How National Volunteer Week is a Call to Action and Reason to Celebrate
National Volunteer Week is officially designated between the dates of April 15 and April 21st. This may seem quite some time away from now, but be careful not to let the holiday creep up on you. The opportunity to celebrate the act of volunteering as well as encourage more people to act in a charitable manner is one you do not want to miss. The following article details info on annual volunteering awards, events, ceremonies and the history of National Volunteer month. Review some great ideas to bring to your organization's holiday celebration. Just be sure to plan ahead, as some of these options take some time and considerable thought.
The act of volunteering is one of those tasks that often goes unnoticed and under appreciated. That is not to say that people don't generally feel thankful for those that volunteer their time and effort to just causes, organizations and programs, but it is not always obvious whether an individual is donating their time for free or getting paid to do what they do. No one, of course, is at fault for this, for the fact is true probably because in any type of business activity, that information is not only nobody else's business, but often times there is little opportunity to even come close to sharing these details. And while it is strongly agreed that any sort of apparent distinction between paid employees and volunteers is somewhat unnecessary to present to the general public, and/or customer database, there does seem to be an occasional time and place where the recognition of non-paid employees would prove extremely beneficial. For one, this information can be helpful in arousing customer trust if needed in certain industries, as the presence of courteous unpaid staff shows an interest in the company or organization in general that may be rather contagious. But perhaps the best reason for the use of volunteers to be exposed is the fact that they serve as a great example of individuals doing something for the primary concern of contributing to a good cause. And not only is that extremely admirable but it can be very inspiring. And since very few organizations would admit to having too many volunteers, the motivation of fresh, new bodies to dedicate their time to various programs and services is a justified need that our society currently has. Not to mention the very act of volunteering is rewarding to more than just the people or businesses served; it gives the person donating their time and efforts an unmatchable thrill of accomplishment and sense of self.
Authorities of the volunteer community also recognize this great ability of individual volunteers to demonstrate a much-needed example for the rest of our communities, country, and members of the world. They feel that celebrating a volunteer's individual efforts is so motivating, in fact, that they have decided to design the theme for this year's National Volunteer Week after that concept. The 2007 theme for this widely recognized holiday has been titled, "Inspire By Example", to commemorate the power of volunteers to inspire others to make a move to contribute to society in their own preferred way. This National Volunteer Week, which happens to be closing in quite quickly, will be recognized from April 15th through the 21st, during which participating organizations will show extra special appreciation toward their volunteers, host an array of related activities and, if past years are telling, will experience a great influx of enthusiastic new volunteers, ready to make their mark on the world.
The National Volunteer Week long holiday is a service of the Points of Light Foundation, Volunteer Center & National Network, a nonprofit that has been considered "America's Address For Volunteering". Additionally, it is this year officially sponsored by Target. According to a statement of the Points of Light official website, George W. Bush has proclaimed that the foundation as a whole "embodies America's spirit toward voluntarism and the good will of its citizens". The Volunteer holiday week has been around for quite a while. In 1974 President Richard Nixon set the creation of the celebration in stone, as he signed an executive order to recognize it nationally. Since this initial confirmation, each President afterward has followed suit in officially promoting the special week.
Many nonprofit organizations and volunteer promotion foundations will be celebrating the National Volunteer Week in their own unique ways, but the 15th-21st of this month is pretty much a universally understood call to action. While volunteering is obviously a practice that individuals are encouraged to try out on any day of the year they can possibly make time, the official designation of seven specific days to the cause is a tactic that will likely generate much more volunteer interest than on any given usual day. The reason for that being such that the actual labeling of the week as a volunteering week will serve as a sort of subconscious tool to getting individuals to really get out and do it for once, if only just for the fact that the holiday calls for it. It's kind of like a good excuse to do it now. Finally. Many people in America think about volunteering and even more actually look into it, planning to take the proper steps to do so, but unfortunately our daily life routines often become easy distractions. This is their opportunity to take action. And what's even better about this week is that they probably won't be the only new ones out there.
Among the various recognized national activities taking place during National Volunteer Week are a few worth taking special note of. Whether you run a nonprofit organization that utilizes volunteer help or you are an individual who currently volunteers or plans to in the future, here are a few traditional practices in light of the holiday week, and information on how to implement them, in case you'd like to participate in a couple.
Distribute the President's Volunteer Service Awards to Select Exceptional Volunteers
The President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) is a nationally recognized award sponsored by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation and given by certifying organizations to one or more of their special volunteers in an effort to express appreciation for extra hard work and dedication. The award is associated particularly with the National Volunteer Week, and this year, any organization that orders a total of 25 or more awards to give out will be entered into a drawing to win $500 toward the funding of their volunteer recognition event. Drawings will take place each week until the 14th. There are various criteria for becoming a Certified Organization, but anyone that qualifies can distribute these kind awards. To find out more information or to see if your organization qualifies for certification, go to http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/.
Nominate Your Exceptional Volunteers For An Award
The Points of Light Foundation also offers a few awards to recognize outstanding volunteer efforts. Consider using this National Volunteer Week holiday to nominate one or more of your most loyal volunteers. Below, are a few of the awards available:
National Family Volunteer Awards (NFVA)The NFVAs recognize families who come together for a good cause and dedicate their time and energy toward supporting it. The award takes into consideration the efforts of the group as demonstrated the previous year. Winners from 2005 include: The Barta Family, who began a program to distribute videos and DVDs to Pediatric Departments in hospitals; The Bernquist Family, who started Cell Phones For Soldiers, a program that uses money from recycling cell phones to pay for calling cards for troops overseas; and Tucson Electric Power, a company who has a Community Action Team devoted to organizing teamwork activities among their employees and their family members. Eligible groups for the National Family Volunteer Awards include Families, Businesses/Corporations, Nonprofit Agencies and Volunteer Centers who have shown outstanding progress and effort in the following general categories: Achievement, Community Needs, Innovation, Mobilization, Ongoing Involvement and Services and Supports. More information on this award and how to go about nominating your family volunteers can be found at: http://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/nfva/.
Daily Point of Light Award
This award is given on a week daily basis (Monday through Friday only) to a single volunteer in the country, or an organization, who demonstrates a firm commitment toward providing much needed services to the community. This particular award has certain criteria based around the President's Summit For America's Future (http://clinton3.nara.gov/WH/New/Summit/) and tends to focus primarily on actions that assist the children and youth of our American society. To nominate an individual or group, download the official nomination form at http://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/dpol/nominate.cfm, fill it out, and send it back to the following address:
AWARDSRecognition DepartmentPoints of Light Foundation1400 I Street, NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20005
Awards For Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs
These awards were created to honor businesses for efforts made to encourage and retain volunteer help from employees, retirees, or members of the community in general, and to commemorate the success of this agenda as it relates to their overall corporate vision and methods of operation as an organization, in relation to the practice of volunteering. Others can nominate businesses for the award, or they may apply on behalf of themselves. Winners will have the opportunity to attend the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, on July 16-18, 2007, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they will be presented with the official award in front of thousands of members of nonprofit agencies, relevant businesses and public sector representatives. The 2006 honorees include: Accenture, PNC Financial Services Group, The Timberland Company, UPS and Wells Fargo & Company. For more information and to download the official nomination form for the Awards For Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs, go to http://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/workplace/.
Recognize Your Prize Volunteers in Other Ways
Finally, if you have the time and capacity to put in a little extra effort to show appreciation for your volunteers, the Points of Light Foundation has a few great alternative suggestions on how to reward those who really went out of their way to help this year. Some of these ways include:
1) Selecting a "volunteer of the month" to be recognized throughout your organization and the community. After the winner is selected, you can designate some space in your newsletter to the announcement of the award, with the volunteer's name and a few details about what they have done to receive the honor. Additionally, you can reward each "volunteer of the month" with a bumper sticker and maybe even, perhaps, their photograph hung somewhere in your facility and/or on your website.
2) Do something special to show appreciation for the very first volunteer who signs up to help your organization during National Volunteer Week. This not only will serve as just one more incentive for people to start volunteering during this time, but will additionally, most likely make the transition into the volunteering world more comfortable, not to mention fun, for them. There are various things you can do to honor the first new volunteer; use your imagination while considering the capabilities and resources your organization has available. But this is a very excellent way to celebrate the holiday and encourage more people to join up. Above all, it shows the world what great people are behind your group and demonstrates a true caring and gratitude toward individuals who take the time to offer their assistance.
3) This Volunteer Week celebration method may be a little more difficult to implement, but if one can pull it off, it'd make the volunteers feel incredible while, again, serving as a great strategy to inspire more individuals to help out. The Points of Light Foundation suggests speaking to a local radio or television station and trying to get some time devoted to recognizing a different one of your volunteers each day of the National Volunteer Week holiday. It is obviously up to the particular media program's needs and listener interest when it comes to determining the format of the volunteer spotlight series, the length, and maybe even the specific content, but most likely the hosts of these shows are fairly laid back and welcome most anything you'd like to contribute to the show in terms of information discussed. They'll want to know the details of this before agreeing to run the series, however, in most cases, so be sure to prepare your pitch before you make the call to the station. You may be able to get the show's host to do a general interview with each volunteer, and in fact, this is probably the most likely scenario. This way the host still has control over the show and the listeners, who are used to hearing his or her voice, or in the case of television, seeing a certain show structure, will not get distracted or confused and turn their attention elsewhere. This is probably the ideal situation, though, because, these hosts have achieved credibility with their audience and if they are impressed with the volunteers, it is more likely that the audience will be as well. This is a great way to help further the goal of calling more volunteers to the community and helping to perpetuate the National Volunteer Week theme, "Inspire By Example". To look up the official websites and retrieve contact information for the most appropriate radio or TV station to solicit your volunteer spotlight series to, the Newslink website is an excellent resource. The site is a resource for all sorts of information on media networks of various mediums and the information you will need is broken down into simple categories such as State, City, Media Type and Type of News Source (such as talk show, entertainment, business publication, etc). You can get to this link by the following URL: http://www.newslink.org/
