Showing appreciation to volunteers is so important for the culture and retention of volunteers for your nonprofit organization. By acknowledging their contributions, you may even be able to inspire them to become donors in the future. If you give a thank you to volunteers, their support is likely to increase as a result of the fact that they are continually engaged in the work that they do. Many volunteers leave organizations when they do not receive enough positive responses or when they do not receive sufficient recognition for the work they have done.

So what do you do to show that you are thankful to your volunteer staff? Here are 15 simple and innovative things that you can do to acknowledge your volunteers:

  1. Publish stories about volunteers your organization’s social media, website, and blog.
  2. Paying attention to volunteer needs while they are serving and make improvements based on those needs.
  3. Send personally addressed, hand-written thank you notes to volunteers.
  4. Consider partnering with your neighboring businesses and organizations to offer discounts to your volunteers at their favorite stores and restaurants.
  5. Find easier and more flexible opportunities for volunteers to serve.
  6. Thank them on the job. This small act goes a long way.
  7. Offer opportunities for professional growth and advancement to volunteers.
  8. Provide them with a meal as a thank you as they serve.
  9. Share stories of impact with volunteers: Explain clearly the benefits volunteers are bringing to your organization by highlighting how important the contribution of volunteers is to your organization.
  10. Find and plan opportunities for your organization to utilize the talent and talents of its volunteer base, not just fulfill the needs of your organization.
  11. Give high-capacity volunteers more opportunities authority to lead while serving.
  12. Celebrate your volunteers birthdays and anniversaries for serving with your organization.
  13. Use questionnaires to find out what volunteers like and dislike about what they and then address their considerations.
  14. Build relationships with volunteers by taking them out to a coffee or meal.
  15. Host volunteer appreciation meetings and allow volunteers to interact with one another in an informal capacity.

Thanking volunteers can easily become overlooked as your organization tries to advance its mission. Remember to take the time to show appreciation for all the things they do for your organization. One way to help track your volunteers and what matters to them is by saving their information in our easy-to-use platform, MyVolunteers. MyVolunteers is part of MyCommunity, which exists to build relationships and tools that equip organizations so that they can maximize their impact. Our suite of tools is designed to help organizations of all sizes focus on their mission without worrying about the logistics. We understand the importance of building strong relationships, so we provide the necessary tools to maximize impact and make a difference like our easy-to-use platforms MyDonors and MyVolunteers. Likewise, MyNonprofitCoach equips nonprofits with the training they need to be successful. Schedule a demo for any of our solutions here.

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Source: https://www.volunteerhub.com/blog/thank-volunteers-2021/