Recognition ideas for volunteers

Is there a typical age group or range among the volunteers? A suitable event for mostly young adults would probably be different to one for mostly retired folk. Or perhaps there’s a wide range, and the event would need to recognise that.

Actually though, I am not a fan of events or lavish recognition for volunteers at all.  I volunteer at our city’s children’s hospital and I would much prefer them to use the money on the patients than on the volunteers!
I absolutely volunteer because I want to help, not to be ‘recognised’ however it is lovely when the organisation does something appropriate to say ‘thank you’. 

So for me, a morning tea is good, though probably not practical right now of course.  I like Neisey’s idea of hiring a cinema - that could be great with the number of volunteers you have, though again it might not be a good idea right now.  Do you have any constraints about having a lot of people mixing together?

Do you have a newsletter? If so, you could recognise volunteers in that, with a photo, maybe an interview....  personally, I would much prefer that to receiving a “thing”. I would be be very conscious that not everyone is in a position to put in a lot hours and would feel terribly embarrassed to be singled out to receive something just because I can put in more hours that someone else.  However, that is just my own viewpoint, and I’m certain other people would prefer a small thing over public recognition. 

Sometimes people who cannot put in many hours are far more “worthy” - I am thinking of someone who works full time and still does volunteer work an hour or 2 every week. Sure, recognise those who do a lot for the organisation, but also find a way to celebrate those who help even though they have very different circumstances.

But most of all, I want to take the liberty of thanking you on behalf of your volunteers - it is wonderful when an organisation goes out of its way to thank people and really, whatever you do is going to be appreciated!!

I volunteered a lot until we moved. I really appreciated someone saying thank you for my hard work or that I made a difference once in a while. Maybe a card. That is really enough. I hate fundraising myself and would prefer the money to be spent on the group I'm volunteering for. Buy presents for a couple of needy kids instead of treating me to dinner, or take the seniors to the movies or bring in a magician, or buy board games families can use at home etc. This year do something covid friendly for the group you serve. I would graciously accept whatever you do but there are so many people hurting this year it seems like they could use the benefit more than I need it.

Perhaps you can ask here and at the scrapbooking board at 2 peas for donations of thank you cards (people always have scraps of paper they can make up into cards. I was room Mom for one of our children in grade one. At the end of the year they had a tea and I received a tea cup with a plant in it. That might be nice too for the young volunteers. Maybe re-purposed cups in Facebook marketplace. You can allso get a good deal on plants there or see if a nursery would donate some.

I'm another who doesn't want the gifts or the money spent on myself. I would 100 times over just want the money to go to the organization. I love the idea of donating any thank you gift back to the organization in the form of something for the charity. As a volunteer, all I want is for the leaders to be respectful of my time, to say thank you for my time. That's enough for me.

I'm the volunteer coordinator for a large arts organisation. Recognize them by name in newsletters or organisation-wide emails on a regular basis. Give a special shout-out to those who have gone above and beyond at any year-end event. As an added bonus to a person who relies on volunteers, recognizing them organisation-wide on a regular basis, encourages others to step up.

When life is normal, I spend a lot of time just talking to the volunteers, just making sure that they feel 'seen' and any social event that I organise is geared more towards community-building than appreciation (although, expressing thanks is an ongoing thing).

I too would prefer if the money that would be spent on an event, a meal or some other unneeded little thing would instead be spent on the organization itself and the people they help.

My volunteering in the recent past is limited to school PTA events and activities. They typically do a volunteer breakfast at the end of the year and they give the volunteers a little packet of printed note cards (blank inside) with designs on the fronts made by the school kids. A couple years ago I didn’t go and my kid got upset because I didn’t go and “be appreciated” LOL.

A simple heartfelt thank you note is really all that’s needed for me, honestly. I would prefer to have whatever would be spent on me as a thank you could be redirected back to the organization in some way that I have the option of choosing.

For my personal example, I would rather have the PTA give me options for donating the money they would have spent on the breakfast and printing the notecards and instead let me vote to choose to:
1) buy additional books or materials for the school library,
2) invest in more rolling media carts that all the teachers use for certain assignments (Lego, KNex, publishing/writer’s workshop, BeeBots for coding, art materials, etc.),
3) playground or additional equipment for gym classes,
4) new student art supplies for art classes,
5) supplies for science experiments,
6) pay off student lunch accounts that may be in arrears, etc.

Maybe then tally up all the votes and allocate the percentage of the money that would have been spent for recognizing those volunteers’ to the program of that group’s choice.

I like the recognition in a newsletter.

Our historical park where I volunteer has a brick sidewalk and with XXX number of hours a person's name is put on a brick in the sidewalk.
It is nice to see my name there.

I got a framed certificate with my photo 3 years in a row..........Got a restaurant coupon.

What I did NOT like......One library director had the volunteers bring a dish so we could have a covered dish lunch to say thanks for volunteering. Still not sure how she thought that honored us.

I have a team of 40 volunteers and I send notes in the mail to say thanks and let them know they are appreciated.