Idea Swap: Ways to Celebrate & Appreciate Our Volunteers

Editor's Notes

1. National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to shine a light on the people who tirelessly serve our associations. Volunteers represent a large portion of our organizations and keep our chapters thriving, making them critical to our ability to meet member needs and move our missions. We’d be lost without them. The question is, how do we authentically reward, recognize and support our chapter volunteers? To celebrate, we’ve compiled our favorite ways to show appreciation now or at any time of the year. In reality, we don’t need a month or week designated to thank our volunteers; instead, we should be showing our appreciation all year long. Hosted by Billhighway & Mariner Management.
2. Let’s Meet the Team – This webinar is brought to you by the fab partnership of Billhighway & Mariner Management!  @Billhighway – Chapter Management Solution. We increase ROI across your entire organization by providing technology tools to help chapters perform better; as well as delivering member engagement and component performance data to headquarters. @Peggy - Mariner – Let’s create the greatest possible value for your members and volunteers! Our Shared Purpose​ To build community the component relations community and connect CRPs. 
3. Registration link for April: https://www.billhighway.co/component-events/the-webinar-you-need-to-get-your-leaders-onboard-with-new-tech/
4. Volunteers: You can’t talk about what an association does without talking about who’s making it happen. We invest heavily – but how do we authentically reward, recognize and support our chapter volunteers?
5. Mark Your Calendars! National Volunteer Week is April 17th through April 23rd. Don’t let it sneak up on you!
6. @Peggy – we’re going to practice on of the ideas we’re talking about – giving volunteers random love with social shoutouts. We’re going to curate a list of names to give a shout out we’re going to practice one of the ideas we’re talking about – giving volunteers random love with social shoutouts. We’re going to curate a list of names to give a shout out to on LinkedIn – so fire up chat … on LinkedIn – so fire up chat … How do you currently recognize your volunteers? How are you thanking your volunteers this year? Do you already have something on the calendar for #NVW?
7. In this idea swap, we’ll: Look at ways to personally thank volunteers How to show everyone some recognition How to offer up support (e.g., training, tech, resources, access to staff) How to craft memorable experiences!
8. Saying thank you in a personal manner
9. Thanking Volunteers Personally Create a funny eCard or GIF thank you email: Some fun ideas include creating a JibJab eCard with your own CRP or HQ staff faces, a gif via GIPHY Cam, or a simple meme using a tool like MemeCenter. Send these to your volunteers randomly throughout the day. (Thanks to Rachel Bell of VolunteerPro for this idea and 9 others!) 2. Send handwritten thank you notes: If you have lots of volunteers, spread the work around by having each staff member to write a couple of thank you notes or send to chapter leaders to send out. Automate the process using Handwrytten (a robot holds an actual pen). Need help writing the perfect note? Check out these resources: — How to Write the Perfect Volunteer Thank you — Words to Thank Volunteers — Volunteer Thank You Letter 3. Shout it from the rooftops! During this week, have your organization’s welcome message updated to say you appreciate your volunteers not only during this week, but throughout the year. Change your signature line for the week to show appreciation for your volunteers – just a way of letting everyone know how valuable they are. Here are some tagline options: — “We wouldn’t be where we are without you – Thank you!” — “Everyone thinks they have the best volunteers, but of course we do! Thank you!” 4. Put together a special gift: Create a gift basket or two with awesome prizes and do a drawing using the names of everyone who has volunteered over the past year or volunteered X hours. Including givaways for chapter-customized merchandise such as mugs, socks, journals, etc. Send eGift cards to Grub Hub, Amazon or to your association bookstore, B&N etc. Buy a cool Give an eco-friendly reusable shopping bag (check out BlueQ Bags) with a cool saying – maybe a catchy phrase about the profession or trade or one that toots the volunteer’s horn like “Be somebody, Do something” or “World’s Coolest Volunteer.” Get more inspiration at Zazzle.com. 5. Give free access to events/membership: Waive your annual conference membership fee or provide a complimentary registration. Raffle off a free year of membership or extend their membership for a month (or more). Provide first dibs on conference session sign-up. Create a certificate of appreciation. For chapters, offer coupons to use on chapter-themed swag.
10. JibJab example
11. Throw in the chat or raise your hand/unmute yourself to share From Jayne Tegge at SIOP - Would love to give an actual gift to our volunteers, but we have over 800 spread around the globe. What to do with this large and diverse number at a small cost?
12. Recognizing Everyone
13. Recognizing Everyone 6. Leverage The Power of Social: Create a social media campaign where chapters nominate local volunteers who are doing great things and promote at the national level. Post volunteer profiles and highlights throughout the week on social media with an end of week recap. Post a pic of your staff holding a TY sign using hashtags #NVW #VolunteerLove. Or create your own hashtag and feature [volunteer] posts on your social accounts. Be sure to tag your volunteers for a group shout-out! Create a gif/short video scroll that thanks your board & committee members. 7. Think Tech Tools: Create a virtual backdrop for Zoom/Teams for meetings to recognize chapter volunteers and use all week/month long. Grab a bunch of volunteer pictures in action from the past year (virtual conference, chapter events, etc.) and create a simple fun montage or gif to post and share via social/email. Implement a new tool like Bonusly to recognize and reward volunteers on a daily basis, encourage chapter leader peer-to-peer engagement, etc. Check out these 15 tools you can use to make this easy.  8. Up Your Communications: Write a blog post highlighting the results of the work of volunteers over the past year or create a series – like the Daily Point Light and post a story each day of the month or week. Create a Volunteer of the Month or “Local Heroes” section in your newsletter/magazine or a Volunteer Spotlight on your website. 9. Spice up your meetings: Create lapel pins or ribbons on name badges at upcoming meetings. Create a volunteer awards ceremony or annual volunteer appreciation lunch complete with awards. Dedicate a wall at your Annual Meeting as a “Wall of Honor” for volunteers. Have the CEO/ED/President recognize volunteers. 10. Messages to their Employer: Create video testimonials for them to share with the employer. Arrange an afternoon off to catch up on the holiday to-do’s … call the employer of a valuable volunteer and arrange for them to get a free pass at work (yes this can work!).
14. Throw in the chat or raise your hand/unmute yourself to share
15. Offering Support (e.g., training, tech, resources, access to staff)
16. Offering Support (e.g., training, tech, resources, access to staff) 11. Make those all-important personal phone calls: Use these to say TY and to find out what’s working for them and/or not working for them. Ask if there are ways you can make their job more efficient? Make these regular check-ins. If you have to pick and choose, call the volunteers you haven’t had much contact with. Ask staff to chip in. Have your board chair send a personal thank you – phone call (maybe a zoom conference call with staff), letter or email – to staff. 12. Don’t forget your staff: Spotlight a different staff liaison and their volunteer team each day in interoffice and external communications. Bring in lunch and have staff share effective practices. 13. Give your chapters tools to alleviate the administrative burden: Invest in a Chapter Management Solution like Billhighway; helps your volunteers by providing a tool that lifts the load and alleviates the administrative burden which keeps chapter leaders wanting to volunteer! Host quarterly webinars or chapter calls to answer questions. Check out these tech tools for chapters or Beth Z’s Big Book of Apps (or better yet, join us on April 19th to learn your Tech Psychology and see how to get your leaders using tech. Register here!) 14. Create a robust board source library. Establish monthly newsletters with ideas and chapter management tips, archive training webinars and monthly roundtables for on-demand viewing, provide online management resources to help with membership and create idea exchange sites for chapter leaders to bounce ideas off one another. 15. Level up your training resources: Offer a free registration to a professional development activity of their choice in the coming year (bonus points if you underwrite the travel!). Offer a month of LinkedIn Learning or MasterClass. Design an onboarding process with an overview of expectations, templates, chapter management tools, checklists, new officer guide and calendar. Turn volunteer jobs into mini educational experiences by baking in education, (e.g., at a board meeting, tie in a short 15-minute skill development session). Use these perks in your messaging about why to volunteer.
17. From Lori Byerly with American Rental Association - In 2021, ARA staff called all the our volunteers to thank them. Each staff member called around 10 volunteers. The calls were well received. Staff members who don't normally speak with our members where a bit apprehensive, but enjoyed speaking with them.
18. Crafting Experiences 16. Make it Personal: Send a picture of them in action in a fun cardstock photo easel (love this one from SendAFrame). Send a personal holiday card – through the mail (visit Poemsource for ideas.) Pay for their favorite celebrity to thank them on Cameo. Get each staff member (or other volunteers) to write something positive about the person on a piece of paper and give collected sayings in a box or frame (see 51 Ways To Reward Employees Without Money for more great ideas!) Prepare a short video montage that celebrates the volunteer’s accomplishments (check out Animoto to make this easy). Give a gift card to create their own art like Fracture. 17. Create Memorable Events: Offer a free drink coupon to use at your association’s next mixer or VIP tickets at a major event. Create a volunteer lounge at your annual meeting with coffee, water, free WiFi. Hold a virtual event such as a virtual lunch, happy hour, book club and send each participant a Grubhub (or equivalent) to buy lunch/wine/book beforehand. 18. Establish a new volunteer perk for the coming year such as reimbursing mileage or discounts on registration fees for volunteers. One of the Decision To Volunteer findings pointed to the cost of volunteering as one deterrent. 19. Reinforce purpose – the need to be part of something that improves our world and ourselves. Plan or initiate a community service project based on the needs of the chapter’s community/region. Ask your volunteers what matters to them. This is a biggy so feel free to store away for the future. 20. Listen … Listen … Listen. There is no worse turnoff for a volunteer, especially a newer one, than not having their ideas respected. We’ve seen it before – a new person comes in full of ideas only to be either shut down immediately or totally ignored. Remember, the sincerest recognition is putting our members’ ideas and work into action, letting their work generate outcomes. Recognition comes when volunteers see their efforts made a difference for the association. Do this all year long.
19. From Jayne Tegge at SIOP - Would love to give an actual gift to our volunteers, but we have over 800 spread around the globe. What to do with this large and diverse number at a small cost? Some of these things may not be possible this year but feel free to store them away when you have more time to plan. And of course, feel even freer to celebrate your volunteers all year long … there’s no rule you can only celebrate during #NVW week!
20. The Webinar You Need to Get Your Leaders Onboard with New Tech https://www.billhighway.co/component-events/the-webinar-you-need-to-get-your-leaders-onboard-with-new-tech/ When you discover a new tech tool, do you sign right up? Sit back and wait? Shake your head? More than 130,000 new apps hit mobile platforms every month, and thousands of new startups target us with ads…all promising to be the best tech you’ve ever used. And the subconscious way you approach new tech can greatly impact the way you can leverage today’s biggest advancements. Join Beth Z, Your Nerdy Best Friend, to discover your Technology Psychology. You’ll take a self-assessment to find out your Technology Psychology Persona to help you understand the benefits and limitations of your approach to new technology. You’ll also see the new tech world from other perspectives so you can understand why it’s so tough to get everyone on the same digital page when it comes to tech solutions.   JOIN BETH Z’S BRAND-NEW PROGRAM TO… Identify how you subconsciously approach new technology Gain insight into other views of technology to find common ground to be more productive Discover techniques that make new technology work better for you, no matter your Technology Psychology Leave with new tech tool ideas that you can use right away! MEET YOUR NEW NERDY BEST FRIEND… Beth Ziesenis: Author. Speaker. Nerd. Since her first Motorola RAZR flip phone, Beth has made a verb out of the word “nerd.” She’s here to help you filter through thousands of apps, gadgets, widgets and doodads to find the perfect free and bargain technology tools for work and home. Although the only real trophy she ever won was for making perfect French fries at McDonald’s in high school, Beth Z has been featured on Best Speaker lists by several organizations that write best speaker lists. She has written a whole shelf of books on apps and has spoken to more than 100 thousand audience members just like you. And if you’re puzzling over why she goes by “Beth Z”… it’s because she only finds about three people a year who can pronounce her last name.   Hosted by Billhighway, Mariner Management & Your Nerdy Best Friend  
21. https://www.billhighway.co/2022-chapter-performance-benchmarking-report/ https://bit.ly/chapterbenchmarking2022
22. Billhighway Software like Billhighway allows for a healthy balance of association visibility and chapter autonomy. You can see chapter performance data in real time—no nagging required. For example, with Billhighway, you can see the: Full financial picture of chapters Insight into member data Number of events chapters are hosting Types of events they’re hosting Percentage of members attending Percentage of non-members attending Mariner We are all about optimizing your local presence, whether it’s the traditional chapter or something else. We help you empower volunteers, improve the member experience, answer tough questions about components.
23. Any questions? Thank you! See you next month!