Thank Your Members!

It’s that time of year, everyone wants to say thank you for the great things in their lives. I think as community managers we give thanks for the volunteer leaders in our communities every day. Do we let them know how much we appreciate them?Here are some ideas about how to say thank you:Public RecognitionDo you have a special space to highlight your most active users? Many platforms provide a widget that will pull in “most active users.” You are probably most inclined to look at this list to see if you are on it rather than trying to find other members on the list – or maybe that’s just me. These lists are designed to play off gamification. The more posts you make the more points you will have and the higher you will appear on the list.In the community I manage, we don’t have a “most active users” list. We have profiles for our champions. If you have committed to be a “Topic Moderator” we ask you to send a picture and answer five general questions. You can view that page here. The general principal of recognition is what is important. We have one member that has a website for her business.  She shared a link to her profile from her company page. These pages may not be the most viewed on our website, but it shows to the volunteer leaders that their time is important to us and that we recognize and appreciate the work that they do.First Time PostersWe have automated emails (very few) that follow certain touch points in the community journey. I always send an email that is not automated to first time posters. We average around thirty-five first time posters a month. I try to send a quick email personally thanking the member for contributing for a certain reason. I want them to know their post has been read and appreciated. I notice that members that receive the personal thank you are more inclined to post in the future.Personal Letters It’s so easy to send an email. On my work email all the members I talk to regularly are prepopulated. It takes five minutes to type our three sentences of gratitude. When you receive a thank you email, it may bring a smile to your face and empower you to continue contributing to the community. But when you get a handwritten letter you know someone took time out of their day to recognize how much they appreciate you. They had to find your home address, find a stamp, write it by hand, and get it to a mailbox.I’ve only recently started sending official thank you notes. It takes much longer than an email, but it means so much more. I’m a member of CMX Pro. I’ve gotten multiple handwritten letters from them thanking me for my participation. Those letters have meant so much to me. Now when I think about my membership value, I go back to those letters and how much that meant to me.Face to Face Meetings I’ve never met many of our communities most active members. When I have a member that mentions to me that they will be at headquarters - I clear my calendar. It is so important to meet members in person. Once I do, I feel like I can finally pick up a lot more of their personality in their written communication, which is so helpful. I greatly enjoy giving them a tour of our office and introducing them to staff. One of our moderators was in the building for a committee meeting and he had a question for someone in our executive suite. I pulled up our Executive Director’s calendar and made a special phone call to his assistant. Our Executive Director enjoys reading threads in our community and often comments on them when he runs into me. I knew he would be familiar with our moderator who posts often. I wanted to introduce them. The member was very hesitant when I recommended the introduction, but you could tell he was honored that I thought our Executive Director would want to meet him. He appreciated that I took the time to introduce him, and our Executive Director was delighted to hear what this member was working on at his local chapter. Your senior staff should be as appreciative of the work of your community members. I’m blessed that our senior staff finds this important.Conclusion: November is a great time to let your community know how much you appreciate them. Please share what you do to appreciate your community in the comments.