I was wondering how you folks thank volunteers. As you know these family nights would not happen without our wonderful volunteers. Do you do something to recognize them? 2 nights ago we had our annual carnival and I have had 3 parents tell me they were put off by not recieving a thank you on the night in question and will think twice about volunteering next time. This causes me great concern as we barely had enough volunteers to cover each shift. Some even did not show or called in sick. Luckily we utilize the High School leadership class to fill in the gaps. One of the teachers and I also scheduled or Middle schoolers to make sure we had all stations covered. Honestly, we never would have pulled it off without those who showed up and those who were willing to cover additional shifts for no shows. I think it would be wonderful if we could have an appreciation dinner at the end of the year (not for profit). We would invite all families, but the volunteers and their family eat for free. What do you all think? Any other ideas?

I find that one of the simplist forms of thanking volunteers is a note card with a written message. It really shows that someone made the effort to recognize the time each volunteer gives.
Sometimes I have worked with the staff to have a volunteer appreciation luncheon or one year we did desserts. The teachers really liked the idea that they could say thank you to parents that really go out of their way for the school.
I have also worked with the teachers to have students create thank you notes or artwork. That was probably the most talked about by parents... they loved it.

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Our Middle School PTO has also used handwritten thank you notes mailed to the volunteer's home. It's personal and I feel, conveys our sincere appreciation for their help. In addition, we have also emailed the teachers and members a general thank you listing the names of volunteers who have helped at our latest event.[/FONT]

We send out thank you and a personalized thank you pen-- that says either Thank you-- you are appreciated- or Volunteers are like stars -- thank you for shinny so bright.

I always send one home-- this year I'm sending our a bag of chips with a personalized chip clip at says Thanks for sticking together.
It's the little things that count-- the pens were about 40 cents each -- not a lot when you think of all the hard work that went int each event.
We also have an appreciation breakfast at the end of the year for all the parents that volunteer throughout the year-- it's a nice tradition now.

I think the vast majority of parents who volunteer do so becasue they want to and do not need something 'special' other than a Thank You during the event. You may have just gotten some bad eggs - do not assume all parents are the same. I would rather fundraising money be used on the kids and for events rather than buying a cheep Thank You gift. Having a few officers walk up to me during an event and thank me personally for my time means much more to me, the gift is in the giving (volunteering).

Even though I do not volunteer in my children;s classroom for recognition, when I volunteer in the school hours on end, plan events, create bulletin, plan class parties, or whatever the countless volunteers do at our school, it is sure nice to get a thank you at lest occassionally. I have volunteered at my children's school for 7 years now, 2 years of which I have been the PTA President. Sometimes I get a thank you or job well done and sometimes I don't. I can tell you that at this moment I fele very unapprecaited and I will be cutting back drastically on my volunteering. I think it is very important to tahnk volunteers and make sure that they feel like they are appreciated and that their work is important. At our school I can see volunteerism is waning due to the lack of appreciation that the teachers give our volunteers. If you wouldlike to keep your volunteers, please give them a thank you. A written note is what I like best. It shows that they took the time to put pen and paper and thought together. I agree that a gift is not necessary, but thank yous are always necessary. You treat others the way you would like to be treated.