All of us have been stuck in a job where we show up, punch the clock, put in our time and leave. The reward is the paycheck, pure and simple.
So much of what we need to accomplish in our volunteer lives - whether we're making sure that all the shifts are scheduled at the food pantry, school fund raiser teams have enthusiast members to get the work done or our workplace volunteer service projects have a great turnout -- depends on getting people to show up.
But we really don't want people who are going to show up just one time, we need people that are going to show up time and time again. They might be our great committee chairs or they might just be the workhorse team members that are just rock solid about accepting and then meeting their commitments.
One of the easiest pitfalls we stumble into is taking people for granted. And that's why it's so important to plan to recognize volunteers and keep them excited about the good work they are doing so they don't just turn into a punch of clock punchers, or even just quit and go do something else. We need to plan our recognition right alongside our activity plans.
Here's some great ideas to keep volunteers excited about their work:
- Make Thank You! posters thanking people by name and possibly even showing a picture of them in action. These can be posted around your location or just mailed to volunteers at their home
- Hand out Thank You! tickets each time a volunteer works a shift. Each ticket offers the chance for a monthly drawing for something as simple as a $5 gift card to the coffee shop or a potted plant.
- List your volunteers in your group newsletter and thank them for the service they provided that month.
- Check in with your volunteers by phone or email and personally thank them for the work they are doing. Ask them if they are enjoying the work and ask for ideas to improve things. Feeling important -- and heard -- is a great way to spread job satisfaction.
- Create a volunteer of the month parking space (or 2) at your church, school or community center and award it to different people each month.
- Create a special recognition for a great volunteer recruiter -- because without new recruits we would run out of volunteers!
How do you recognize your volunteers? Has it helped to improve volunteer rates? Let us know what you do!!
