April is known as a month of appreciation. Because both National Volunteer Week and Administrative Professional’s Week are scheduled in April, many organizations host appreciation events or do something special for their people. Volunteers and administrative professionals are crucial to a helping an organization achieve its goals, so it’s important to recognize them for their efforts. Here are six tips for volunteer and admin appreciation you can use this spring.
Express your appreciation for volunteers and administrative professionals this spring!
1. Create the right atmosphere for Administrative Professional Appreciation
Decorate the office for Administrative Professional’s Week. This small effort can go a long way to make your administrative professionals feel appreciated. Plus, it will draw attention from individuals outside your office and multiply the recognition!
2. Host a Volunteer Appreciation Event
Bring all your volunteers together for a special volunteer appreciation event. Invite the volunteers to gather for a small dessert reception or a lunch. Place a small gift at each place setting as a memento and table decoration.
3. Acknowledge all Office Professionals
All of the professionals in your office contribute to making things work smoothly. Include them in the Administrative Professionals Week celebration with a special gift or event during the week.
4. Reward your Volunteers
Thank your volunteers for their valuable contributions with a memorable gift during National Volunteer Week. You don’t have to spend a lot for your gift to make an impact! Award certificates, thank you notes, and food gifts are popular and affordable gift options. Personally deliver each volunteer appreciation gift to make the appreciation more meaningful.
5. Reduce Stress for Administrative Professionals
Host a stress relief break during Administrative Professional’s Week. Ask your staff to share ideas for reducing stress, review deep-breathing techniques, and provide hands-on tools to recharge and refresh. For a truly special treat, provide onsite massages!
6. Have Fun with Games
Games and contests of all kinds are great for relieving stress and building teamwork among your volunteers and administrative professionals. Plan an activity for each day during National Volunteer Week and Administrative Professional’s Week. Be sure to award prizes to the winners!
Quick Tips
Read these five favorite appreciation tips for volunteers and admins that you can use during National Volunteer Week and Administrative Professional’s Week.
1. Make your appreciation personal by writing a thank you note.
2. Host a luncheon or reception to celebrate their contributions.
3. Coordinate your appreciation events with a theme.
4. Give a gift to volunteers and administrative professionals.
5. Present an award, like a certificate or Character Pin.
Best Practices
Plan appreciation events for volunteers or administrative professionals with ease! Get a great tip from a fellow recognition practitioner to make your planning easier.
"After a couple of years of planning recognition events for my company, I developed my own event check list. It's a simple sheet detailing all the different steps of the process, including theme brainstorming, venue selection and entertainment. The items are in the chronological order I've discovered from doing lots of events. So it starts with venue selection and brainstorming and ends with clean up and paying the bills. You can't imagine how much easier this has made my planning for recognition events!"
Download the Baudville Employee Event Planning Checklist.
Articles
Recognition Holidays Dos and Don’ts
Employee Event Planning Checklist
Administrative Professionals Appreciation Gifts