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National Volunteer Week is the annual celebration to acknowledge the generous contribution of our nation’s volunteers and was held on Monday 18 May – Sunday 24 May 2020.
In any ordinary year, thousands of events are held across the country during National Volunteer Week to say thank you to the 6 million Australians who volunteer their time.
At this uncertain time we feel that it is more important than ever to recognise and acknowledge Australia’s volunteers. We can do this with online activities and events, instead of in person ones. There are so many ways we can recognise and thank volunteers during a virtual National Volunteer Week. See our tips and ideas below.
Ideas for a virtual thank you event for volunteers
Thanks to technology you can hold a virtual thank you event for volunteers during National Volunteer Week. There are so many ideas for a virtual event from a simple coffee catch up to holding a dinner party. We have listed some ideas below to get you started:
- Coffee catch up
- Lunch or dinner party
- Awards ceremony
- Introduce your children, partner or pets
- Play a game online Eg: bingo, trivia or charades
- Hold a competition Eg: origami, lego or drawing
- Take part in an activity Eg: chair yoga, virtual museum tour, cooking, karaoke or talent contest
Online event tips
- Share a video and photos of your volunteers
- Share a slideshow presentation
- Invite a CEO or Board Member to speak
Platforms you could use:
- Zoom
- Google hangouts/meet
- Slack
Be sure to share a photo or video of your event using the hashtag #NVW2020 and tagging Volunteering Australia. We’d love to see how you are celebrating a virtual National Volunteer Week.
Other forms of recognition
Volunteer recognition isn’t just about events. There are so many ways we can recognise and thank volunteers during a virtual National Volunteer Week. Here are some ideas to recognise your volunteers:
- Gift
- Certificate
- Online Certificate
- Personalised email
- Thank you card/letter
- Phone call
- Record a thank you message
- Nominate a volunteer for an award
- Connect each staff member with a volunteer to recognise during the week in their own way
- Ask volunteers to send in selfie videos to share on social media
Ideas for how to keep volunteers engaged
It is also important during this time to keep your volunteers engaged and ensure they feel connected while they are away. Here are some ideas to keep you volunteers engaged:
- Regular online catch ups
- Email updates
- Text messages
- Social media posts
- Phone calls (especially for those without access to technology)
- Share a video message from CEO/Board Member
- Ask volunteers to complete a survey
- Live webinar
- Online training or skills development session
- Consider offering virtual volunteering
- Connect each staff member with a volunteer
Remember you can always ask your volunteers how they’d like you to keep in touch, every volunteer is different.
Private group on social media or online forum
If you don’t have one already, starting a private group on social media or an online forum is a great way to engage with your volunteers. It gives you a platform to share updates and is a great way for the volunteers to connect with each other. Here are some ideas of how you can engage with volunteers via a private group on social media:
- Share updates on what is happening during isolation
- Share thank you video messages
- Share statistics, facts and a timeline on what work has been achieved thanks to your volunteers
- Ask volunteers to share stories of their volunteering experience and colleagues
- Share a fun guessing game or competition. Eg: pet photos, baby photos, best recipe or best DIY project
- Weekly activity or challenge and ask them to post or send in photos and comments
- Ask volunteers to share ideas about how they are managing their wellbeing in isolation and share photos of what they have been up to. Eg: cooking, gardening, DIY, art and craft.
