National Volunteer Week Archives

6 Jun 2017

Stephen Mally Charitable, Charities, National Volunteer Week, Volunteer, Volunteer organisations, Volunteer service, Volunteering Australia

National Volunteer Week – 8 May – a missed opportunity

What happened? National Volunteer Week was 8 May and was a missed opportunity. The week came and went and charities, volunteer service, and other organisations failed to recognise it and what it stands for – volunteer recognition. Not a single organisation I volunteer for mentioned it, sent any sort of eNewsletter, eMail, or any form of thank you. Did you hear about it or get recognised by an organisation you serve?

Weeks like these are developed as marketing campaigns to assist charitable and volunteer organisations. The campaigns not only recognise a special day or week but they encourage others to join in. They remind the general public the importance of, in this case, volunteer service to those in need. The campaigns offer an opportunity for your organisation to capitalise and to offer you an additional reason to reach out to and engage with your volunteers. Volunteering Australia offered a host of resources available on their Website.

Save the date of 21-27 May 2018. Volunteering Australia has moved the date for the next year in order to not clash with the federal budget. When planning for 2018, think about:

Volunteer recognition events.
Naming a volunteer of the year.
Recognising long service volunteers.
Thank you cards.
Thank you eMails.
Calling and simply saying thanks!

Volunteering Australia offers 101 ways to recognise your volunteers.

8 May 2017

Stephen Mally Community, Email, National Volunteer Week, Non-profit, Professional organisation, Volunteer, Volunteers

It’s National Volunteer Week – let’s celebrate the Australian volunteer!

There are weeks and months to recognise various charities and causes. Few activities we do are more important than celebrating our volunteers. It’s National Volunteer Week – let’s celebrate the Australian volunteer!

Most of us volunteer in one way, shape, or form for a non-profit, community, or professional organisation. Some put in enough hours to equate to a part-time staff position. But, are we always recognised for our service and do we feel valued?

There are countless ways in which we can show our gratitude to volunteers whether they work one shift a year or volunteer on a regular basis. What are you doing to recognise your non-profit organisation’s volunteers? Here are some quick and easy ideas:

Send a thank you eMail to every volunteer.
- Personalise the communications.
Segment an electronic communications to show real value and appreciation to those giving the most service.
- Recognise the top tier and the number of hours each has dedicated to your charitable organisation.
- Add a video naming the volunteer and thanking them for something in particular.
Send a thank you card signed by each member of your team.
Conduct a volunteer recognition social event.
- Honour a small set of volunteers who have gone above and beyond this last year.
Nominate a volunteer for a community award.
- Nominating someone will shed light on your non-profit organisation’s volunteer program and will encourage others to excel in their service.
- Fundraising Institute Australia recognises a volunteer of the year in each state, as well as nationally, each year.
Feature a volunteer in each issue of your eNewsletter.

We do not need to what until national volunteer week to show gratitude. Remind volunteers each day how valuable their volunteer service is to your organisation.

Simply saying thank you each time someone finishes a volunteer shift will make a big difference. And, it’s free!

23 Mar 2017

Stephen Mally Australian charitable organisations, Australian fundraisers, Campaigns, Charity, Fundraisers, Giving Tuesday, Include a Charity, Include a Charity Week, Marketing campaigns, National Volunteer Week, Non-profit, Pre-planned

Taking advantage of pre-planned marketing campaigns

What are your plans for National Volunteer Week? How about Include a Charity Week? And, finally, Giving Tuesday? Taking advantage of pre-planned marketing campaigns is an important step for Australian charitable organisations. But, many charities do not take advantage of these pre-planned campaigns. Why is that so?

Some Australian fundraisers say “Australians do not need to be ‘gimmicky’ the way Americans have that same need”. Others add these types of campaigns are “too American”. I think that is absurd. Organisations have put in a lot of work throughout the year to provide Australian non-profit organisations with a tool kit to execute when the time is right. Charities are forever complaining they lack time and resources. Why not take advantage of the pre-planned marketing campaigns? Why not at least test the campaigns? How do you know something will not work, is gimmicky, or too American, unless you give it a chance. Coming from an American, I would also add while Australia wants to be unique and develop things that are truly Australian. In this case, you are really reinventing the wheel or being penny-wise and und foolish!

Pre-planned marketing campaigns

These mentioned pre-planned marketing campaigns are taking place on the following dates:

National Volunteer Week: 8-14 May 2017.
Include a Charity Week: 11-17 September 2017.
Giving Tuesday: 28 November 2017.

It’s important non-profit organisations get on the bandwagon and take advantage of these, and other, marketing campaigns. Joining forces will mean non-profit organisations are successful together.

12 May 2015

Stephen Mally Charities, Charity, Donor care, Donor stewardship, Fundraising, National Volunteer Week, NFP, Non-profit, Stewardship, Volunteer appreciation, Volunteering, Volunteers

What have your volunteers done for you lately?

What have your volunteers done for you lately? Wrong question. What have you done for your volunteers lately?

It is National Volunteer Week in Australia. Every organisation needs to assess what it is doing to recognise volunteers and volunteers need to think about what organisations are doing to recognise the time they give to those organisations. Volunteering Australia gives us 101 Ways to Recognise Your Volunteers including 13 key ideas to celebrate National Volunteer Week

Give a certificate to commemorate anniversaries of involvement.
Take photos of volunteers ‘on the job’, imprint a ‘Thank you’ message and frame them – then give them to each volunteer.
Hold special ‘thank you’ or social functions in honour of volunteers.
For long-standing volunteers, collect coins in the amount of hours contributed, place them in a vase tied with a royal blue ribbon and present to them at a special afternoon tea.
Have a morning tea with testimonials to the volunteers from recipients of services.
Give them a mug with logo or ‘thank you’ motif.
Create bookmarks for the volunteers with an acknowledgement of appreciation for work contributed.
Hold a BBQ for your volunteers.
Run a Volunteers Breakfast.
Give a pat on the back: Trace your hand on plain paper and cut out. Write, ‘Here’s a pat on the back for _________________. Thanks for all you hard work.’ Invite staff or anyone else that has contact with the volunteers to make one in recognition of the service of particular volunteers. Hang them all together for visual impact.
Create Volunteer buttons and pins
Arrange discounts for your volunteers at local shops.
Celebrate formal recognition events such as International Volunteer Day and National Volunteer Week with dinners, teas, dessert buffets, etc.

Some might seem basic or a little hokey; however, at the end of the day, isn’t it about taking a minute to say thanks and trying to be creative enough that the volunteers accept your thanks with appreciation for being recognised. Too few organisations take the opportunity to say thank you. It might be too late to action many fo these ideas this week during National Volunteer Week. But, what about hand written thank you note or simply a personalised mass Email sent to volunteers with a big “THANK YOU”?