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- Show Staff You Care (PDF)
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For the many hours association volunteers spend away from their families, friends and jobs
- not to mention the weekends in airplanes or hotel rooms - they deserve recognition.
Recognition is one of the most powerful means of:
- Thanking board members and other volunteers for their efforts
- Motivating members and staff to higher levels of achievement
- Giving a sense of belonging to something important
- Establishing your organization as a valuable entity
Of course volunteers gain recognition among their peers and even the public by
contributing to association publications, giving presentations at conferences, and serving
as a spokesperson for the association. Still all leaders should be formally recognized for
their service and contribution at some point before their volunteer commitment ends.
The award need not be elaborate or expensive but it should be appropriate and presented
with sincerity. Recognition may be as simple as providing a special ribbon for all
volunteer leaders to wear at the convention. Or, it might entail arranging upgraded
accommodations or special in-room amenities for those who travel to association meetings.
One association might provide volunteers with desk items (mugs and letter openers, for
example) carrying its logo while another might host a thank you reception and give
engraved plaques to volunteers.
Because many volunteers serve in order to make a contributing to their fellow members,
recognition of their efforts should take place in the presence of their peers, the
association's members. (Professional Practices in Association Management)
The most successful associations are the one that have programs in place to regularly
recognize those who give to or work for them.
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