Gift Programs

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Celebrate National Volunteer Week with Employee Recognition Awards!

Whether your organization depends on assistance from volunteers or your employees are encouraged to volunteer, National Volunteer Week (the second week of April), is the perfect time to provide rewards and recognition to volunteers. Encouraging employees to volunteer can give participants new experiences and new skills. Volunteers can also learn more about the needs within a community and feel good about the impact their company has within the community. With a little preparation, I have three ideas to help your organization celebrate National Volunteer Week while recognizing and rewarding those who participate.

Organize a Volunteer Awareness Campaign

With all of the benefits of volunteering, your employees may already be volunteers or could be interested in volunteering but are unsure where to start and what level of commitment is necessary. Last year, according toPresident Obama’s Proclamation released last week, more than sixty three million Americans volunteered their time and efforts. National Volunteer Week is a great time to identify people who are volunteering in the community and recognizing them. Your volunteer recognition awards will draw attention to what people are currently doing and these individuals can spread awareness so that others feel more comfortable volunteering.

In honor of National Volunteer Week, USA Today posted an article including number of websites that can help you find local volunteer opportunities. These websites will help you to create a list of volunteer opportunities that can be posted for employees both in common areas and on your recognition website. You should also consider posting information alongside these opportunities of the kinds of rewards and recognition given to employees who volunteer.

Schedule a Volunteer Day at a Local Organization

Some of the companies I help design volunteer recognition award programs for pick a different organization each year and schedule an event during National Volunteer Week. Employees can participate in the event and are normally given PTO and earn a recognition award for participating. From outdoor community clean-up efforts to preparing and serving food in a shelter, there are many different ways your company and its employees can get involved. At the end of your Volunteer Day, you can present a quick pick gift, such as a digital camera or watch, to employees or a wallet sized award card to celebrate the day and allow the recipients to pick the gift of choice.

Plan a Volunteer Recognition Ceremony

For many companies with volunteer programs, employees work throughout the year at the organizations they choose. It is important to recognize volunteers and their contributions during National Volunteer Week by planning a volunteer recognition ceremony. Your ceremony can be as informal or formal as what matches your organizational atmosphere and is a time for employees to be given public recognition along with volunteer recognition awards. Generally, recognition awards are given out based on the number of hours donated during the last year with the amount of the award increasing with the number of hours earned. For example, a person who donates five hours receives an award valued at twenty-five dollars and a person who earned ten hours receives a fifty dollar award and so on. Another way companies recognize volunteers is by running contests for employees who have donated the most hours, raised a over certain amount of money or participated in the most events such as charity runs and walks.

National Volunteer Week is the time to show employees how they can volunteer and that when they volunteer, it is appreciated and valued by the organization. Fast Company Magazine interviewed several organizations for National Volunteer Week and one retail company I felt had an excellent point. The retailer reported that it encourages employees to volunteer in order to learn project management skills and improve public speaking skills. They use the volunteer program to shape future managers of the organization. Not only can volunteering impact the community and your employees, it can impact your organization and its leaders. How will you celebrate National Volunteer Week?

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