When was the last time you said “thank you” to your member volunteers? Your volunteers help your association get more done. That’s why it’s important to give thanks to your volunteers throughout the year. Thanking them for their time and effort helps to increase volunteer and member retention and improve your overall volunteer program.
Showing gratitude to your association’s volunteers goes beyond sending a generic thank you note. Volunteer appreciation is an ongoing activity that involves multiple touchpoints with volunteers.
Read our blog to discover the top ways to say “thank you” to ensure your volunteers feel happy and appreciated all year long.
How do you say thank you to volunteers?
Thanking your volunteers always starts with saying “thank you.” However, it’s about more than just that.
Expressing gratitude to your volunteers should be done in multiple ways – from heart-felt and personalized volunteer thank you notes to thanking volunteers publicly for their hard work. You should also consider providing tools that make volunteer work more efficient and effective for your members.
7 steps to take volunteer appreciation to the next level
Here are seven great ways to go beyond basic volunteer thank you letters to truly say thank you to your volunteers in meaningful ways:
1. Elevate your association’s volunteer thank you’s
Level up how you thank your volunteers throughout the year. Here’s how:
- Send personal thank you emails (or handwritten notes)
Go beyond sending a generic “thanks” email to all your volunteers by personalizing a message to each one. Recognize the value of each volunteer’s contribution by sending an email or handwritten note that’s specific about the role and/or impact that the volunteer made. - Pick up the phone
How often do people take the time to pick up the phone to say “thank you” these days? Yes, it takes time, especially when you have a large number of volunteers. But it can go a long way toward letting your volunteers know you truly appreciate their time. It can also be a great opportunity to get feedback (more on that later). - Give public shout outs
Publicly thank your volunteers in your member newsletter, via social media, on your website, and during events. Call out specific volunteers who have done exceptional work and thank your full pool of volunteers by listing how many hours they’ve donated and what they’ve helped your organization accomplish. These public kudos recognize your current volunteers and have the added benefit of encouraging others to join in.
2. Help your volunteer chapter leaders succeed
Your volunteer chapter leaders can always use a hand. Maybe their chapter is just starting out. Perhaps they have a chapter with a small membership that needs to grow. Or maybe they have their hands full with a large membership base. With the right tools, you can better serve them all.
For example, NetForum’s chapter portal functionality allows you to give your chapters easy-to-use tools helping them manage:
- Memberships and member rosters
- Events
- Committees
- Documents
- Membership reports
By giving your volunteer chapter leaders the necessary tools to increase and manage memberships, you can reduce their administrative burden, thereby giving them a more satisfying volunteer experience.
3. Provide a more connected committee volunteer experience
Committee volunteers are more likely to feel appreciated and volunteer again if they have a smooth experience from start to finish. By providing committee volunteers with a well-managed experience, you can help ensure your committee members work efficiently and effectively – ultimately showing that you appreciate their time and their talents.
When you use the NetForum committee management functionality, you can do the following:
- Manage and track committees, sub-committees, and task forces
- Track individual committee member participation, including the history of previous committee members and the dates they served
- Publish and distributing committee minutes and documents to keep committee members connected and informed
4. Make events easier for volunteers to manage
Many of your volunteer opportunities likely involve helping at your association’s events. And nothing can be more frustrating to volunteers than not having the tools they need to do their jobs well. Show your volunteers that you care by providing them with the necessary tools to make event management easier.
With NetForum AMS, you can leverage event and exhibit management tools to empower your volunteers and staff to more easily manage event details.
For example, you and your volunteers can:
- Easily track registration payments, cancellations, and refunds
- View room setup reports that include meeting times, room names, attendance numbers, and other details
- Create and track exhibitors’ booth locations, checklists, contract details, and special requests
Get more next-level tips for keeping your volunteers happy and engaged. Read the infographic.
5. Offer members targeted volunteer opportunities
ASAE found that 88% of members who had volunteered reported they were somewhat (31%) or very (57%) satisfied with their volunteer experience. They liked the opportunity to contribute and to create networks through volunteering. However, 31% of non-volunteers hadn’t volunteered simply because no one had asked them.
This points to an opportunity to deliver more satisfying member experiences by getting more members to volunteer. And with the right tools, you can.
When you choose to leverage membership engagement scoring functionality called A-Score you can identify valuable trends to engage more effectively with specific groups of members. For instance, NetForum A-Score™ can help you identify patterns of engagement among groups of member volunteers and then send them targeted and personalized communications to get them involved with specific volunteer opportunities that align with their interests and preferences.
Your member volunteers will appreciate being given the opportunity to serve in ways that interest them most.
Ready to learn more about how NetForum can advance your member engagement efforts with A-Score™? Read our free guide today!
6. Ask for feedback from volunteers
It’s good practice to ask your volunteers to provide feedback throughout the year. Also consider sending a short annual survey or asking for feedback in phone calls with your volunteers. This approach helps to reinforce the idea that you appreciate your volunteers’ work for your organization and are listening to them to make their experience with your organization even better.
Here are a few questions to ask your volunteers to gain valuable feedback:
- What is our organization doing well?
Prompt volunteers to think about their entire volunteer experience – from sign-up and orientation to training and support – and ask what aspects were the most helpful and enjoyable. - What are the most challenging/most rewarding aspects of volunteering?
Make sure your volunteers understand that by providing this type of candid feedback, they are helping your organization improve future volunteer opportunities. - What type(s) of volunteer opportunities would they like to do, but have never been asked?
Ask your volunteers if there are any types of opportunities that would interest them that they haven’t been invited to do yet.
7. Make thanking volunteers easier on your staff
When you have a lot of volunteers to thank, some of the approaches in this article might seem tough to fit into the schedule year-round. But there are a few things you can do to make it easier.
As your staff take time to thank your volunteers, here are three tips to reduce their workload:
- Spread out emails, notes, and phone calls throughout each week in between meetings and daily tasks.
- Ask multiple people in your organization, including board members, to help. Be sure to thank your board members for their service, too!
- Segment your volunteer list by the number of hours they’ve contributed or the impact they’ve made over the past year; devote more “thank you” time to those who have donated more.
