Make It Personal
Volunteer appreciation is a term that gets thrown around a lot. You know you need to appreciate your volunteers, but some children’s leaders forget what it means. That’s what I want to address today.
Appreciating your volunteers is important, especially in younger generations like mine. We like to know that we’re really being helpful and doing good. It’s important to us in any area of life. There’s an issue though. In a lot of ministries, “volunteer appreciation” means a sheet of paper that says “You’re a lifesaver!” with a mint in the middle. The thought is appreciated, but it usually doesn’t mean much.
When was the last time you shot off a phone call or email to a volunteer just to say, “Thanks for changing the life of a child”? Better yet, when is the last time you took your volunteer to lunch just to say thank you? Make volunteer appreciation more than a cheesy candy gift. Make it something real- something a volunteer can walk away from and feel encouraged and cared for. Make it personal.
In addition; speaking from the heart of a volunteer…
Everyone, even we oldies, need validation. While we should not expect to be handled with velvet gloves, it is nice to be genuinely appreciated.
I guess I want to stress: make it genuine. Just remember, nobody likes to be patronized either:) Genuine feedback is neccessary so that we, as volunteers, are better equipped to assist staff.
Thanks for the reminder that it doesn’t take a lot to tell someone thanks! I just finished firing off a series of emails to thank some key leaders and got 3 quick responses saying how much they appreciated being appreciated!