Recognising the contribution volunteers make to your organisation should be an integral part of your volunteer programme.
Acknowledging your volunteers’ involvement and the difference they make to your organisation demonstrates that you value their time and commitment. It directly links to volunteer retention as volunteers who feel valued are far more likely to stay. It doesn’t have to be costly and it is worth bearing in mind that different people will prefer different forms of recognition, not everyone will be comfortable with public thanks.
There are many ways of making volunteers feel valued, here are a few suggestions including how Volunteer Centre Salford can support the recognition of your volunteers:
100, 500 and 1,000 Hours Recognition Scheme
The 100, 500 and 1,000 Hours Recognition Scheme aims to recognise the valuable contribution that volunteers are making in Salford by awarding a Certificate of Recognition signed by the Ceremonial Mayor of Salford for those who have given 100 or 500 or 1,000 hours to volunteering. This is a simple way of thanking your volunteers for all their dedication and hard work.
Certificates generally a great way to thank someone - This could be a thank you certificate or a certificate that marks the number of hours they have dedicated There are free templates for thank you certificates http://volunteersweek.org/. Or you can design your own.
Heart of Salford Awards
The Heart of Salford Awards are Salford CVS and Volunteer Centre Salford’s prestigious annual ceremony to celebrate volunteering. A firm favourite in the volunteering calendar this event acknowledges the vast contribution made by volunteers and organisations in Salford.
Some organisations arrange a special event to celebrate volunteers’ achievements. Volunteers’ Week is a great time to formally thank and recognise your volunteers or if your organisation has awareness days/weeks you may want to ensure that celebrating volunteers’ is part of this.
Some organisations have their own in house awards which is a great way of bringing the whole team of staff and volunteers together. You may also want to nominate your volunteers for external award like the Heart of Salford Awards or the Kings Award for Voluntary Service. The Kings Award for Voluntary Service runs annually and any group of 2 or more people doing volunteering work can be nominated for the award.
Volunteers’ Week
This is an annual celebration of volunteering which runs from the 1st – 7th June. For resources and ideas of how you can get involved visit the Volunteers' Week website.
Other things you can do
- Prepare for involving volunteers - Having a volunteer policy in place will enable your organisation to think through how you will involve volunteers. Make sure the recruitment process is as quick as possible and that you get back to volunteers in a decent timescale. Giving volunteers a full induction to your organisation and making sure there is enough for them to do is essential.
- Say thank you - A thank you done in person, by email or sending a thank you card is a simple but effective way of showing your appreciation. Some organisations include personal messages from the Chief Executive of the organisation and/or messages from service users.
- Let volunteers know their impact - Let volunteers know the impact of their effort. Many volunteers are motivated by the mission of the organisation so let them know how their involvement has helped your organisation achieve its aims. You could list the top 10 outcomes volunteers have enabled your organisation to achieve, this could be presented to volunteers as you would a certificate, it could also be posted on your website.
- Enable volunteers' personal development - Understanding their motivations for volunteering will help you to know if their individual needs are being met. How could your organisation might assist volunteers to reach their goals. Giving volunteers access to training is a good way to help them develop skills, just make sure the training is relevant to their role.
- Involve volunteers in decision making - Have volunteer meetings or invite volunteers to staff meetings. It is important that volunteers ideas are heard and that they can feed into any decision-making processes. Keep volunteers up to date with what is going on in the organisation, this is especially useful for volunteers whose roles are ad hoc or off-site.
- Support and supervision - Volunteers should have a named person who they can go to with questions and queries. Most support is done informally as part of the day to day activities and is about taking the time to chat and getting to know your volunteers. More formal supervision is also beneficial as it allows two-way communication, any issues can be nipped in the bud and feedback can provide reassurance to volunteers.
- Ask them! - If in doubt ask your volunteers, some organisations do annual surveys.