On several occasions, I have driven home from weekly programming or an event and thought, “Our volunteers are amazing!” or recounted to my husband the heroism of a volunteer going above and beyond. The problem is thinking on the awesomeness of volunteers and telling their stories behind closed doors doesn’t advance volunteer culture one bit!

You want your volunteers to recognize your community as a place where they are encouraged and appreciated. Your volunteers are incredible and you would never be able to complete your organization’s mission without them! It’s just that in the rush of making sure everyone has what they need, greeting families, and making programming happen, we can sometimes forget to say to volunteers what we most want them to hear: Thank you! You’re amazing! Lives are being changed because you volunteer!

Busy schedules and hectic programming times are what make it crucial to get volunteer appreciation and community building on the calendar! Here some ideas for how to get volunteer appreciation and community in your routine:

• Set a goal to verbally praise one volunteer every week. Watch for a story where you are awed by how a volunteer handles a situation, and tell them what you saw.
• Put aside a half hour each week where you write notes of thanks and encouragement to volunteers.
• Have your staff team wear t-shirts that say “We love our volunteers!” on a day you can call We Love Our Volunteers Day!
• Schedule an annual event where you appreciate volunteers and share stories of wins. At Parker Hill, we call this our Appreciation Bash. Every year we choose a different theme like a cruise, game show, or unique environment.
• Recruit others on your staff to join you in cheering on your volunteers. We saw special success in this when we asked members of our lead pastoral team to take one Sunday a month to stroll through the family ministries hallways and personally thank volunteers for serving.

Whatever you do, be intentional. And remember: what gets rewarded, gets repeated.