How do you share your volunteer's success stories with your team and stakeholders?

1 Identify your audience

Before you start sharing your volunteer's success stories, you need to identify who you want to reach and what you want to achieve. Do you want to inspire your current volunteers, recruit new ones, thank your donors, or raise awareness about your cause? Depending on your audience, you may need to tailor your message, tone, and format to suit their preferences and needs.

2 Choose your format

There are many ways to share your volunteer's success stories, such as newsletters, social media, blogs, videos, podcasts, webinars, or events. The format you choose should depend on your audience, your goals, and your resources. For example, if you want to reach a large and diverse audience, social media may be a good option. If you want to provide more details and context, a blog or a newsletter may be more suitable. If you want to create an emotional connection, a video or a podcast may be more effective.

3 Collect and craft your stories

To collect and craft your stories, you need to ask your volunteers for their feedback and permission. You can use surveys, interviews, testimonials, or focus groups to gather their opinions, experiences, and insights. You can also use photos, videos, or quotes to illustrate their stories. When you craft your stories, you should focus on the benefits and outcomes of volunteering, not just the activities and tasks. You should also highlight the challenges and solutions, the personal growth and learning, and the impact and value of volunteering.

4 Distribute and promote your stories

Once you have your stories ready, you need to distribute and promote them to your audience. You can use your existing channels, such as your website, email list, social media accounts, or newsletters. You can also use external platforms, such as media outlets, partner organizations, or online communities. To promote your stories, you should use catchy headlines, engaging visuals, and clear calls to action. You should also encourage your audience to share, comment, or respond to your stories.

5 Evaluate and improve your stories

After you share your volunteer's success stories, you should evaluate and improve them based on the feedback and results you receive. You can use metrics, such as views, clicks, shares, likes, comments, or donations to measure the reach and engagement of your stories. You can also use qualitative methods, such as surveys, interviews, or testimonials to assess the satisfaction and impact of your stories. Based on your evaluation, you can improve your stories by making them more relevant, compelling, or diverse.

6 Recognize and reward your volunteers

Finally, you should recognize and reward your volunteers for their success stories and their contribution to your program. You can use different ways to show your appreciation, such as certificates, badges, gifts, vouchers, or events. You can also use public recognition, such as shout-outs, awards, or nominations. By recognizing and rewarding your volunteers, you can boost their morale, loyalty, and retention, and inspire them to share more stories in the future.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?