• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Smart Church Management

Smart Church Management

Helping Churches Manage Their People, Time And Money

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Training
    • Advertise With Us
    • Recommended Reading
  • Church Admin Training
    • Church Admin Training Login
  • Articles
    • Church Administration Tips
      • Church Performance Management
      • Church Communication
    • Church Volunteer Management
    • Church Human Resources
      • Church Member Experience
  • Job Desc & Forms
    • Church Forms
    • Policies and Procedures
    • Human Resource Forms
    • Employee Job Descriptions
    • Volunteer Forms
    • Volunteer Job Descriptions
  • Document Library
  • Login
  • Inspiration
    • Bible Verses For Anxiety
    • Bible Verses For Healing
    • Church Growth
    • Conflict Bible Verses
    • Don’t Quit
    • Generosity
    • Integrity
    • Leadership Quotes
    • Management Bible Verses
    • Bible Verses About Serving
    • Quotes To Encourage Progress
    • Wisdom Bible Verses

30 Ways To Show Volunteers Appreciation

March 2, 2021 by Patricia

Facebook8Pin480Tweet0

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Churches would not exist without the faithful contribution of their most valuable labor force – its volunteers.

Volunteers give of their time freely because of a passion for the ministry it serves.

Showing volunteer appreciation is an important aspect of effective volunteer management.

However, keeping volunteers engaged and motivated is what showing them appreciation is all about.

A well-managed volunteer program has systems in place to reward and recognize volunteers strategically and deliberately.

Because we all have different social styles, it’s important to keep the various perspectives and likes and dislikes in mind when creating a volunteer appreciation system.

A volunteer program requires financial support and needs to be funded by the church budget.

The church budget should designate dollars for volunteer appreciation. But, there are many no-cost ways of showing appreciation.

30 Ways to Show Appreciation to Your Volunteers

1. Personal thank you note from pastor.

2. Personal thank you note from volunteer supervisor.

3. Personal thank you note from volunteer office coordinator.

4. Preferred parking.

5. Birthday card.

6. Video story highlighting a volunteer.

7. Promote a faithful volunteer into a leadership role.

8. Allow a volunteer the opportunity to share best practices with other volunteers.

9. Feature a story about a volunteer on the church website.

10. Assign a strong volunteer to represent the church for a community event.

11. Assign a volunteer to be a community spokesperson.

12. Develop volunteer Sunday and use it to acknowledge all volunteers.

13. Reserved parking for volunteer-of-the-month.

14. Create volunteer appreciation committee and select a few volunteers to participate.

15. Make a public recognition of a volunteer at a church service.

16. Post a thank you note on the volunteer’s locker or work area before they arrive for their shift.

17. Create a photo wall in a hallway recognizing volunteer years of service.

18. Place a phone call from the volunteer office randomly thanking volunteers.

19. Share positive feedback you hear about a volunteer back to that volunteer.

20. Create traveling trophy that highlights volunteer commitments.

21. Arrange a photo with senior pastor.

22. Arrange a photo with volunteer team.

23. Write a volunteer appreciation poem.

24. Plan an annual volunteer appreciation dinner.

25. Develop volunteer-of-the-year award.

26. Plan a lunch with the senior pastor and his wife.

27. Take advantage of national volunteer appreciation week.  National volunteer appreciation week is usually the 2nd or 3rd week in April, so you have plenty of time to plan your volunteer appreciation for the week! This year it is April 18-24, 2021!

28. Host a volunteer appreciation day.

29. Develop volunteer-of-the-month program.

30. Send volunteers to specialized training (i.e., children’s ministry, emergency preparedness, food safety).

Distribute gifts to show volunteer appreciation.  

Gift Ideas For Volunteers

  • Mugs
  • Pens Logo Pins
  • Volunteer t-shirt
  • Logoed key ring
  • Baseball cap,
  • Jacket
  • Visor
  • A round of golf
  • Dinner gift certificate
  • A plaque for years of service,
  • Personalized Stationery

As with showing appreciation to employees, it is important to create a system and develop annual departmental and employee goals to ensure recognition is done.  

Also keep in mind the different social styles we all have and incorporate ideas that cover all different social styles.

For example, some people feel appreciated from simply words of affirmation, others likes tangible gifts and others enjoy spending time with leadership.

Keep these different preferences in mind so you can create an appreciation model that truly shows your gratitude for volunteer labor.

What types of things do you do to show appreciation for your volunteers?

Learn more about managing volunteers by registering for our Fundamentals of Church Administration Course. Bundle the course with our library of documents and job descriptions and save $25! Use coupon code newstudent25 to take $25 off the bundled training package!

church administration training
Access bundle here

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

Check Out Our Newest Book!

Smart Volunteer Management

SECOND EDITION is perfect for Business Administrators or Church Leaders who manage church volunteers. To access our book, click here.

Learn Church Administration Skills Quickly and Efficiently

Subscribe To Our Newsletter!

Join over 28,000+ subscribers and receive weekly tips to help you manage your church!

Popular Articles

Church Management

About Smart Church Management

smart church management recommended reading

Recommended Reading

contact smart church management

Contact

Are You A Church Leader?

Join 28,000+ subscribers and keep up to date on current church topics! Every week we post articles that provide helpful tips for managing the day-to-day operations of a church!
No charge. No spam. Only love. Don't worry you can unsubscribe anytime!.

Subscribe For Free
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Affiliate Disclaimer
SCM is dedicated to Church Management and Nonprofit Training by offering consulting services, online courses, and helpful articles to help churches and nonprofit organizations better manage the resources God has provided: people, time, and money.

© 2012–2023 · Smart Church Management · All Rights Reserved

Exclusive Member of Mediavine