May 10th to 16th, 2010 is National Volunteer Week (NVW) – the largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia, and it provides an opportunity to highlight the role of volunteers in our communities and to say thank you to the more than 5 million Australians who volunteer.

Is YOUR Apple User Group doing anything to thank YOUR volunteers?

The National Volunteer Week website can provide your group with all the information needed to celebrate NVW.

The website also lists some ideas for the celebration of your volunteers during NVW, including:

• Hold a thank-you morning tea, an awards night or an information session
• Invite a speaker to talk about how they have been impacted by your organisation’s volunteers
• Create a thank-you slide show, with photographs of volunteers in action
• Organise a thank-you card signed by the president or all of the committee
• Personalise a certificate of appreciation
• Take a group photo of all current volunteers and hang it somewhere where everyone will see it, or post it to your website, or publish it in your newsletter.

Recognising your volunteers doesn’t have to involve spending a lot of money. There are many ways you can show them you appreciate them without having to spend a cent! There are another 101 Top Tips to Recognise Volunteers through out the year.

The NVW website also provides a number of free resources to help you promote NVW and for thanking your own volunteers, including graphics, invites, posters, and a customizable certificate of appreciation.

Apple’s Pages (part of iWork) and even Microsoft Office have templates for certificates and the Ultimate iLife & iWork Companion DVDs have elements and templates you can use as well.

Be sure to THANK and ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR Group’s Volunteers – for without them, where would your group be today?

A short list of people who you could consider acknowledging include those who;

• help setup your meetings
• help pack up your meetings
• prepare the tea and coffee
• give a presentation to your group
• offer a hint or tip at your meetings
• welcome newcomers and visitors to your meetings
• answer questions on your mailing list or in your forums
• sell your raffle tickets
• write articles for your newsletter or website
• are on your committee

is just always there to just help out when needed

And there are probably dozens of others who do something small or something major to help your club and its’ members. Also don’t forget that the members of your group may want to thank the Committee and President.

I’ve heard some groups say “Oh, we don’t like to publicly thank people, because we’re sure to forget someone.” Poppy-cock is all I can say to that. Yes, it does happen… I’ve been there done that myself! But there is nothing stopping you from doing another round of thanks later and include that person then.

Also, just because you’ve thanked a volunteer before, there is nothing stopping you from doing it again… and again… and again. But perhaps find a slightly different way of doing so each time 🙂

Other groups don’t know when is the best time to acknowledge their volunteers… well there is no set time but some ideas include;

• During your Annual General Meeting
• National Volunteer Week
• December 5th – International Volunteer Day
• At your Christmas/End of Year Party
• At your next meeting
• As soon as a project is completed
• ANY DARN TIME YOU LIKE 🙂