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| Hey Everyone, I know we're a little late in the game with this one... Christmas really snuck up on us! Do you have any cool ideas for gift to give to our (large) group of volunteers this Christmas season? Our budget is limited to... well, dumb stuff, really. But I don't want to give anyone some dumb personalized piece of j*nk! Especially all the cool people that serve at our church. Can you help? Christiaan VandenHeuvel Pastor to Children |
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| The best gift that I ever gave my volunteers for Christmas was a stained glass ornament made at the local center for the mentally retared. I bought bunches of them for about $1.50 each. They were handmade and each was unique. I wrote a little note about how special, uniqe and beautiful each volunteer was, just like the ornament. I still receive comments about how much they liked the ornament. Hope this helps! Kymn Chapman Harrison Director of Ministries to Families with Children Bear Creek United Methodist Church |
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| We have a goofy little tradition we do every year, but the 250 volunteers we have just love it! We’re in the same boat; little budget, lots of folks to love. The “Christmas Cart” makes a little visit to each and every classroom at all hours of programming. We decorate it, put jingle bells or Christmas music playing as we go, load it up with carafes of hot water for cider and hot chocolate packets(candy canes and cinnamon sticks for stirrers), hot tea and coffee pots, along with Christmas goodies, and pay a visit to honor our much-loved team members. When the kids ask “Where’s ours?” we explain (without apology, I might add) that our teachers and helpers do so many wonderful things for them all year long, and this is a special treat just for them. The kids are starting to understand how to appreciate their leaders, and the leaders feel special. This year, we’re “splurging” and also giving them a little devotional planner that were an inexpensive find through www.CTA.com. For what it’s worth… Danise Danise L. McMillen Director of Children's Ministries Westwood Community Church |
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| We’re having a Christmas Banquet with a nice meal, music, story-telling, open mic and everyone receives a refrigerator magnet with our church name, children’s ministry name and the verse Matthew 18:9 “Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me.” with an image of a child smiling/running. I’ve walked around to each volunteer on the weekends before Christmas with trays of gourmet desserts for each one, and we also tell the kids this is for the grown-ups who are serving because they are so special. Karen Stefacek Vineyard Community Church |
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| We have done several things. - We’ve ordered mugs with our Children’s Ministry name “Bibleland” on them and fill them with candy.
- This year, we ordered Christmas cards with ornaments from CTS. I have my volunteer leaders write a personal message inside each card to their volunteer team and I do a little something extra for those volunteer leaders. (we got them pretty fast after we ordered)
- I have given out ornaments with a personal note
- I have ordered Christmas socks (for girls) camping/hiking socks (for the guys) (run about $1 each) and wrapped them around a rock and made a card that said “You Rock My Socks Off!” (I know it’s silly, but they liked it)
- We’ve had potlucks and given a blessing over the team(this is great if you have no budget or no time)
- You can always use those books titled “Ideas for Appreciating your Volunteers” or whatever that have the cute little messages that go along with candy or household items and mass produce it.
Hope those help. Always, if it is hand given or there is time for a hand written note, it doesn’t matter what it is, they will feel appreciated. Good luck. In Him, Bekah Stueckle |
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| I love all the great ideas! Over the years we have tried various gifts to honor our volunteers at Christmas, the past couple of years we have decided not to attempt to do anything out of the ordinary other than wishing our growing team a Merry Christmas in our weekly email. Anita Weldon Director of Discovery Island NorthRidge Church |
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| We believe in generously rewarding our volunteers, and try to do so consistently throughout the year. However, when it comes to Christmas gifts we have found that as more people receive them, the size of the gifts grow smaller – even becoming “tokens of appreciation” rather than powerful expressions of gratitude. This is particularly true in Children’s Ministry were we have the largest volunteer team in the church. We’ve also found that some smaller ministry teams within the church may give significantly more expensive gifts, creating inequities inside or outside the ministry. Therefore, as a rule for the entire church we refrain from giving gifts to our volunteers during the holidays. Instead, we use these holiday expressions for our volunteers: 1. Christmas cards to everyone in the ministry 2. Inside the Christmas card every ministry in the church gives a “free coffee” coupon that is redeemable at the coffee cart in our lobby. 3. Some ministries will host Christmas gatherings where every volunteer is invited This has made the dilemma of Christmas gifts (large ministry/small budget; small ministry/large budget) a non-issue at our church. Hope this helps, Eric |
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| What creative, great ideas you all have! We have done several things too (depending on budget) O last year we bought Christmas M&M's and put some in a small celephone bag with ribbon. We wrote a note that said Much love and Merry Christmas we appreciate you! O we have bought inexpensive picture frames and enclosed a note that said: Thank you for being the picture of Christ to our children. O Lifesavers - Merry Christmas and thanking for all the "lifes" you have touched. O candle sticks (inexpensive) wrapped with ribbon - Thank you for being a light to our children O We provided "brunch" last year for all the volunteers on Sunday morning. We had candy kisses and hugs with a note that said Merry christmas hugs and kisses for all you do to serve children. O Another idea a bon-fire and hayride for all the volunteers and their families (a church member who has a farm). We served s'mores and hot chocolate. We titled it S'more fun and fellowship for our fabulous team! O One year we covered a wall in the hallway leading to the children's area. We invited the congregation to write a special message to our children's team. We decorated it. We left it up until the end of January. It was really neat to read some of the notes. The volunteers loved it. O This year we have a big mailbox at our children's info counter. We have invited parents, etc. To write a special note to someone who has impacted their family that serves in children's. They put them in the box and the leadership will deliver them. Keep the ideas coming. This is great! Happy Thanksgiving! Grace and Peace, Bonnie |
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