National Friends of Public Broadcasting, along with America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), PBS and Protect My Public Media, will recognize the dedication and accomplishments of public media volunteers during National Volunteer Week, April 10-16, 2016.
Next week is set aside each year to honor and thank volunteers around the country for the time and energy they contribute to causes that benefit the community.
Public Media has a secret weapon that other media outlets wished they had - VOLUNTEERS! These volunteers are station board members, community advisory panel members, APTS Leadership Council members, Protect My Public Media advocates and other station volunteers.
They are our partners, they are our connection to the community, they tell our story on the Hill and at State Legislatures, they are our fundraisers, on-air hosts and most importantly they are our friends. They step up to the task – no challenge is too great. They make us proud and today’s the day to recognize them and make them feel proud that they are part of the public media family.
You may be celebrating your volunteers with a breakfast, lunch or dinner and we would like to honor and give special recognition to your volunteers as well.
So join us by highlighting the treasured volunteers at your station, starting this Sunday, April 10 and going all week, through Saturday, April 16.
PBS has created some images for you to use, which can be downloaded here. Here are some ways you can utilize these graphics and certificates to recognize public media volunteers:
- Download the Thank You certificate, insert the person’s name, your station name and logo, and present it to them from all of us.
- Take a photo of the volunteer holding one of the images and post it on your station’s website, Facebook or Twitter. Include #NationalVolunteerWeek when posting on social media.
- Post something on your station’s social media channels with the image to thank your volunteers.
- Share one of the images with your volunteers, encouraging them to share on their social media channels why they love to volunteer for your public media station.
- Create a place on your website for Share a Volunteer Story – invite your volunteers to tell their story – what makes them continue to do what they do for the station, how long have they been volunteering and what matters the most to them about public media. Radio volunteers are also important to stations, so please include them in the celebration.
National Friends, APTS, CPB, PBS and Protect My Public Media will use social media to create a groundswell of attention for our army of volunteers and supporters. Let’s make this effort go viral so our country knows how important volunteers are to our stations and community.
Is there a public media celebrity at your station that would post on social media about how vital the role of volunteers are in public media? This is an excellent way to honor and to celebrate your volunteers, and an opportunity to talk about the many services that public media brings to the community, whether it be in education, news, music, the arts, public safety, children’s programming or citizenship.
For questions, contact Dorothy Pacella, Chair, National Friends of Public Broadcasting at pacella@thirteen.org.