, this could be a weekly, monthly, or quarterly post to show appreciation to a volunteer who has been standing out for excellent work.
5. Time of Service Certificate
A time of service reward program is a great way to recognize volunteers who have served the association for a number of years. It could be every five years or whatever works best for your volunteer base.