List of volunteer awards

This is a list of awards issued by organisations and governmental bodies honoring the contributions of volunteers (unpaid staff). Whereas many organisations honor volunteers who serve within those individual organisations, these awards listed here recognize volunteers contributing to a variety of nonprofit organisations, non-governmental organisations, charities, civil society organizations and communities.

Global

• CNN Heroes are annual recognitions by CNN to honor individuals who make extraordinary contributions to help others.
• UNV Online Volunteering Award, presented annually, since 2000, to teams of online volunteers for their contributions towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the Internet.^[1] A jury made up of external experts in volunteerism and development cooperation as well as United Nations Volunteers (UNV) representatives selects the winners. The Award presents an opportunity for both, online volunteers and organizations, to bring their online volunteering experiences and good practices to the attention of a global audience. In the run up to International Volunteer Day (IVD), anyone can vote for their favourite winners on the online volunteering service website. The team that gets the most votes is announced as the public’s favourite on 5 December.^[2] All Stories are featured on the website, they illustrate the impact online volunteers have on the work of development organizations and convey how organizations express their appreciation to their volunteers for a successful online collaboration.^[3]

Australia

• Volunteering Australia is an award sponsored by National Australia Bank and presented annually since 1997.^[4]
• The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards honor volunteers in New South Wales and were first presented in 2007.^[5]
• The Northern Territory Volunteer of the Year Awards honor volunteers in the Northern Territory and were first presented in 2011.^[6]
• The Queensland Young Volunteer Awards are Queensland-based awards recognizing contributions of volunteers from 12 to 25 years of age.^[7]
• The AAVA Volunteer Manager Award of Excellence was created by the Australasian Association of Volunteer Administrators (AAVA) in order to recognize outstanding contributions to volunteer management.^[8]

Canada

• The Governor General's Caring Canadian Award is awarded annually by the Governor General of Canada to Canadian individuals or groups who have given extraordinary help or care on a volunteer basis.^[9]
• The Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards program consists of 17 awards in total, 2 at the national level and 15 at the regional level. Since 2010, the awards highlight best practices in community leadership and encourage partnerships across sectors. The goal of the awards is to inspire Canadians from all walks of life to find new ways of making a difference in their communities.^[10]
• The Flare Volunteer Award is sponsored by the Flare Magazine and is annually presented to six Canadian women aged 18 and older in order to honor outstanding volunteer achievements.^[11]
• The Canadian Business & Community Partnership Awards of the Imagine Canada charity are dedicated to Canadian companies that hold successful partnerships with and volunteering organizations.^[12]
• The Department of Human Resources and Skills Development (RHDCC) of the Canadian government created the annual Thérèse Casgrain Volunteer Award to honor two volunteers for their exceptional work. With the award, feminist and politician Thérèse Casgrain (1896–1981) was being memorized^[13] until the unannounced retirement of the award in 2010.^[14]

European Union

• The European Employee Volunteering Awards, which are co-funded by the European Commission, recognize European companies that hand down skills to volunteers, thus preparing them for later fully paid work.^[15]

Hong Kong

• The Hong Kong Volunteer Award, which are awarded by the Agency for Volunteer Service in Hong Kong, recognize outstanding individual volunteers and group volunteers in serving the community locally and worldwide. Since April 2009, all awardees were invited to join the Hong Kong Volunteer Awardees Society that was established to pool the strength and experience of the ‘Hong Kong Volunteer Award’ winners, to share ideas and experiences, for widespread of volunteerism to the community.^[16]
• The Volunteer Movement Award, which are awarded by the Social Welfare Department of the HKSAR government in Hong Kong, recognize committed individual volunteers and group volunteers in serving the community. Each year, gold award, silver award and bronze award are awarded to committed individual or group to encourage volunteerism.^[17]
• The Caring Magic Scheme, which is launched by the Charity, Hong Kong Caring Magic Circus, and the scheme awarded its Caring Magic Partners and its nominated Caring Magic Ambassadors in recognizing their committed services in passing on love and care in the community.^[18]

India

• iVolunteer Awards is an annual award by iVolunteer, India to honor the contribution of volunteers and organisations who engage them. The Awards celebrate, reward and promote volunteering, with the aim of inspiring more people to volunteer and establishing benchmarks on volunteering practices across India.
• Awards were given in four categories: Volunteer Hero category - for individuals, Leader in Volunteer Engagement - for organisations, youth champion - individual volunteers between the age group of 18-23, Leader in Employee Volunteering - recognise companies following the best practices to encourage employee volunteering.
• The award aims to recognise the doers from the NGOs and Corporate and convey the message to others to come participate in this developmental transformation. The guests of honour for the 4th edition of annual iVolunteer Awards were Padma Bhushan Mrs. Rajashree Birla, Chairperson, The Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiative and Rural Development, Mr. Akhil Shahani, Managing Director, The Shahani Group & Mr. Suresh Goyal, India Country Lead & Executive Director of Macquarie.
• Volunteer Hero: Arun Kumar, is currently working as a consultant with Cognizant Technology Solutions, Chennai. He felt compelled to help underprivileged cancer patients and with the support of friends and family, he has reached out to thousands of cancer patients. He volunteer because he dont want anyone to fight cancer alone.
• Youth Champion: Rishi Banshiwal is an enthusiastic learner and believes in leadership philosophies. His volunteering experience started as a coordinator in a non-profit organization. Rishi quotes, “Volunteering has made him learn human skills – like patience, perseverance, never give up attitude, relentless work and efforts”.
• Leader in Volunteer Engagement: Established in 2007, Educate Girls is holistically tackling issues at the root cause of gender inequality in India's education system. Educate Girls mobilizes communities to take a stand against gender disparity, working directly with governments, schools, parents, village leaders, and Team Balika to ensure access to quality education.
• Leader in Employee Engagement: The iVolunteer Awards for Leader in Employee Volunteering 2015 is "Cognizant." They have been successful to encourage and enabled employee volunteering, from January 2015 – December 2015. Over the 12 months they have shown excellence not only in extent of employee engagement but also in support by the Company towards volunteering.
• The first ever ‘iVolunteer Awards’ was held in Mumbai on 8 April 2013 in association with ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and Ms. Nandita Das, was Guest of Honor at the ceremony^[19]

Ireland

• The annual Volunteer Ireland Awards aim to recognise and celebrate volunteers on a national stage. This all-Ireland awards campaign is held on International Volunteer Day each December 5 and is now its sixth year. President of Ireland Michael Higgins is the patron of the Volunteer Ireland Awards. Members of the public are encouraged to nominate someone they know from September each year, choosing from one of ten categories, honoring the different facets of volunteering work.^[20]

United Kingdom

• The Flame of Hope Awards are Cancer Research UK's annual awards recognising the achievements of exceptional volunteers who have given their time to help beat cancer sooner. http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/support-us/volunteer/celebrating-our-volunteers
• vinspired are given by vInspired in recognition 10, 50 or 100 hours of volunteering with an organisation in England.
• MV Awards are given by Volunteer Development Scotland to young people completing set numbers of hours of volunteering.
• Millennium Volunteers awards are given in Wales to young people completing a set minimum number of hours of volunteering. The scheme is run by the national youth volunteering initiative, GwirVol, funded mainly by the Welsh Government.^[21]
• The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service is a highly prestigious prize honoring volunteer groups.^[22]
• Volunteering England, a charity supporting volunteering, organises the Volunteering England’s Gold Awards, aims at students in further and higher education. Instances of the awards are given by academic institutions based on Volunteering England guidelines.
• The Wales Volunteer of the Year Award is run by Wales Council for Voluntary Action and has awards in a variety of categories.^[23]
• Tenovus a leading cancer charity offering support and advice to those affected by cancer, held their first Volunteer of the Year awards on 7 July 2011 at Cardiff Castle. They honoured the contribution made by volunteers throughout the organisation based on Tenovus values. The overall winner was Pauline Cole from Pembroke.^[24]
• The Macmillan Volunteer Award recognises volunteers who improve the lives of people affected by cancer.^[25]
• Manchester University launched a Community Service and Volunteer of the Year Awards scheme in 2010, recognising a student and a staff member addressing "disadvantaged groups or deprived communities".^[26]
• The Marsh Trust Award is given by the British Museum and "recognises best practice and the innovative ways in which volunteers work in museums and galleries to engage the public with collections."^[27]
  • Castlereagh Borough Council - Mayor's Awards for Volunteering, launched in 2012, recognising the important role that volunteering plays in sustaining and developing communities within the Borough. Awards are issued to recognise, Adult Volunteers, Young Volunteers, Creative Arts, Community Relations and Cultural Diversity, Good Citizenship and voluntary groups that support volunteer development. https://web.archive.org/web/20130325065031/http://www.castlereagh.gov.uk/

City University London hosts an annual volunteer awards ceremony. In 2015 there were 7 award categories which included Volunteer of the Year which was awarded to Siobhan Tatum, Team Player awarded to Valentina Aronica and Leadership in Volunteering was secured by Ken Hy. www.islingtontribune.com/news/2015/apr/volunteering-awards-salute-‘inspiring’-city-university-students

United States

• The Corporate Engagement Award of Excellence was established in 1993 by the Points of Light Institute. It acknowledges the efforts and merits of businesses for the spread of voluntary work.^[28] The organization also created the Points of Light Award for volunteers (individuals or groups) engaged in problem-solving tasks.^[29]
• Daily Point of Light Award http://www.pointsoflight.org/dailypointoflight
• The Do Something Awards were set up by the Do Something youth organization, honoring the efforts of young volunteers "to change the world".^[30]
• The Gold Award of the Girl Scouts of the USA, recognizing the successful completion of a project that reaches beyond the Girl Scout organization and provides a sustainable, lasting benefit to the girl's larger community.
• The Good Neighbor Award http://nar.realtor/gna is awarded annually by the National Association of REALTORS to 10 REALTORS who have made an extraordinary impact on the world through community service.^[31]
• The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes is awarded to young people having organized some outstanding piece of voluntary work.^[32] It was created by American writer T. A. Barron, as a memory of his mother.
• HealthCare Volunteer annually recognizes a volunteer who provided outstanding medical, dental and surgical services to needy patients, and impoverished people worldwide.
• The Jefferson Awards for Public Service honors community and public service in America. The awards are presented on two levels: national and local.
• Kiwanis International♙ awards its World Service Medal annually to an individual or organization that significantly enhances the quality of life of a noteworthy number of people. The award includes a $10,000 honorarium.
• The President's Volunteer Service Award is a national prize under the patronage of the President of the United States recognizing voluntary engagement. As of November 2012, it has been presented to more than 2.5 million individuals.^[33]
• The Prudential Spirit of Community Award is the largest US youth recognition program. It was established by Prudential Financial to honor outstanding volunteer service by people attending a secondary school.^[34]
• The VolunteerMatch Corporate Volunteer Awards are given each year by VolunteerMatch, the U.S.-based nonprofit organization, at its annual client conference. The awards recognize companies, brands and CSR program administrators who demonstrate "outstanding innovation, commitment and leadership in corporate community involvement."^[35]
• Women of Worth, a charitable organization sponsored by L'Oréal dedicated to families in crisis annually honors women who are engaged in voluntary work.^[36]
• The Wofford Awards were created in 2002 by Youth Service America in order to recognize the work of young volunteers in different categories. The name was chosen to honor former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Harris Wofford, and the award is sponsored by State Farm Insurance.^[37]
• Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, presented annually by the National Football League (NFL) honoring a player's volunteer and charity work.
• Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, presented by Allstate, shines a spotlight on selflessness, volunteerism and community service by student-athletes and their coaches.
• SEC Community Service Team, honors players of various sports in member universities of the Southeastern Conference. The honor goes to players in recognition of their off-the-court/off-the-field volunteering and community service activities. Like an all-conference team or an all-American team, the Community Service Team is a hypothetical team - the members won't actually get together and play a game.
• Bart Starr Award, given annually to a National Football League (NFL) player who "best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community."
• NBA Community Assist Award, recognizes National Basketball Association (NBA) players regarding their community engagement, philanthropic activity and charity work. It is a monthly award, but season and offseason awards have also been given. In some cases multiple awards have been given in the same month.
• J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since 1975 to a player, coach, or staff member who shows "outstanding service and dedication to the community."

See also

• Global Youth Service Day
• International Volunteer Day
• International Year of Volunteers
• Join Hands Day
• Mandela Day
• MLK Day of service
• Mitzvah Day
• Random Acts of Kindness Day
• Sewa Day
• Make A Difference Day
• World Kindness Day

References

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