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Does your organization have a Wish List?

July 29, 2008 By Sandy

A Wish List is a great tool for giving donors, volunteers, and prospects ideas about how they can help you.

You can include literally anything on a Wish List – I’ve seen refrigerators, vans, and forklifts!  I would suggest including a range of items from toilet paper and copy paper on the low end to whatever you need on the high end.

Be sure to include your Wish List in your newsletter, volunteer materials, and consider including it with Thank You letters.

Oh, and if you need volunteers for something specific, you can include that, too.  “Volunteer wanted to answer the phones each Wednesday morning” or “Volunteer needed to help with golf tournament goody bags”.  Just a thought!

Filed Under: General Fundraising, Volunteers

Get the volunteer/donor experience!

May 16, 2008 By Sandy

I spent most of today working on a Habitat house.  It was GREAT!  We got the house prepped for siding and apparently there’s a big group coming tomorrow to do that.  Everyone today was pleasant and cheerful, and even though the weather threatened rain the whole day, it was lots of fun.

I thought about the 10 or so folks who were there volunteering with me.  Some were retired, others were using a day off from work to be there.  How cool that people value the mission of Habitat so much that they were willing to be there all day working on that house?  Of course, from what I saw, the volunteers got lots of benefit from the experience.  Several of us learned a new skill and made new friends.  Some were hanging out with old friends (I could tell from the laughter and joking!).  In the end, we were all there to do something for someone else.

If you don’t volunteer for another organization, you need to.  Likewise, you need to be a donor to another organization.  These experiences will help you offer a better experience to your own donors and volunteers.

Filed Under: Donor Relations, General Fundraising, Volunteers Tagged With: , ,

How do you acknowledge and thank Volunteers?

February 28, 2008 By Sandy

Volunteers can make a big difference in your organization. Thanking them is a key ingredient in having happy, loyal volunteers. Here are some easy ways to do that:

  • Regularly tell them in person how much you appreciate them. It must be sincere.
  • Mail them a hand-written note telling them how much of an impact they are having.
  • List all your volunteers in your newsletter along with the total number of hours donated.
  • Order some special Volunteer pins and give them one.
  • Send them a letter at the end of each year letting them know how many hours they gave you.

National Volunteer Appreciation Week is April 27-May 3, 2008. Plan a special picnic or reception during that week for your Volunteers. Write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper saying how much you appreciate your Volunteers.

Just thank them regularly and from your heart!

Filed Under: Volunteers
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