Are you looking for ways to celebrate your volunteers throughout the year and during this year's National Celebration of Pro Bono? Thanks to our colleagues at Community Legal Services of Arizona for sharing this list of 50+ ways to thank your volunteers!
- Say thank you directly to the person in person (be specific about what you appreciate)
- Send an email message to the person (say what you appreciate and how it helped)
- Send a written note to the person
- Leave a phone message of appreciation for the person who helped
- Contact the person’s supervisor/employer and tell how the person contributed
- Recommend the person for an award that another group is offering
- Feed a person you want to thank (chocolate often is best)
- Offer to go get lunch (especially great when a colleague is very busy and stressed)
- Recommend the person to be a speaker or trainer
- Ask them to become a mentor for someone and say why you think they would be good at this
- Give the person an opportunity to build a relationship with a mentor
- Get the person’s name printed in a newspaper or magazine
- Give the person a break (whatever amount of time is possible)
- Remember their birthday
- Get a Judge to write the person a letter thanking them for what they did
- Recommend a great volunteer (best in a list of 3) when there’s a potential “paying customer”
- Offer free opportunities for training and developing skills
- Remember their family members’ names and ask about them (you can keep notes)
- Invite them to a special event
- Give an award from your organization
- Take lunch or a pizza party to the person and their colleagues
- Provide opportunities to build relationships by serving as co-counsel on a case
- Give the person your total undivided attention and your time and REALLY LISTEN to them
- Encourage a grateful client to send a thank you note or call to thank someone
- Give flowers
- Give a gift certificate or card (if possible, one that was donated)
- Value their unique schedule & time pressures by being flexible about scheduling
- Get back to a person who helped early on and let them know results obtained for the client
- Arrange opportunities to interact with Judges
- For a firm attorney, get their good work publicized in the firm’s newsletter or intranet
- Make a donation in their name to a cause that is important to them
- Recommend the person to serve on an important committee or task force that interests them
- Tell a colleague about what the person accomplished
- Tell the person’s mother/father/son/daughter/spouse about how they helped someone
- Be responsive. Give top priority to any request from someone who has helped you.
- Drop into the person’s office and surprise them with a small gift (chocolate is good)
- Take their photo and post it on a “thank you” board or online (with permission only!)
- Learn about an individual’s personal preferences to know how they like to be recognized
- Write a letter of commendation and submit it for a performance review or personnel file
- Know the name of their partner or assistant and refer to them by name
- Send special occasion cards for a milestone event or personal accomplishment in their life
- Take “time out” together for a quick stretch or refreshment during a long work challenge
- Ask the person their personal preferred way to communicate such as phone, email, snail, text
- Spell their name correctly. Always proof read twice to be sure their name is right.
- Find out if they prefer their given name, nick name, credentials, etc. & use what they prefer
- Report the person’s accomplishments to publications for their professional organization
- Find out what school they attended and submit an item for the alumni newsletter or website
- Send an electronic thank you card
- Save good news and let the person know they are the first person to hear it
- Refer to the person as an “expert” when introducing them in public
- Ask a legislator to draft a “citation” or recognition piece to recognize a person
- Have coffee, water or other preferred drink ready when the person arrives to help
- Call the day before to remind the person about an appointment, seminar, or meeting
- Send post cards or greeting cards or notes on holidays
- Send an annual THANK YOU at Thanksgiving!
- Give shirts that acknowledge volunteers, such as “I’m a volunteer with…”
- Give movie tickets to someone who loves movies
- Give a certificate for a neck massage
- Include the person’s name in an event program
- Let a volunteer say “no” sometimes with NO guilt
- Tell the person how what they did helped accomplish the organization’s mission
- Submit a volunteer to receive a token of recognition from someone influential/famous