Quick and easy ways to thank your association’s volunteers using videos

National Volunteer Week is a great opportunity to show gratitude for your association’s volunteers.

Here are some tips for creating simple volunteer thank you videos with big impact.

Volunteers. Where would your association be without them? They help your small staff do more to accomplish your organization’s mission.

By Michelle Schweitz, Marketing Manager, Community Brands

So, as we near National Volunteer Week (this year, it’s April 18-24), it’s a great time to think about how you can thank your members who volunteer for all they do to help. One great way to show volunteer appreciation is to create “thank you” videos. (It’s easier than you might think!)

Here are a few tips for creating simple volunteer thank you videos with big impact:

• Focus on gratitude.
  The whole point of these videos is to say thank you. Be sure to stay on track and avoid sliding in other messages. Keep your videos short and concise by writing out a few bullet points of what you want to say and then stick to them in the videos.
• Be sincere, not “perfect”.
  A thank you message doesn’t need to have a bunch of flowery words. Your videos will have more impact if you speak from the heart, talk the way you would talk one-on-one with a volunteer or small group of volunteers, and don’t worry about a flawless recording. Tell your volunteers how much you appreciate their help, what they’re helping your organization accomplish, and how much you enjoy working with them.
• Make it as personal as possible.
  People like to hear their names. So, call out key volunteers and groups of volunteers in your videos. Mention specific projects volunteers worked on and any special or fun things that might have happened during work on the project. If appropriate, include a picture or video of your volunteers at work and mention the specific impacts they made.
• Create more than one video.
  Since thank you videos are short and sweet, consider creating multiple videos to share throughout National Volunteer Week and beyond. You might even create a video after each major volunteer effort, such as your annual conference. These videos serve as a reminder to let volunteers know they’re appreciated, encourage them to continue their great work, and motivate other members to volunteer.
• Share your videos.
  Your thank you videos don’t do much good if no one sees them. Here are a few ways to get your volunteer thank you videos “out there” for all to see:
  • Share the videos in your online member community.
  • Add your videos to your association’s website home page.
  • Mention the videos and link to them within an article on your association’s blog that thanks your volunteers.
  • Post them on social media, and tag them with your association’s name and “volunteers”.

  We’d like to take a moment here at YourMembership to thank your volunteers that you submitted during our recent webinar, How to Make an Impact with a Virtual Volunteer Program:
  

  

   

  Learn more

  National Volunteer Week is a great opportunity to engage with your volunteers and thank them for helping your association do more. Get more helpful ideas on how to recruit and engage more volunteers for your small association: Read the article, 3 Ways to Recruit and Engage More Volunteers for Your Small Association.