It’s Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we all know that without volunteers, nonprofits would be in a whole heap of trouble. In 1974, Volunteer Appreciation Week was established by an executive order from the 37th U.S. President  Richard Nixon to recognize all the volunteers that make a difference in our country. Since then, it has been celebrated annually in the third week of April and, most recently, the whole month of April! While a mark of a healthy volunteer program is an encouraging environment year round, today we want to share with you five things you can do this month to make a difference for your volunteers!

1. Celebrate Milestones

If you don’t already have something in place, take time this month to set up a program to help celebrate achievements in your volunteers’ careers, so they feel seen and appreciated. Some of the milestones you can highlight are the number of years of service, amount of service hours reached, number of events volunteered for, anniversary with the organization, and even birthdays of your volunteers. This may feel like a lot to keep track of, but noticing the achievements of your volunteers goes a long way.

Here at CERVIS, our software makes it easy to recognize volunteers with our built-in Awards Management program. Awards are an exciting way to engage with your volunteers and allow you to create customized badges to celebrate their hard work and commitment. As volunteers earn awards, they are displayed to volunteers as a badge on their profile as well as added to their trophy case in their volunteer profile. Additionally, CERVIS is able to track birthdays and send out a customized birthday greeting to every one of your volunteers on their special day!

2. Honor Top Volunteers in a Newsletter or on Social Media

Take the time this month to honor the volunteers in your program who are making a big difference. Maybe you highlight the volunteer who has served the most time this month, or maybe you showcase a list of all volunteers who have worked with you for 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years! This is a great way to share personal stories of your volunteers who are making a difference - teaching a child how to read, befriending someone on their meal delivery route, cleaning up a park, fixing a hiking trail, etc.

CERVIS enables you to pull customized reports at any time, making it easy to instantly and accurately highlight your volunteers to your community! 

3. Send a Handwritten Thank-You Note

It may be the age of social media and email but nothing beats a real letter in the mail. Pull a report with your active volunteers and their addresses and divide the work among staff. Your volunteers will enjoy opening their mailboxes and seeing something besides bills and junk mail! At CERVIS, we even have a built-in address label printout to make this task easy and achievable!

4. Give Your Volunteers a Gift

We know your budget isn’t through the roof, but investing in your volunteers is always a good return on investment. Give your volunteers free branded merchandise from your organization or give them a small, yet thoughtful, gift. Some examples could be handing out locally-made popcorn when your volunteers finish their shift or asking your volunteers to stop by and pick up a free mug with your logo in honor of volunteer appreciation month! 

5. Ask For and Listen to Volunteer Feedback

Do you have a feedback box you rarely look through? Now is the time to sit down and see what your volunteers are saying! Haven’t asked volunteers for feedback yet? It’s time to send out an email with a feedback survey. One of the best ways to honor and encourage volunteers is to listen to them. Ask them their stories, hear why they volunteer with you, see if they have any issues or needs, and request feedback. Not only does this give volunteers a space to communicate with you, but also it allows you to do a health check on your program and collect those personal stories we mentioned in our second tip.

Volunteers are the heartbeat of our work, and this month is a great time to show them just how much they mean to us! To learn more about how CERVIS can help you celebrate and engage your volunteers, click here for a free demo.

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