How to Thank Your Volunteers (And Keep Them for Next Year)

The campaign is over. You hit your goal, your volunteers went above and beyond, and now everyone’s scattered back to their regular lives. You sent a quick thank-you email, maybe posted something on social media. Job done, right?

Here’s the problem: next September, when you start recruiting for your 2026 midterm campaign, you’re going to wonder why so few people respond. The volunteers who wrote hundreds of letters will have moved on. The community you built will have dissolved. And you’ll be starting from scratch, again.

The organizations that retain 60% or more of their volunteers between cycles don’t treat the post-campaign period as the end. They treat it as the beginning of next year’s recruitment.

The 90-Day Window

You have roughly 90 days after a campaign ends to cement volunteer loyalty. During this window, people are still emotionally connected to the work. They remember why they showed up, who they met, what they accomplished. Wait too long, and those memories fade. Your campaign becomes just another thing they did once.

Most organizations blow this window entirely. They’re exhausted after the final push, and volunteer appreciation falls to the bottom of the list. By the time they get around to it, months have passed. The moment is gone.

The Handwritten Thank-You Note

Yes, really. If your entire strategy is built on the premise that handwritten communication works, why would you switch to email when thanking your own volunteers?

Send a handwritten note to every volunteer within two weeks of your campaign ending. Not a form letter with their name filled in. An actual, personal acknowledgment of what they specifically contributed.

Here’s what to include:

• Something specific they did (“Your 47 letters to first-time voters in Maricopa County…”)
• The impact it had (“…helped us exceed our contact goal by 15%”)
• A personal connection (“I loved hearing about your daughter’s first voting experience at our October event”)
• A genuine expression of appreciation

A volunteer coordinator in Georgia told me she spends the week after every campaign doing nothing but writing thank-you notes. “It’s the most important week of my year,” she said. “Those notes are why people pick up when I call them in August.”

Create an Impact Report They Can Share

Volunteers want to know their work mattered. Give them proof.

Create a simple one-page impact report that summarizes what your campaign accomplished. Include hard numbers: total letters sent, voters contacted, response rates if you have them, and outcomes. Make it visual. Charts, photos from events, maybe a map showing where your letters went.

The key is making it shareable. Volunteers who can show their friends and family “here’s what we accomplished” become ambassadors. They recruit for you without being asked. “Look what my group did” is far more compelling than any recruitment pitch you could write.

One campaign I worked with sent volunteers a personalized version of their impact report, showing each person’s individual contribution alongside the group totals. Volunteers framed them. They posted them on refrigerators. A year later, people still mentioned those reports when explaining why they came back.

Host a Gathering Within 30 Days

Before everyone disperses, bring people together one more time. Not for a debrief. Not for planning. Just to celebrate.

Keep it social. Food, drinks, conversation. Let people share their favorite moments. Capture stories and testimonials while memories are fresh; you’ll use these for future recruitment.

Virtual gatherings work if geography is a challenge, but in-person is better. Something about being in the same room, seeing the faces of people who did this work alongside you, creates connection that Zoom can’t replicate.

A campaign in Colorado hosts a “Letters & Libations” party two weeks after every campaign ends. No agenda. Just volunteers hanging out, swapping stories, and cementing friendships. Their returning volunteer rate is over 70%.

The other purpose of this gathering, though you shouldn’t say it out loud: it’s where you identify your future leaders. Watch who stays late. Notice who’s already talking about next year. These are the people you’ll tap for leadership roles when it’s time to scale back up.

The Stay-Connected Ask

Before the post-campaign period ends, give volunteers a low-commitment way to stay in touch. Not “sign up for our newsletter” but actual community connection.

Create a group chat, a Facebook group, or an email list specifically for campaign alumni. Share occasional updates: movement news, interesting research, photos from events they attended. Keep it light. This isn’t about asks; it’s about maintaining the relationship.

Frame it as community, not obligation. “We’d love to keep you in the loop” beats “Please subscribe to our list.”

And plant a seed for next year: “The 2026 midterms are going to be critical, and we’ll need everyone back. We’ll reach out over the summer, but we didn’t want to lose touch in the meantime.”

One organizer sends her volunteer alumni a quarterly postcard in the mail. Two sentences about what’s happening, one sentence about what’s coming, and a reminder that they’re appreciated. It costs her maybe $200 a year. Her retention rate is double the organizations that rely on email alone.

Appreciation Is Recruitment

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: how you treat volunteers after a campaign determines whether they’ll return for the next one. The thank-you note you write in December determines whether they’ll answer the phone in August.

Every volunteer who walks away feeling seen, valued, and connected is a volunteer you don’t have to recruit next year. Every volunteer who drifts away feeling forgotten is one you’ll have to replace.

The post-campaign period isn’t dead time. It’s when you’re building your 2026 team.

Start now. Write the notes. Send the impact reports. Host the gathering. Keep the community alive. The organizations that win in November are the ones that started building in December.