Your volunteers are helpful, dedicated, and demonstrate a strong commitment to your nonprofit. If you truly want to keep your volunteers coming back again and again, you must stand out and offer original forms of recognition that other nonprofits do not provide. In this article, we’ve listed 30 amazing volunteer appreciation ideas to get you started.
Your volunteers are helpful and dedicated. They demonstrate a strong commitment to your nonprofit. So, are you showing them your appreciation? Without expressing your gratitude for generously sharing their time, these individuals – who are the heart and soul of many nonprofits – may not feel engaged with your organization, and may find another place to offer their time.
In this article, we’ll cover 25 volunteer appreciation ideas for nonprofits that will help you retain this useful resource, build lasting volunteer relationships, and ultimately grow your nonprofit.
Volunteer appreciation is the expression of your gratitude to the heroes behind a nonprofit. They aren’t paid for their work, but they still dedicate plenty of their time to help with duties and details, as well as spreading the word about your organization. And their work is valuable. One hour of a volunteer’s work provides an average value of $31.80.
Often, volunteer appreciation goes beyond a simple “thank you.” It’s about making volunteers feel like the integral part of your mission that they are!
Many nonprofits would be unable to function or provide vital services without the support of volunteers. And if volunteers feel valued, they’ll continue to show up at the office, at events, at the warehouse, and anywhere else you may need them.
Volunteer appreciation gifts can be crucial to keep them coming back. Happy volunteers will also share your mission in their communities, and share your work with friends and family, thus building your network with potential volunteers, employees, and donors.
There are many ways to express gratitude to your volunteers. But if you truly want to keep your volunteers coming back again and again, you must stand out and offer original forms of recognition that other nonprofits do not provide.
Everyone likes to feel cherished and that their hard work furthers your mission. Help your employees to recognize your volunteers’ impact and highlight one volunteer each week. Choose one volunteer who has gone above and beyond to feature in an email to all staff and volunteers. Do this until you’ve featured every volunteer, then randomize again. Highlighting specific accolades does wonders for self-esteem.
This is one of the best ways to recognize volunteers for their hard work.
Pro tip: Create a badge or award to go along with the recognition to make it even more attractive and encourage your volunteers to go above and beyond.
Put your volunteers’ names in a bag and host a weekly raffle. It doesn’t have to be anything major—think a $10 gift card to Starbucks or Target, a t-shirt, or chocolate. It makes volunteers feel appreciated, while also giving them a dose of fun.
Another way to play: have employees and/or volunteers write notes about one another on a corkboard, collect the notes at the end of the week, and pull from a hat. The more notes with names on them, the better the chances.
While you may have a monthly newsletter that you send to your donors, it’s crucial to create a newsletter just for volunteers that fills them in on what’s new with your organization. This will help them feel a greater connection to your cause – which keeps them coming back.
You can even highlight volunteers in these emails to create a sense of community and encourage them to get to know each other!
Board members should also be aware of any stand-out volunteers. You can also invite a few volunteers to board meetings to voice any suggestions they might have to better the nonprofit and its output. The board will also receive the opportunity to listen to and acknowledge those who are giving their time to the organization.
Consolidate all of the promotional supplies you have (stickers, shirts, flyers, etc.) and create gift bags for all volunteers. They’ll be repping your nonprofit while off the job and furthering your mission without even trying. You can also give out exclusive items, like water bottles and tech accessories, with your nonprofit’s name or logo on them.
Choose three movies and take an anonymous vote for which one to watch. The most popular one can be shown at the office for a monthly movie night. Make sure to bring the microwave popcorn, and always let volunteers know the movie in advance so they can skip it if it isn’t their taste. Creating a comfortable and informal environment for your volunteers will also encourage them to volunteer more and they will continue to offer their support as they feel welcome and rewarded for their time.
The awards ceremony is one of the best volunteer recognition ideas a nonprofit can implement. Here’s the best part about an awards ceremony – it doesn’t have to be a competition. Rather, create superlatives for all volunteers and award them individually based on their role within the organization. You’ll be the cool nonprofit that pays attention to each volunteer’s strengths, which in turn makes volunteers feel that their efforts are valued.
Pro tip: Use the National Volunteer Week in April every year to celebrate your volunteers and their work with awards and recognition on social media! This is a great way to get the word out about your volunteer program, too.
Is there a minor-league baseball team near you? What about a fun concert? Scour (affordable) events nearby and splurge on a group outing. It’s a way to form camaraderie between volunteers and staff. It fosters and encourages connection, and they won’t see you as an unapproachable or distant volunteer supervisor. Consider taking a poll of what employees most enjoy doing, and then make a list of different outings based on the responses.
You most likely already send out a holiday card/newsletter to donors, those who benefit from your services, and fellow staff and volunteers. For your next holiday reach-out, include a picture of volunteers together. If you don’t have any photos of everyone together in one place, create a collage of action shots from preparation to execution of events. A nonprofit can’t run without its volunteers—demonstrate that to all who support you.
Make sure you keep a camera around during events and the office because a picture book is a perfect way to commemorate your nonprofit’s successes over the course of a year. Feature pictures of volunteers in-office, at events, and at outings—they will get to see what you and the team have accomplished in only 365 days.
Transportation stipends are perfect for volunteers who travel for your events. Consider paying for bus fares or a portion of gas to help them travel to the destination. These volunteers are coming without pay—take care of them in this way to encourage them to continue helping out. These will be even more effective for events that are further away from your headquarters.
Everyone needs a break! Consider hosting happy hours at local restaurants. Everyone likes to let loose following a large event, so book a reservation (or room) to lift everyone’s spirits. Bonus: carpooling to these gatherings can help foster connections between friends and familiar faces, while also encouraging volunteers to get to know others they may not have crossed paths with.
Early morning? Make it more exciting by bringing coffee and pastries. For those rushing out the door or traveling for a long period, the sight of baked goods and caffeine will be a dream. Bring extra snacks to boost blood sugar throughout the day, but really, don’t skimp out on breakfast—it’s the most important meal of the day, after all.
Emails, phone calls, and verbal “thanks” are all common. And while it may be easier to copy and paste into an email, handwritten thank-you notes are a simple way to go the extra mile. If you have tens or hundreds of volunteers, even a handwritten signature with their name has a greater effect on volunteers.
Letters of recommendation don’t need to be long and tedious, but they can be extremely helpful for volunteers looking to find a job and writing them is an important part of appreciating your volunteers. Highlight their strengths, accomplishments, and any anecdotes that emphasize their abilities. Many companies look for those who work as volunteers for other nonprofits.
Have you had a volunteer working for you for years? Honor their commitment. A card with signatures from every employee acknowledging their hard work, a gift card to a favorite restaurant, or a small present relevant to a part of your mission is a perfect way of expressing your gratitude for their dedication.
If your volunteers are helping clients directly, ask for videos from the clients thanking the volunteers for their help. While it’s always nice to have praise come from you and your employees, videos from clients will have a large impact as well. Everybody wants their work to have a purpose, and these messages will boost volunteer morale.
Volunteers may be looking to get to know members of your staff better to understand how your organization works. A mentorship program can be a wonderful incentive to reward dedicated volunteers. Mentors and mentees can take time to meet, discuss a volunteer’s personal and professional goals, and work together to grow.
Volunteering is the best way to learn the ins and outs of a nonprofit, but insight from you and your employees can be a diamond in the rough. Go to a deeper level when asking for help and explain what your process was: how you thought up, created, and executed your idea. This sense of insight is invaluable, as it can lead to transferable skills—extremely important to those looking to find a job that pays (without ending their volunteer work, of course).
Volunteers often learn plenty when they join a nonprofit. But if they want to move up, consider adding leadership opportunities for them. Volunteers who have been with you for a long time can train new volunteers, take on more responsibilities, and lead events so you avoid stretching yourself too thin. It will be nice to have one less stressful item on your to-do list when you have people you trust covering for you.
Organize formal, internal events and hire or invite speakers to come and give a talk. Bring an expert in and dive into more detail about how important the work they’re doing is. Or, invite a well-known, inspirational speaker to boost company morale, encourage volunteers to continue working with the organization, and uplift spirits during the more stressful times.
If someone’s birthday is coming up, write a personal card thanking them for their efforts. You can turn it into a potluck—have each person celebrating bring refreshments. For a lunch celebration, order neutral food, like pizza. And, most importantly: don’t forget the cake!
Volunteers are people too, with their own lives, families, and commitments. That’s why it’s important to treat them as multi-faceted humans. Just because they donate time does not mean they don’t have other priorities. Get to know them on a personal level and ask them questions about themselves. This sense of care and interest will stand out from other corganizations that stick to a solely professional level.
Encourage volunteers to come to you if they need to. Whether it’s to point out an obstacle, ask a question, or simply have a chat, open-door policies are positive for the entire team. Appearing closed-off may make volunteers hesitant to talk to you and refrain from giving input and feedback. Express that everyone’s suggestions are valid—and follow through with it when a volunteer comes to you.
If some of the aforementioned points aren’t possible monthly, choose National Volunteer Week is the time to express your gratitude to your volunteers. If you don’t have any events, this week is the perfect time to recognize your volunteers and celebrate milestones, birthdays, and the overall success of the organization—with many thanks to them. Happy volunteers will stick around; by honoring them, you’re demonstrating a form of loyalty to them which will very likely be reciprocated.
We’ve listed 25 ideas here, but consider what your nonprofit does and your volunteers’ positive effect to generate additional personalized ways to appreciate these organizational heroes. Your board may have other creative ideas to thank your volunteers, too!
It’s simple: volunteer appreciation results in more volunteer retention. Should you need extra volunteers for an event or project, past volunteers will be happy to return and help, as you have shown that you value them and the time they give to your nonprofit.
Overall, consider your volunteers as the backbone of the team. They work on the little details and aid the greater ones to help you achieve your goals. Most importantly, they show up; the least you can do is show up for them, too.
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Raviraj heads the sales and marketing team at Donorbox. His growth-hacking abilities have helped Donorbox boost fundraising efforts for thousands of nonprofit organizations.
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