National Volunteer Week (April 21-27) is fast approaching! How will you celebrate the dedicated volunteers who give their time and energy to help your organization achieve its goals?

If you’re not sure, no worries! We’re here to help with our top three volunteer appreciation ideas!

Celebrate. If you get started now, you’ll have plenty of time to organize a celebration that makes your volunteers feel like a million bucks. It doesn’t have to be formal; the most important part is that it’s meaningful, well-thought-out, and filled with appreciation.

On a budget? (We know you are!) How about a simple, themed potluck with dishes brought in by the staff your volunteers serve? The theme could be related to your mission, or a special type of cuisine, or even focused on a meal of the day. At Baudville, we love a breakfast potluck—and we bet your volunteers will, too!

To add a special touch, and still keep mindful of your spending, we recommend a personalized award certificate given to each volunteer. They’ll have a memento of their service to proudly display, plus a lasting reminder of your appreciation at the same time.

A customer favorite is our You Make the Difference Certificate Bundle, which contains all of the components you need to create 50 finished certificates—folders and all!

When your celebration day comes (make sure it’s during National Volunteer Week, April 21-27!), call each volunteer up individually to present their certificate and give a heartfelt thanks.

Appreciate. If you have volunteers all over the state, country, or world, getting everyone together for a celebration might be a bit of a challenge. But that shouldn’t take the wind out of your sails! Baudville’s volunteer appreciation themes feature gifts and notecards that you can send to every volunteer far and wide. To make it easy for you, we organized all of our top volunteer appreciation gifts here. You can shop by theme, by price (we still haven’t forgotten your budget!), and by our hot, new products.

Don’t forget, you can also send free ePraise cards to all of your volunteers. We created several with National Volunteer Week precisely in mind, plus many more in your favorite themes!

Commemorate. Want to give your volunteers an appreciation gift that will last well beyond the week? Our new Team Shirts™ are your answer! We created hundreds upon hundreds of designs that are customizable with your text, logo, and/or message. Pick a favorite Baudville theme, an event type, or a smart saying and we’ll seamlessly integrate all of the custom details that you want.

You can build your shirts online quickly and easily, then you’re on your way to giving a volunteer appreciation gift they’ll wear with pride. (We can even make a completely custom shirt for you, if that’s what you need!)

Your volunteers will have a personal reminder of your appreciation every time they put on their shirts, plus, when they’re sporting their tees, they’re also spreading your organization’s message and getting your name some public attention. We call that a win-win around here!

The Ultimate. If you want to create an unforgettable volunteer appreciation moment, you could combine all three of our ideas. They’ll be fed, clothed, and loved: quite the trifecta of appreciation, wouldn’t you say?

--------------------------

Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for four years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 19 years. Before becoming a professional writer 12 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer! 

April is National Volunteer Month, and I encourage organizations to honor their volunteers during National Volunteer Week, April 15-21. I’ve been able to learn a lot about volunteer through my work with local non-profit organizations on their events and my personal volunteer work. After all, one of the best ways to learn about appreciation is to be appreciated!

If you’re looking for volunteer appreciation ideas, I recommend you grab a cup of coffee and watch our 10 minute Recognition TV webisode. I share popular themes for volunteers and volunteer appreciation event ideas you can use this year.

In the video, I also recommend a few free resources that will help your volunteer appreciation event planning go smoothly. You can download all these resources from our Recognition Resource Center or by clicking on the links below.

Volunteer Appreciation Ideas eBook



Employee Event Planning Check List



Award Presentation Guide

Are you a volunteer or do you recognize volunteers? Tell us what you do for National Volunteer Week!

 

---------------------------

Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.

I recently told you about an inspiring volunteer experience our creative team had at Kids’ Food Basket here in Grand Rapids. Buzz went around the office after we returned, and more teams were asking me how they could get involved, too.

A few weeks passed, and our day out in the wild was about to become a distant memory when we, a recognition company, ended up receiving a little recognition ourselves. Yes, to our surprise, a poster showed up at our front door decorated with thank you letters and photos from the kids who benefited. We proudly displayed our poster in a common area, and, as a result, our little mission (and KFB, more importantly) got even more exposure. Hooray!

We weren’t expecting a big thank you like this; but it sure made us feel great when we got it. Your volunteers are the same. They don’t freely give their time and enthusiasm because they secretly want a nice reward. They do it because they believe in your mission and the initiatives your organization wants to promote in your community.

Truly, these are some of the most important people you can have behind you. Which means it’s probably a good idea to surprise them every so often with your appreciation.

National Volunteer Week is just a few weeks away, April 15-21, 2012. You don’t want to be caught not holding the bag!

Let them know that their contributions make a difference with meaningful gifts from some of our most popular volunteer appreciation themes.

A Helping Hand
With bright, contemporary art and a message that acknowledges all that they do, our Helping Hand theme gifts are just what you need to express your appreciation.

Making a Difference
Featuring a classic story about how one person can make an impact, these theme gifts will inspire your volunteers and remind them that, no matter how small, their contributions really matter.

You Are Truly Appreciated
This theme says it all—simply and sincerely. You Are Truly Appreciated gifts are some of our bestsellers because they appeal to every audience: women, men, young, and old. Because who doesn’t want to feel truly appreciated?!

Volunteers Make a Difference
Coming soon… (seriously, just as soon as we can get all this cool stuff unpacked and on our inventory shelves) this brand new volunteer appreciation theme is designed specifically for volunteers! Check out this preview and then check back with us soon to order the real deal!

Want to see what else we have? Find a more volunteer appreciation themes, plus all kinds of tools and ideas here!

--------------------------

Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for three years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 18 years. Before becoming a professional writer 11 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer!

Since Volunteer Appreciation Week is in one month, I know there are lots of volunteer coordinators and leaders who are working on their volunteer appreciation plans. To help you out, I've lsited five great free volunteer appreciation resources you can use this spring:

1. Volunteer Appreciation Ideas eBook. We created this eBook at Baudville to generate great ideas and meaningful recognition for volunteers. It has 52 ideas for volunteer appreciation events, volunteer award, volunteer appreciation gifts, and low and no cost ideas. Download it for free from our Recognition Resource Center.

2. EnergizeInc.com Volunteer Appreciation Resource. Energize Inc.  is a great resource for volunteer coordinators and leaders. They have lots of ideas for volunteer awards, volunteers events, and volunteer gifts that will inspire your Volunteer Appreciation Week activities.

3. Volunteer Appreciation ecards. It’s not uncommon for volunteer coordinators to have little or no funds budgeted for volunteer appreciation. You can still let your volunteers know you value their contributions by sending them a free volunteer appreciation ecard. Choose from our vast selection of trendy cards and schedule cards to individuals or groups of volunteers.

4. Sample Volunteer Appreciation Certificate Titles. Certificates are a popular award and appreciation item for volunteers because they are so affordable. For volunteer appreciation ideas that you can use on a certificate, visit the Recognition Resource Center. We have several resources, including Sample Employee Recognition Award Certificate Titles and Volunteer Certificate Titles and Verses, that will make your certificate design easier.

5. Volunteer Appreciation Themes. A great appreciation event starts with a memorable theme. For volunteer appreciation theme ideas, browse our 100+ recognition themes, or read about our Top Ten Themes for National Volunteer Appreciation Week. Once you decide on a theme for your appreciation event, everything else will fall into place!

How do you celebrate Volunteer Appreciation Week? What are you favorite sources for volunteer appreciation ideas? Tell us here! 

---------------------

Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.

When is National Volunteer Week 2012 and how will you celebrate volunteers this year?

April is National Volunteer Month, and the week of April 15-21 is celebrated as National Volunteer Week. Organizations celebrate National Volunteer Week differently, and over the past few years I’ve been privileged to help some great non-profit organizations plan their volunteer appreciation events. The most important thing to remember when planning your volunteer appreciation event is to make it personal and meaningful to your volunteers.

Here are four ideas that have been a huge hit for National Volunteer Week:

1. Volunteer Appreciation Event. Many organizations host a small reception or luncheon to recognize their volunteers during National Volunteer Week. To make your event successful, use a theme to coordinate your gifts, decorations, and messaging. Visit the Recognition Resource Center to read the case study of a library that celebrated volunteer with an Essential Piece theme luncheon. Read the volunteer appreciation event case study.

Coordinate your National Volunteer Week gifts and events with a theme, like Helping Hand.
 

2. Volunteer Appreciation Awards. When you have all your volunteers together during National Volunteer Week, take advantage of the large audience to recognize their hard work. Present all volunteers with a certificate to thank them for their efforts, and present award trophies to individuals with an outstanding number of service hours. Get ideas for volunteer certificate titles and verses.

3. Mail a Volunteer Thank You Gift. It can be difficult – if not nearly impossible! – to get all your volunteers together at one time, but it’s still vital to recognize their contributions. You can do volunteer appreciation from afar by mailing a thank you card or small gift to your volunteers’ homes. Each year, I work with a local civic theatre on their National Volunteer Week gift which is mailed to 650 volunteers. This year, the theatre is sending volunteers a fun Thanks Sticky Note Booklet. The gift has an appreciation message all over it and can be used by volunteers of all ages!

Choose a practical gift that has an appreciation message for the biggest bang for your buck out of your volunteer appreciation gift.

4. Share Public Volunteer Appreciation. Let the whole world know about your awesome volunteers by shouting their praises! There are lots of free and low cost ways to appreciate volunteers:
- Write a press release about National Volunteer Week and how your organization is celebrating volunteers. 
- Send a letter to the editor about the difference your volunteers make in the community. 
- Mail letters to volunteers’ employers that express how grateful you are that their employee contributes time to your organization. 
- Design a social media campaign on your star volunteers. Each day during National Volunteer Week, spotlight a different volunteer on your blog, Twitter feed, and Facebook timeline.

Sharing the praises of your volunteers publically will let them know how much you appreciate them during National Volunteer Week!

---------------------

Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.