National Volunteer Week | Volunteer Appreciation Gifts

National Volunteer Week Ideas

National Volunteer Week

Click Here For More National Volunteer Week Products

Volunteers are valuable assets to every community. They respond to the needs of people locally, nationally and internationally. There are more than 60 million of them in the United States and the work they do is worth billions of dollars. For more than 30 years, National Volunteer Week has provided a time to celebrate these individuals and their important efforts.

Positive Promotions is here to help you show your volunteers how much you appreciate them. We invite you to use the ideas provided, along with our cost-effective and thoughtful gifts, to make your volunteer celebration extra special and memorable.


	Show Your Cards
	Treat your unpaid helpers to a good meal and some gifts during National Volunteer Week. As you organize the lunch or dinner, add “get two decks of playing cards” to your “to-do” list. Hold the event in a cafeteria or restaurant and, as volunteers enter, give each person a playing card from one of the decks. Have presents laid out on a table in the room. After everyone eats, give a short speech and begin picking cards from the second deck. Those who have matching cards can pick out a gift. Use “Volunteers: The Heart Of The Community” Photo Frames of Appreciation and “Volunteers: The Heart Of The Community” Portfolio With Lined Pads & Pens as some of the presents volunteers can choose from.


	April Showers
	Brighten up your facility with volunteers in mind. Using a spring-related theme, decorate the lobby and hallways. Purchase umbrellas and write “Volunteers: Showering Us With Your Care” on them with fabric paint. Open the umbrellas and hang them from the ceiling. Cut out large raindrop shapes on blue construction paper, write the names of volunteers on them, and attach them to the walls. Have large pots or bowls with packets from the Seed Assortment Pack in a common area for volunteers to grab. Also, during the week, pass out “Volunteers Make Lives Brighter” Lapel Pins to all of your volunteers.


	Inquiring Minds
	Get personal with volunteers before National Volunteer Week to find out more about who they are and what they like. Construct a questionnaire asking about food and color preferences, hobbies, pets and anything else you can think of to include. Have volunteers answer the questions and then return the form to you at least two weeks prior to volunteer week. Buy a special gift for each person based on the information you received. Give them their presents along with “Volunteers: The Heart of the Community” Greeting Cards or “Volunteers Plant the Seeds of Kindness” Greeting Cards/Bookmarks.


	Getting A-Head
	Reward your special volunteers with delicious desserts and tasty beverages at a special hat-themed extravaganza called “Hats Off To Volunteers!” Let volunteers know well in advance so they can start “dressing up” their hats. A week before the dessert party, pass out “Volunteers: The Heart of the Community” T-Shirts that all can wear in addition to their hats. Decorate the event area with items from the “Volunteers: The Heart Of The Community” Decoration Pack.


	All Aboard!
	Take volunteers to another era for your National Volunteer Week celebration with a nostalgic train theme. Use toy trains as centerpieces on the tables and get music from the 1940s to play in the background. Encourage volunteers to wear clothes from that time period. Create “train tickets” that they can use as passes to get in. Serve food when guests arrive and have a “Volunteers: The Heart of the Community” Ceramic Mug With Stationery Set at each place setting. Have gifts such as “Volunteers Go The Extra Mile” Roll-Up Travel Bags available on a table for volunteers to pick up.


	Earth Friend
	Volunteers make the world a better place for those they help directly, but they can do so for everyone by making conscientious choices. This National Volunteer Week, place an emphasis on doing one’s part to help clean up the planet. Arrange for a guest speaker (perhaps a local environmental science professor) to speak about the negative impact humans have on the environment and the things they can do to lessen that impact. At the end of the speech, give volunteers Garden Of Thanks Flower Planter Gift Sets to encourage them to plant a garden. Also pass out “A Garden Of Thanks” Eco-Friendly Bags.


	Sweet Dreams
	Treat volunteers to a relaxing evening gathering in their pajamas. Make the theme for the event “Our Volunteers Never Sleep On The Job.” Send out invitations requesting that they don their favorite sleepwear and bring their favorite stuffed animals, if they still have some. Provide games for people to play or have a classic movie ready with popcorn, hot cocoa and soda. Give each person in attendance a “Volunteers Are Shining Stars” Flashlight and a “Volunteers Share Their Time And Talents” Desktop/Travel Alarm Clock.


	Common Thread
	Use National Volunteer Week as a time to create a keepsake that will be cherished for years to come. Invite volunteers to set a couple hours aside to put their creativity to good use. Provide each person with a cloth square to decorate with fabric paints, markers or any other type of material you can think of that may work. Ask volunteers to put into art what volunteering means to them. After the activity is complete, sew all the squares together to make a quilt that can be hung in a special place at your facility. Give each fabric artist a “Volunteers: Thank You ‘Sew’ Much” Sewing Kit With Mirror along with a “Volunteers: Thanks For Taking The Time To Care” Gift Book.


	Word Search
	Send volunteers hunting for praise. Prior to National Volunteer Week, come up with a phrase of appreciation, such as “You make a difference every day!” On thick paper write the phrase out—one letter per page—and then cut out the letters. Write and cut out the phrase five times so there are five sets of letters. Tape letters up throughout the facility. On the day of the “hunt,” tell volunteers what the phrase is and have them go looking for the letters to spell it all out. When they find letters they need, they can pull them off and hold on to them. Give the first three people with all the letters that spell out the phrase “Volunteers: The Heart Of The Community” Gift Sets . Hand out “Volunteers Are Shining Stars” Star-Spinner Key Tags to all who participate.