One year I had lunch for the volunteers at a local dinner and presented them with small gifts. I think it was a volunteer fannie pack and a little bitty notebook (it looked bigger in the catalog!). The next year I ordered fruit trays. I was going to have it at a local playground for those with little ones, it turned off cold so we had it in the cafeteria. I got fruit trays, veggie trays, and maybe a lunchmeat tray. It cost way more than the dinner and fewer people showed up. The gift that year was a pin holder and book mark, I think. Last year there was a potluck after a PTO meeting. The VP bought mugs at a local Dollar Store and put flowers in them and made cards with a cute saying.
I don't know how/if our school celebrates NVW, but at work for our volunteers we usually have our director write a letter of thanks and then it gets personalized with their name. We also have a small budget that we can order small items from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. that usually says that we appreciate our volunteers, sometimes we have been able to have fingerfoods or deserts for them. I'm not sure what we are doing this year.
With National Volunteer Week coming up I was wondering how other organizations thank their volunteers. I was thinking muffins/doughnuts and coffee before work in the morning. Maybe a drive thru type thing. But how do you decide how much to buy and how many will make the effort, extra.
