8 Tips for Writing the Perfect Thank You Note

From the HandsOn Network Blog

You’ve thanked the volunteers that serve with your organization, right? Thanking them when they’re serving is important, but it’s also important to show them that their service is important even when they’re not serving. A thank you note sent to a volunteer at their home is a great reminder that they’re an important part of the organization. Here are eight tips for writing personal thank you notes to your volunteers:

1) Focus on the volunteer.

Before you write the thank you note, try writing the volunteer’s address on the envelope and write it out by hand. As you’re writing their address, think about your relationship to the volunteer; think about where they’re living and how they’re serving. It will help you to write an individual message for that volunteer

2) Write the note by hand.

Unless the number of volunteers your organization has makes writing a thank you note by hand unfeasible, take the extra time to write the note out by hand. A hand written note will mean more to your volunteers and shows that you’ve taken the time to focus on each volunteer specifically.

3) Talk about the volunteer’s service directly.

When you’re thanking your volunteer for their service, include a note about something that the volunteer has done. Whether it’s figuring out a new way to do something, making sure that the people they work with are always smiling, or being the only one that can figure out how to make the copier stop squeaking, be sure to draw attention to it.

4) Talk about how the volunteer’s service is changing or improving the organization

If the new way of doing something improves the office work flow, tell the volunteer how many hours the improvement saves over the course of a year. If the volunteer helps to buoy everyone’s spirits, tell the volunteer how their presence makes everyone’s day a little easier to get through.

5) Try writing a draft before writing out a thank you card.

Your writing will get a little bit better with each draft. You can keep an early version of the thank you note in the volunteer’s file where it can serve as a reminder of the great work they’ve done for your organization.

6) Keep it simple.

Your thank you note doesn’t have to be a complicated and involved. It doesn’t have to be a Presidential address. It can be two or three lines, simply written that come from the heart. Pretty words are great when you’re trying to charm someone, but meaningful words are more important when you’re trying to thank them.

7) Think of how your organization can serve the volunteer better.

If there is something that your organization can do to make the volunteer’s work easier to do, mention that you’re trying to make those things happen. Whether it’s a brighter desk lamp, more thorough trainings, or simply involving the volunteers more in the day-to-day operation of your organization, let the volunteers know that you’re willing to support them and the work that they do as much as they support you and your organization.

8) Write a lot of thank you notes.

If you’re not used to writing thank you notes to your volunteers, write a lot of them. It will get easier, and you’ll get better at it. Remember, you can never say thank you too many times.

What are some of the ways that you’ve said thank you to the volunteers you work with? Let us know about the awesome ways of showing your volunteers that you appreciate them – whether it’s high fives in the hallways or winter wellness kits full of tissues and vitamin c. Let us know in the comments!

A Proof-Reader Looking for Something to Read

A wonderful volunteer contacted us looking for a specific opportunity. She has an eye for editing and would love to proof-read any of your marketing materials, press releases, etc. Her only request is the material be emailed to her since she doesn't have a lot of extra cash for gas. Please email Melissa if you would like to connect with this volunteer.

Money for Good Study: Sharing Information About Your Org’s Results Can Attract More Donors

From Beth Kanter's Blog

GuideStar and Hope Consulting have released the results of new study, Money for Good II (MFGII).

The findings suggest that if nonprofits are more transparent in sharing information about their results online that they could attract more donors. The research found that two-thirds of individuals do not typically research the organizations they donate to compared those that advise donors and foundation grant-makers do due dilligence on every dollar they contribute. Despite these different approaches – giving from the heart versus the head – both groups want a broad range of information on the nonprofits’ impact, financials, anad legitimacy.

The study also states that donors want to be able to obtain this information from third-party portals and 53 percent of donors survyed want to use such sites. There is a high demand for data that shows how the nonprofit has been effective and made an impact. The research also suggests that if donors had better information to make their decisions and 5% used it to donate to the most effective nonprofits, this could lead to shift of $15 billion in contributed income to be invested in high performing nonprofits.

The study states that these findings offer an opportunity for nonprofits to better connect with donors by providing more detailed information about their performance and it is also an opportunity to educate donors about the need to research before donating.

The study points out that nonprofits can increase their fundraising and improve operations through an intentional focus on measurement – that helps them determine impact, effectiveness, and efficiency. After financial information, individual donors want information about how nonprofits are getting their results. (See above).

Does your nonprofit have a measurement system in place so that you can communicate results to potential donors?

Important Update to the Partner Portal. ACTION REQUIRED!

HandsOn Connect is updating this month to improve functionality. As a part of the HandsOn training for this, we realized that there is confusion about what type of volunteer opportunity to post. As we promised in HandsOn Connect training, we will continue to teach you more as we learn more. We have updated our training manual to increase the clarity and hopefully improve your posting experience. The updated training materials are live right now in HandsOn Connect, in the Documents tab. For many of you, this means you need to login to your account and make a few changes to your active opportunities. We understand this is a hassle. We really appreciate your willingness to work with us in this new system. We also promise this extra effort will be worth it in the long run! This resource to the community becomes more popular with volunteers everyday.

The main issue we have encountered is the difference between occurrences and recurrences. Please see the edited definitions below for clarification.

A Few Tips to Optimize your "Searchability" on HandsOn Connect

Would you like to help volunteers find your organization on HandsOn Connect, HandsOn's new volunteer database? We have a few helpful tips that will ensure volunteers can find you based on interest and impact area.

1. Select Your Impact Area and Population Served. If you are the primary contact on our account, login and take a look at the My Organization tab. You will see drop down menus for both impact area and population served. If your organization would like to select more than one item from these lists, send what you would like selected to Melissa. Unfortunately, partners can only select one of each at this time. We hope that will change in the future.

2. Beef up your Organization Description. On top of ensuring volunteers know the population you serve and the impact area you work in, you can also add key works to your organizational description. This section is again under the My Organization tab. It is labeled Mission Statement in the Partner Portal but it is not labeled on the public site so you can put anything you want in there. Include common search words like literacy, environment, at risk youth, etc. This will help volunteers find you when they conduct basic searches on the database.

3. Make sure you have an active opportunity available for sign up. Like many of us, volunteers hate running into a dead end! Imagine finding an organization that fits your values and interests only for it to appear that the organization isn't currently seeking volunteers. Even if you do not have a specific need available, always have at least one general opportunity active. Remember the goal is to make it easy for volunteers to engage with you. Also, organizations who are not active on the database are sometimes hidden from searches. Don't miss out on meeting a great volunteer!

Kids of the World! Pledge it UP! Worth a 100,000 Toys!

Hey Kids! Pledge to volunteer and up to 100,000 toys will be donated through Toys for Tots!

 

Giving back during the holidays doesn't have to be complicated. Despite the hectic nature of the season, we have the perfect solution to engage the kids and teens in your life in meaningful service.

Turn the spirit of giving into action with the generationOn Holiday Gift Campaign. From Nov. 29 through Dec. 13, for each pledge made to volunteer during the holidays or in the new year, Hasbro will donate a toy to a child in need through Toys for Tots - up to 100,000 toys. 

Need ideas for projects? We've got you covered. Already have a volunteer activity planned in the new year? Great - you can pledge that, too. Each pledge to serve puts a toy in the hands of a child in need.  Double your giving and take action during the holidays at our website.

Strategies for Dealing with Unreliable Volunteers

Written by Shawn Kendrick, VolunteerHub.com

As much as we appreciate volunteers, there are always a few, however, that throw a wrench into our plans due to their unreliability. Managing Volunteers You know the ones.... The "over-scheduler" who calls at the last minute to let you know he has a conflict and won't be able to make it. Or the "amnesia victim" whose scheduled time just slipped her mind. The intentions may be good, but these unreliable helpers can really impact the effectiveness of your event or program. The question is how to deal with them. Again, the answer lies in treating volunteers similarly to the way you treat paid employees. There's very little research specific to handling troublesome volunteers, but there is a wealth of human resource data aimed at dealing with regular employees who may be problematic. This can serve as our guiding light in dealing with volunteers. When addressing problems such as unreliability, Dr. Joanne Sujansky, founder of the management consulting firm KeyGroup, suggests the following approach. (Note: where Dr. Sujansky refers to employees in her article, we modify it here to specify volunteers.)

Be specific - Don't exaggerate or make generalized statements statements like "you're never on time." Stick to exact accounts, such as "you've had to cancel the last two times you've been scheduled."

Focus on the requirements of the job - Be clear in explaining how the unreliability affects everyone. It's quite possible that your volunteers don't understand how integral their roles are. With some clarity, they may take matters more seriously.

Consider the needs of the volunteer - Always try to address the situation in the manner you think will get the best results from that volunteer. Keep in mind that some are straight shooters and would prefer you get to the point, while others may seem crushed to hear they aren't doing well. With this in mind, strongly consider how you are going to deliver the message.

Give timely feedback- Don't wait a long time to address a problem situation. Of course, if there is a highly emotional or stressful environment at the time of the poor performance, wait until it has subsided.

Make sure the volunteer understands - Don't ask a bunch of closed-ended questions. If you ask the volunteer if s/he understands, the answer is likely to be yes, whether your point came across or not. So, at the end of the discussion, it's a good idea to ask your volunteer to paraphrase what you just said. From there, you can see if s/he truly gets what you are saying.

Document - Always create a paper trail of your conversations, as well as the behaviors before and after them. The trick here is to be objective and document both good and bad. Many managers fall into the trap of only documenting problematic behavior.

As Dr. Sujansky points out, most people in positions of authority hesitate to confront individuals about poor performance. However, if you do, one of two things will probably happen:

1) the volunteer's track record will improve.

2) the individual will deselect himself/herself from your volunteer pool.

In the long run, either of these two outcomes is likely to result in a more dedicated, cohesive, and productive group of volunteers for your organization.