The 5 Aspects of a Strong Volunteer Program
Building a volunteer program isn’t easy, but it may be simpler than you might think. There are five key aspects of a strong volunteer program:...
3 min read
Terri Thomason, Head of Business Development at Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM)
Jun 12, 2025 9:00:01 AM
For the past 41 years the first week of June has seen the UK host Volunteers’ Week. This is an opportunity for organisations and communities to thank all their volunteers for the invaluable contributions they make. At the Association of Volunteer Managers (AVM), we’re very aware that we wouldn’t exist without our volunteers so we marked the occasion by thanking them publicly and individually.
For some, preparing for Volunteers’ Week happens months in advance, something AVM supported this year when we ran a members-only online Volunteers’ Week 2025 Planning event, bringing members together to share their experiences and ideas around the week-long celebration. We held this at the beginning of March and have received feedback that it needs to be earlier, which we plan to do in 2026.
As you know, recognising volunteers isn’t a one-off thing. It’s something that is done multiple times and in a variety of ways. Sometimes it can feel hard to get right. Hard to not sound disingenuous, repetitive or impersonal. Hard to strike a balance between it being sufficient enough without blowing budgets. And sometimes it’s the small things that can take you by surprise.
In a previous life I worked at a heritage site in the visitor experience department. The Easter holidays, and especially the 4-day weekend, were usually the busiest and most demanding days of the year. One year in particular the weather was glorious, and people were queuing down the driveway before we’d even opened the gates at 10am. I don’t think that queue abated until 3pm (I might be exaggerating slightly but it was an exceptionally busy day!) and everyone, staff and volunteers, were rushed off their feet. We all got through the day, fairly unscathed and in good spirits. The following week I went to the site shop, bought some postcards and handwrote thank-you messages to those who had worked over that busy period. Nothing big or fancy, just me saying thank you for whatever it was they’d done - sell raffle tickets, manage the children’s craft activities, guard the chocolate Easter eggs. When I next saw them, I’d hand over the postcard and say a verbal thank you. Some of the reactions I received really surprised me. Whilst I thought “It’s just a postcard, probably not enough really,” people were genuinely thrilled and touched. To be individually recognised for their efforts, to know they were appreciated, to know I’d taken the time to do it, meant a lot.
I was reminded of this act at an event we did earlier this year on Rewarding and Recognising Volunteers, which had three speakers talking about this subject from different perspectives. A few things that came up:
Reward and recognition takes time, something we feel we have less and less of every day. And yet I reckon it doesn’t take as long to show my appreciation to a dedicated volunteer than it does recruiting and inducting a new one. And it doesn’t have to be extravagant. What I’ve learnt is that it’s the small, timely, personal acts of appreciation that can be the most powerful, without breaking the bank. Something I need to remember beyond Volunteers’ Week.
Building a volunteer program isn’t easy, but it may be simpler than you might think. There are five key aspects of a strong volunteer program:...
In a world where technology is intertwined into almost every aspect of our lives, volunteering is no exception. Technology has drastically changed...
The idea of micro-volunteering is gaining traction, and for good reason. Fewer people are willing or able to commit to a regular shift. They want the...