Best Practices

To help you thank your volunteers, we have also combined volunteer recognition ideas and best practices from Volunteer Canada and Envision.ca. Here is a list of best practices in volunteer recognition:

  • Make it a priority. Recognizing the work of volunteers is crucial for any organization that wants to retain their volunteers and attract newcomers. Designate someone in your organization to be responsible for ensuring ongoing recognition of volunteers takes place.
  • Do it often. Recognition of volunteers should happen on a year-round, frequent and informal basis – begin by saying “thank you” often!
  • Do it in different ways. Vary your recognition efforts from the informal thank you and spontaneous treats, to more formal events. Here are some examples:
    • Hold an awards presentation;
    • Invite a speaker to talk about how they have been affected by your volunteers;
    • Treat your volunteers to a performance by a stand-up comic, musician or an improvisational theatre group;
    • Say thanks by creating a slide show featuring photos from the past year of your volunteers in action;
    • Announce important milestones including the number of volunteer hours, lives touched, goals met, etc.
  • Be sincere. Make each occasion to recognize volunteers meaningful and an opportunity to reflect on the value volunteers bring to your organization.
  • Recognize the person, not the work. It’s best to phrase recognition to emphasize the contribution of the individual and not the end result. “You did a great job!” as opposed to “This is a great job!”
  • Make it appropriate to the achievement. For example, a paper certificate accompanied by a private thank you may be appropriate for a few months of service but a public dinner and engraved plaque may better suit 10 years of volunteerism.
  • Be consistent. Make sure whatever standards of recognition you establish can be consistently maintained by your organization in years to come. Holding a volunteer recognition dinner one year sets up expectation for future volunteers.
  • Be timely. Try to arrange recognition soon after an achievement has been reached – delaying until weeks or months later diminishes the value of your gratitude.
  • Make it unique. Getting to know each of your volunteers and their interests will help you learn how best to recognize each individual and make them feel special.

Every year at Volunteer Canada, we sell special NVW thank-you gifts to help you recognize your volunteers, available through our online store. Whether you are hosting an awards ceremony or party, or if you want to give a simple gift to say “thanks for all your hard work,” Volunteer Canada’s e-store has the perfect gift for your volunteers.

If you’re looking for downloadable items, including certificates of appreciation, web buttons and banners, campaign ideas, and templates for your National Volunteer Week promotional activities, please see our Campaign Kit.

How are you recognizing your volunteers? Share your stories and ideas on the Volunteer Canada Facebook page, and we’ll showcase some of the top ideas on this page.