Volunteer tasks

• Encourage volunteer group members to rotate tasks and responsibilities
• If a volunteer group is covering a large reserve surrounded by houses or a group of farms, rotate the work days and tasks so that everyone's patch is worked on
• Assist volunteers with writing funding applications
• Provide guidance to volunteers doing site assessments
• Provide guidance and enable volunteers to develop their own site rehabilitation strategies and feel a sense of ownership about their project
• Organise field trips, bus tours and site visits to encourage volunteers to see environmental volunteer work in other areas (the tours could be within your local government area or region or further away so that urban volunteers can meet rural volunteers)

Reminders and information

• Send reminders or ring volunteers about work days and training events coming up
• Write a regular newsletter to keep volunteers informed
• Include newsletter articles and photos about other volunteers in the program
• Put photos of volunteers at work on your website

Training

• Providing training
• Show duty of care by providing safety information and protective equipment

Surveys & appraisals

• Ring volunteers if you haven't seen them in a while "Are you still enjoying volunteering with us?"
  Volunteers will usually leave the program if they are not happy
  
• Hold discussion forums for volunteers to meet others, share feedback, experiences, concerns and questions
  
• Do volunteer appraisals and give feedback on volunteer performance and development of skills. See Evaluation (Volunteer Appraisals)

Recognition & Awards

• Use the personal touch - recognise volunteer efforts in person, express appreciation verbally, with a certificate or hand written or signed Christmas card
• Give rewards, when appropriate - examples include the loan of a tool kit after a certain amount of time, a discount at the local hardware store, a national parks pass, membership to another environmental organisation, discounts to attend paid training days and conferences
• Organise end of year Christmas parties - remember that people join environmental programs for social reasons, and this is a good opportunity to celebrate the efforts of the volunteers over the year
• Write a press release for National Volunteer Week or International Volunteer Day and publicise the achievements of your volunteers See Promoting the Program (Example Press Release)
• Regularly publicise the number of hours worked by the volunteers
• Publically recognise the volunteers' achievements using:

Ministerial launches and events Local, Regional and Metropolitan newspaper and radio Regional, State, Interstate and Cable television Websites Presentations at conferences and workshops

• Give awards or certificates of appreciation at the end of year Christmas party
  (There could be awards for each group or if there are many groups, rotate the awards each year so that everyone is acknowledged over a period of time)
• Nominate your program for environmental awards (Examples include Keep Australia Beautiful, Tidy Towns, Arbor Day, Landcare, Young Environment, Banksia Foundation and others)

See Promotion for other ideas on how to keep volunteers motivated