Volunteers are awesome! They give up their time and energy to make your club better, and that’s something to celebrate!
Celebrating the achievements and dedication of volunteers is not only a great way to build your club culture, it’s also a good promotion tool and will help attract new volunteers to your club.
Here’s some ideas to get you started:
- Smile, say hello and thank your volunteers in person regularly.
- A star profile - Include a profile of a volunteer in each edition of your club newsletter. This could be as simple as a Q&A or short testimonial from a fellow volunteer or your Volunteer Coordinator.
- Social media shout outs - Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are a great way to share on-the-spot updates. Spot a volunteer doing something awesome on match day? Share a photo with your online club community. Just make sure to get permission from the volunteer before sharing the picture.
- Volunteer awards - Hold a Volunteer Awards night, or include some awards for volunteers at your next Club Presentation event. Present special awards to recognise volunteers who have been with the club for 3, 5 or 10 years etc.
- Certificates - Create personalised appreciation certificates for your volunteers and present these certificates at your next club event.
- Volunteer thank you BBQ - Hold an exclusive BBQ just for club volunteers. Ask local businesses to donate supplies.
- Volunteer of the Month – Recognise a worthy volunteer each month and promote in your newsletter, on your website and social media pages.
- Provide volunteers with name badges, pins, shirts or caps.
- Volunteer discounts - Approach local businesses and your Club sponsors to offer discounts for your volunteers.
- A volunteer round - Schedule a round in your fixture which celebrates volunteers – think match-day announcements, prizes and heaps of opportunities for members to say thanks.
- Offer life membership to long serving volunteers
- Professional development opportunities - A great way to reward volunteers is to offer opportunities for them to upskill. Upskilling your volunteers benefits everyone! Think Responsible Service of Alcohol, First Aid courses and work experience opportunities.
- Offer small gifts - such as sports vouchers and iTunes vouchers.
- Publicly recognise - in a speech from a senior member of the Club. You may also wish to involve your local member of Parliament or Councillor to amplify the praise (this may also result in local media coverage).
- Free tickets – Provide free tickets to matches, special events and functions.
- Send cards – On birthdays, Christmas, get well cards etc to your volunteers.
- Name events or facilities after long-serving volunteers.
- Acknowledge efforts of volunteers during committee meetings
- Listing volunteers in Club Yearbook.
- Nominate for external awards eg. WA Community Cricket Awards
- At-match recognition – On screen, at functions, lap of honour.
- Farewell volunteers when they move away from the area or leave the Club.