Planning a Nonprofit Volunteer Appreciation Event: 4 Tips

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Your volunteers are the backbone of your nonprofit — they’re always there to help you power your mission. So how can you express gratitude for their passion and commitment? By planning an appreciation event in their honor!
While an appreciation event is a great way to show volunteer gratitude, planning the event has its challenges. Between preparing engaging event activities, managing an RSVP list, and creating a celebration that genuinely uplifts your volunteers, there’s a lot you need to do. But with the right team and enough preparation time, you can pull off your best volunteer appreciation event yet. When planning your volunteer appreciation event, you should:
And if your volunteer event goes well, consider making appreciation events a recurring part of your event calendar. Regular volunteer appreciation events can improve retention rates, connect them to your cause more deeply, and ensure volunteers stay involved with your mission.
Volunteer appreciation events also have the added benefit of raising awareness about your nonprofit. Not only will your volunteers feel valued, but you’ll also show the rest of your community the hard work they do to forward your mission. Let’s get started!
Planning a great event requires a great team. With more hands on deck, you can put effort into the details to make your appreciation event memorable.
What roles should each of your team members play? That’s easy — look to recruit:
Ideally, your team of planners should have some connection with your volunteers. Part of what has kept your volunteers engaged is their relationship with your staff. Tapping into those connections in the planning process can make it more meaningful. Be sure to invite your volunteer coordinators to the appreciation event too.
When you’re planning a fundraising event, you show your donors the impact their contributions create, helping them feel their donation made a difference.
Use the same approach for your volunteer appreciation event. Show and tell volunteers how their commitment and time make a difference. This helps volunteers feel appreciated and that their hard work was worth it. Measuring each volunteer’s impact makes every volunteer feel valued at your event, including:
Whatever you do, put impact at the center of your volunteer appreciation event. It’s the best way to showcase your volunteers’ work and make them feel essential to your mission.
Public recognition is among the best ways to make volunteers feel valued and important to your organization. Use the appreciation event to your advantage by recognizing attendees and sharing the event with your other supporters.
Here’s how you can recognize your volunteers before, during, and after your appreciation event:
Giving your volunteers public recognition makes them feel like an integral part of the community. They can also share their accomplishments with friends and family more easily. And who knows — you might even inspire more people to volunteer!
Although your volunteers don’t work with your organization for free perks, providing a token of appreciation can deepen their connections with your organization. And what better way to end your volunteer appreciation event than to surprise everyone with a gift?
But offering unique volunteer appreciation gifts can be tricky, especially if you have a limited budget. Consider these creative appreciation gifts:
However you decide to thank your volunteers, make your gift meaningful. A personal touch can help volunteers feel integral to your nonprofit. Even a handwritten thank you note specifying how each volunteer has made a difference will make each person feel appreciated. In short, it doesn’t have to be fancy as long as it comes from the heart!
Volunteer appreciation is essential to retain these dedicated supporters. By hosting a volunteer appreciation event, you’ll demonstrate your gratitude for their hard work while showing off the vast difference that they’ve made. Be sure to thank each volunteer individually during the event — connecting with everyone one-on-one can help forge stronger relationships. Good luck!
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