Community Volunteers, Volunteer Appreciation, and Creative Recruitment | Track It Forward

Community Volunteers, Volunteer Appreciation, and Creative Recruitment

Written by Jordan Galerkin

Icons representing community volunteers, volunteer appreciation, and volunteer recruitment


Recap for January 3rd - January 9th

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Facebook community this past week! 

Community Volunteers

Have you ever thought of volunteer recruitment as starting at home? If you live in a close community, whether it is an apartment complex, townhouse complex, or gated community, you may have volunteers living right next door. Our community members have offered ideas for how to conduct volunteer recruitment in your own backyard.

Facebook Group Post stating: Are you an apartment dweller? If so, this is a great place for you to recruit volunteers build, partnerships and educate the community about your organization. Over the last two years, I have co-hosted several events with the apartment complex I dwell in. In general, the leasing company allots a certain amount each month for community events, so the cost to my organization has been minimal. In light of the lack of interest most people have in hospice, these events encourage gentle conversation about hospice services. We have collaborated on events such as National Night Out, Vision Board parties, and holiday wreath making presentations. We also co-host a kids circle every Saturday that is open to the entire community. Kids circle is a two-hour event held each month, during which we play games, create arts and crafts projects and each child is gifted a book that has been donated by the community. Through this event, we introduce more people to our hospice services, which will change the narrative of the word hospice.

Comments from the group

  • "Over the last two years, I have co-hosted several events with the apartment complex I dwell in. In general, the leasing company allots a certain amount each month for community events, so the cost to my organization has been minimal"

  • "Our volunteers fill out a volunteer notes sheet, turn them in to me (or email encrypted) and I enter [them]"

  • "We also co-host a kids circle every Saturday that is open to the entire community…Through this event, we introduce more people to our hospice services, which will change the narrative of the word hospice"

Check out all of the Facebook comments here!

Unique Ways to Appreciate Volunteers

Volunteers make the world go ’round! At least, the world of nonprofits and service organizations. You’re always looking for new and unique ways to show appreciation, and our coordinator community is here to help! Plus, Track it Forward has some great articles on the subject as well.

Facebook Group Post stating: Hi all, I am looking to appreciate our volunteers in different ways this year. In previous years we did a appreciation banquet/meal and a logo swag gift(2020 was a travel mug, 2021 a tshirt). I was asked to shift the even last year from the spring(appreciation week) to the end of the year. 50 volunteers invited, 19 present. I understand The pandemic plays a part, but I am also hearing rumblings that volunteers don’t volunteer for “stuff” or recognition. I found out this am that my proposed budget for 2022 is $1100. I feel this is a bit high.. and may be lowered a bit. I don’t see spending that in a year between supplies, gifts, meals etc. That said, my initial thought was maybe a quarterly breakfast/lunch with staff, a pin recognizing years of service at 5, 10, 15 etc. I will obviously do something volunteer appreciation week. I considered a thank you for your year of service type certificate, or other “themed” certificates but haven’t decided yet. We already have volunteer of the month in place and they receive 2 social media posts recognizing them and a gift. Does anyone have any suggestions on things that can be done through the year to show appreciation to both volunteers who do and don’t necessarily want the recognition?

Comments and resources

  • "My initial thought was maybe a quarterly breakfast/lunch with staff, a pin recognizing years of service at 5, 10, 15 etc."

  • "We set up a gift table and let the volunteers pick out a gift they were interested in. Examples of items were your typical swag, such as logo T-shirts, water bottles etc…Other items were things like lunch with the Executive Director, lunch with the Board President…Those certificates were also extremely popular."

  • Article: Different Ways to Show Volunteer Appreciation During the Pandemic

Add your own thoughts here!

Creative Volunteer Recruitment

Nonprofit and service organizations always need new volunteers. Recently, a new member to our Facebook community asked for advice on volunteer recruitment and where to recruit. The coordinator community came together to offer some great ideas, and Track it Forward has some content on creative recruitment as well!

Facebook Group Post stating: New Member! Hi everyone, I’m a Volunteer Coordinator at a Hospice and I wanted advice on recruiting and reaching out to different places for volunteer growth. Any advice is very much appreciated. [smiley face with hearts emoji]

Comments from the group

Read more comments here!