Finding themes for recognition events for senior volunteers
Abstract
Recognition events such as annual banquets are held by many service organizations to reward those who participate in volunteer service. Finding new ways to make these events fun and meaningful each year can be a challenge. This effective practice provides ideas for themes for Senior Corps recognition events. Compiled from ideas shared on the NSSCTalk e-mail discussion list from February 2000 to April 2002.
Issue
Recognizing volunteers is an important part of program management, and incorporating a variety of events can add to the significance.
Action
Several ideas to create imaginative recognition events for senior volunteers were shared from February 2000 to May 2002 on the National Senior Service Corps (NSSCTalk) e-mail discussion list (hosted by the Corporation for National and Community Service). Proven approaches shared include ideas on themes. See also the effective practices on "Creating imaginative recognition events for senior volunteers" and "Going beyond annual banquets to recognize volunteers." Recognition ideas include:
Themes
- Cruise
Offer "traveling entertainment," including a magician who goes from table to table, balloon artists, and a traveling jazz combo. Set up tables of eight to ten, with buffet food service. Staff can go from table to table introducing themselves, and volunteers can have personal conversation. Entertainment cost was $300.
(Shared by Kelly Diana Perry, RSVP of Josephine County, rsvpjoco@internetcds.com) - Senior Prom
Encourage volunteers to wear gowns of the period, play music from that time, and set aside an area for dancing. The group sharing this idea used the 1940s as their time period. (Idea shared by Norma K. Koenig, Helping Hands Hawaii, nkoenig@helpinghandshawaii.org.) Another group had the related theme, "Fabulous Fifties," and the staff wore poodle skirts.
(Shared by Linda Hayes, linda@netscope.net) - Hawaiian Luau
Decorate with Hawaiian theme and suggest Hawaiian dress optional. Give out single potted flowers and pens. Have a Hawaiian group perform native dancing. Have children from a local middle school perform music as the guests arrive. (This idea could be adapted to share native traditions from a volunteer station in your area.)
(Shared by Leslie Garner, rsvp@aaaphx.org) - Country Jamboree
Use jars of jam as a table decoration and give one as a gift to each attendee. Use country-themed decorations and music.
(Shared by Marti Sowka, Portage County, RSVP Stevens Point, WI, rsvp@co.portage.wi.us) - Garden Theme
Place decorative birdhouses surrounded by ivy on the tables. For door prizes, give away gardening gloves, trowels, related items, and the birdhouses. For party favors, provide a large seed packet made of construction paper with a poem on the back about volunteerism. Inside the packet, put a FGP ballpoint pen, candy that is small like seeds, and a packet of real seeds.
(Shared by Crystal Pitts, CrystalP@SeniorOptions.org) - Reflection: Through the Looking Glass
Have a speaker on reflective journaling, provide special pen and paper to encourage an "on-the-spot" writing exercise. This theme encourages senior volunteers to record their history, something many would like to do. Encourage the flow of ideas using their volunteer experiences, old photographs, an old piece of clothing, an old recipe, or related ideas.
(Shared by Judy Cederhold, Central KY RSVP, Elizabethtown KY, ckrsvp@kvnet.org) - Happy Birthday
Good theme for a milestone, such as age of your program. Decorate with balloons, provide birthday cards made by children at many schools, and have a performance by a local choir (who finish with Happy Birthday).
(Shared by Susan, FGP of Portland, Maine, fgp@nlis.net) - Picture the Difference You Can Make
- Have a local store donate 8x10 photo frames with 5x7 matts; use them as table decorations, along with RSVP balloons and iridescent "grass."
- Print volunteer poems, put one in each frame, and ask a local shop to put tiny dried flowers between the matt and the glass. Use these as table decorations and as "prizes" for games and activities during the recognition event.
- In news releases and on large posters at the event, thank the retailers for their support of community volunteers. (The stores later stated that donating to the recognition event was the best advertising money they had spent all year.)
- Arrange with a local professional photographer to set up a backdrop and lights at the event, and to take a digital photo of every volunteer with the program camera at no cost. The digital photos are kept on file for ID cards, recognition spotlights, and related purposes. If any volunteer wanted print photographs, the photographer also took a professional picture of the volunteer and later delivered a packet that contained one 5x7, two 3x5, and four wallet size pictures at a cost of $9.00. The photographer charged the volunteers $9.00 per packet and gave RSVP an in-kind contribution for the difference. (Normal cost of those photos would have been $39.00.) The program was careful to document the value of the in-kind contribution by obtaining a copy of the standard price sheet. This was by far this group's most successful recognition event and was also the least expensive.
- International
Have a buffet dinner with foods from around the world, music from around the globe, and celebrate diversity of the members and community. (Idea shared by Kelly Perry Wessels, RSVP of Josephine County, Three Rivers Community Hospital, rsvpjoco@internetcds.com.) Borrow flags representing all nations from a local business or organization.
(Shared by Peggy Wallace, RSVP Director, Lauderdale Co., Florence AL, rsvplaud@mindspring.com)
Context
Annual recognition events held to honor Senior Corps volunteers, including RSVP, Senior Companion, and Foster Grandparents Programs.
Outcome
Senior Corps members who provided these ideas to the NSSCTalk e-mail discussion list reported satisfaction from volunteers who attended events using these approaches and ideas.
Posted On
May 7, 2002For More Information
Resources
NSSCTalk is an e-mail discussion group, created primarily for the participants in the National Senior Service Corps, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Anyone with related concerns, however, is invited to join in.
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To subscribe by e-mail, send a blank message to join-nssctalk@lists.etr.org.
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