Tried & True Volunteer Week Activities
Tried & True Volunteer Week Activities
Check out the following successful initiatives from Alberta’s Volunteer Centres. Click on the links to see detailed descriptions of activities.
One Day Special Events
Business Breakfast
Volunteer Open House
“Thank You” Plants
Volunteer Week Celebration
Appreciation Night
Pancake Breakfast
“Thank You” to Volunteers Advertising Campaign
Twooney Brunch
Week long Events
Volunteer Coffee Break
Volunteer Hand “Wall of Fame”
Points of Light Salute
Colouring Book
“Hands On” Banner
Volunteer Logo Contest
Pizza and Pool Party for Youth
Cheer Your Volunteer
Candy Gram Delivery
Captain Volunteer
Business Breakfast
Type of Activity: Salute to Local Merchants
Best suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• Great opportunity to give back to businesses that non-profit organizations and clubs rely on for support
• Work with the local agricultural society to organize a breakfast.
• Invite individual business owners, their spouses and staff to attend.
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Volunteer Open House
Type of Activity: Open house for all volunteers in the community
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• Volunteer Week organizing committee hosts an open house in a local school gymnasium or seniors centre.
• Coffee, juice and doughnuts are served. Door prizes are given away throughout the afternoon.
• School bands and local musicians could provide entertainment.
Activity Details:
• Host an open house at a mall or trade fair where local volunteer organizations can set up a display.
• Information about the various organizations can be given out to the public.
• Local businesses donate coffee and cake, which is served to people viewing the
• displays.
• Volunteer organizations put their volunteers’ names on a banner which on display at the open house.
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“Thank you” Plants
Type of Activity: A great way to thank non profits & VIP’s for their support
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• Send thank you plant arrangements to local non-profits, the Mayor, Councilors and other VIPs to thank then for supporting volunteers and volunteerism.
• Ask local greenhouses to provide plant arrangements at a discount.
• Have plant arrangements delivered by youth volunteers.
• This project connects agencies, volunteers and public dignitaries.
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Volunteer Week Celebration
Type of Activity: Coffee and Cake, Door Prizes
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• Local groups get together to hold a coffee and cake appreciation celebration at a
• community centre.
• Groups set up displays with pictures of their volunteers working at various projects in the community.
• Everyone in attendance receives a memento.
• Serve donated “Volunteer Week” cake to volunteers.
• Draw for donated door prizes
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Appreciation Night
Type of Activity: Banquet or Dessert/Coffee Evening
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• Celebrate the community’s volunteers by hosting an evening with special speakers, entertainment, prizes and a grand prize trip of a trip for 2 to Vitalize!
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Pancake Breakfast
Best Suited to: Large and small communities
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• Organizations that rely on volunteers put on a breakfast with a guest speaker.
• Offer door prizes, live entertainment, pony rides, a petting zoo, balloons, face
• painting, dancing.
• Door prizes and presentations are featured.
• Invitations are sent out to all community volunteers.
• The breakfast is funded by donations from the community.
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“Thank you” to Volunteers Ad Campaign
Type of Activity: Coordination of all agencies wishing to publicly thank their volunteers during Volunteer Week.
Best Suited to: Large and Small community
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details:
• The volunteer centre contacts local agencies to determine who is interested in purchasing an ad for Volunteer Week. The price of the ads is provided.
• A list of interested agencies is forwarded to the newspaper. Ads appear on the same page around the schedule of events for the week.
• Ask the newspaper to donate a portion of the advertising revenue back to the organizing committee to offset the cost of other Volunteer Week activities.
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Twooney Brunch
Type of Activity: Brunch
Best Suited to: Large & small communities
Duration of Activity: One Day Special Event
Activity Details
• Brunch is promoted throughout community in newspapers and church bulletins.
• Admission is $2.00 per person and advance tickets are available to agencies (6 tickets for $10.00)
• The Brunch menu includes pancakes, sausages, fresh fruit salad, juice, coffee and tea. Local grocers & meat packers donate much of the food
• Include some children’s activities - a story time and play dough table. Have door
• prizes, live entertainment, pony rides, a petting zoo, balloons, face painting, dancing
• A great venue to present Volunteer of the Year and Leaders of Tomorrow awards.
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Volunteer Coffee Break
Type of Activity: Coffee coupons are given to volunteers
Best Suited to: Large & Small communities
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• The Volunteer Centre arranges with several restaurants to provide free cups of
• coffee to volunteers during Volunteer Week.
• The Volunteer Centre makes up coffee coupons on inexpensive colored photocopy paper (probably 12 to a page) and run off as many as needed.
• Guidelines are established on how many coupons are given to an organization,
• depending on the size of their volunteer program.
• On request the coupons are distributed to any organization that uses volunteers.
• The organization gives coupons to their volunteers as a form of recognition. Each
• volunteer is given one coupon, valid any day during Volunteer Week.
• Each restaurant is sent a letter with the details, a copy of the coupon, and suggestions such as making sure their staff are informed, etc.
• Restaurants are given a balloon bouquet at the beginning of Volunteer Week signifying them as a Volunteer Coffee Break participant. The Volunteer Centre provides special Volunteer Week balloons which are filled with helium and made into bouquets compliments of a local store, then delivered to the restaurants by a volunteer. A small sign is attached to each bouquet indicating the occasion.
• A snap shot is taken of the restaurant staff with the balloon bouquet and sent with a thank you note after Volunteer Week.
• The restaurant is surveyed by telephone asking four questions:
1. How many coupons were handed in?
2. Did these customers purchase anything with their coffee?
3. Did you notice any new customers?
4. Would you like to participate next year?
This is a win/win for everyone. It is an easy and inexpensive project for the Volunteer
Centre to coordinate. Agencies love it as they can give their volunteers a thank you for no cost. Volunteers enjoy the free coffee and recognition, the restaurant enjoys being part of a great project, and has the opportunity to bring in new customers and make extra sales.
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Volunteer Hand of Fame Wall
Type of Activity: Visual Volunteer Recognition
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Volunteer Hands are traced and names are printed on them and then sent to the volunteer centre, which posts them on a Volunteer Hands of Fame Wall.
• Agencies and individuals submit names.
• The Wall could be posted during the entire Volunteer Week at a local mall.
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Point of Light Salutes
Type of Activity: Public Service Announcements for the Radio
Best Suited to: Large & small communities
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Collaborate with local radio station to produce “Point of Light” salutes, which are played as public service announcements throughout the year.
• The Point of Light theme is based on Randy Travis’s song by that name.
• Research and prepare a short biography on local community volunteers. The radio station records these and features a different volunteer each week.
• During the week a volunteer is featured they receive a computer generated certificate thanking them for being a point of light in the community.
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Colouring Book
Type of Activity: School orientated colouring book
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Produce a colouring book for Volunteer Week featuring various individuals and volunteer groups nominated for Citizen of the Year & Project of the Year.
• Provide a Master Copy to each of the elementary schools for interested teachers to photocopy for their classes. Make material available in both English and French.
• Recommend a volunteer to do the artwork for the colouring book
• Recognize outstanding volunteers, bring awareness of volunteering to students and their parents
• Coloured pictures can be used to decorate the hall for the Citizen of the Year reception. Bind copies into a booklet for delivery to featured volunteers.
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“Hands On” Banner
Type of Activity: Volunteers make a hand print on a huge canvas wall hanging
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Volunteers from agencies are recognized and asked to dab their hand in a variety of colored paints, then put their handprint on a sheet of canvas. This could be done at a community recognition event.
• The wall hanging could be displayed at a trade fair, recreation or cultural facility during Volunteer Week or any time after.
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Volunteer Logo Contest
Type of Activity: Media Involvement
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Run an insert in the newspaper with logos/clues/hints from different agencies/volunteers/known community events and ask participants to answer clues.
• The entry with the most correct answers can win a donated prized, cash, or lunch with the mayor.
• Most participants will already be volunteers in some capacity.
• Increase interest in community volunteerism and raise awareness of volunteer activities and organizations.
Sponsorship of the cost of the newspaper insert could be solicited from local businesses.
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Pizza & Pool Party for Youth
Type of Activity: A fun way to recognize and involve youth
Best suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Youth are recognized for their contributions to the community where they live, and may be nominated by teachers, church groups, or organizations.
• All youth qualifying for Leaders of Tomorrow awards program can be included.
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Cheer Your Volunteer
Type of Activity: Draw
Best Suited to: Small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Have community members submit their choice of volunteer to receive a prize.
• A draw is made from all the entries and the winner receives the prize.
• Coverage of this event and a summary of the winner’s volunteer work is promoted in the local media.
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“Candy Gram” Delivery
Type of Activity: A unique way to pay tribute to a special volunteer
Best Suited to: Large or small community
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• The “Candy-grams” (mints or chocolates) are wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbon.
• Each candy-gram has a personalized certificate attached. (The names were written in calligraphy.)
• Each candy-gram has a unique “quote” attached. The quotes are printed on bright colored paper.
• Presentations can take place at the volunteer’s home, workplace or organization.
• A minimal charge of $2.00 can be applied for candy-grams to be delivered. If agencies prefer to make their own presentation the cost of the candy-gram could be reduced to $1.00.
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Captain Volunteer
Type of Activity: Volunteer Recognition/Promotion
Best suited to: Large & Small communities
Duration of Activity: All Week
Activity Details:
• Agencies or individuals request a visit from Captain Volunteer for a small fee.
• Provide a form which includes the name of the volunteer and the person requesting the visit, preferred date, time and location of visit.
• A purple costumed Captain Volunteer makes his visits throughout Volunteer Week and presents volunteers with purple people pleasers (candy grams) accompanied with a song.
• Costs for this activity are minimal: the candy and costume materials can all be donated. The purple people pleasers have a card attached with the agency’s logo and slogan on the front and the sponsors (including Volunteer Alberta and the Wild Rose Foundation) on the back to give proper recognition.
• Captain Volunteer can be a volunteer or paid individual, but depending on what is planned you may need someone for the week - sometimes at odd hours. You may be able to schedule volunteers for a day or a half day, or reduce the number of days Captain Volunteer is available.
• Set a request deadline for approximately 3 days prior to Volunteer Week to allow time for scheduling. Scheduling is done on a first come, first served basis and by location to prevent Captain Volunteer from going back and forth across the city.
• If volunteers are missed, leave a card with the purple people pleaser indicating Captain Volunteer was there at the request of a particular person or agency to say thank you on their behalf.
• This activity is an excellent, cost effective way to recognize volunteers and promote volunteerism and can be done in a community of any size.
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