Over time, it can be difficult to keep everyone in your organisation on the same page, and fully focused on giving their best effort every single day. This is especially true in larger organisations, where budgetary concerns can create distractions. It’s also true of any group that has been working on a challenging, long-term goal. When an individual doesn’t see a direct benefit from their work over a span of several weeks, months, or even years, it’s easy to become discouraged.

The following strategies can help your team stay motivated to keep pushing forward, working hard and bringing their best ideas to your nonprofit from one day to the next!

Celebrate Progress – Even a Small Step Forward is a Win!

Rather than waiting until you complete a long, time-consuming project to declare and celebrate victory with your team, designate some smaller goals, or mile markers, that will help you measure your progress along the way. At each milestone, celebrate these smaller wins to help boost morale and keep your staff pushing forward to progress further on down the line. Treat your volunteers, staff, or donors to a special celebratory brunch, or mark the occasion with a special evening out together, such as a movie or other fun activity together!

Recognise and Reward Your Top Performers

When staff or other members really go out of their way to perform a job well, publicly praise and recognise them. You might give them a shout out for going above and beyond on your NFP’s Twitter profile. Follow up with a personal treat as an extra reward, such as a gift card to their favourite retailer, or tickets to an upcoming stage performance that you know they’ve been dying to see!

Extra Time Away from Work

Another way to reward your team for their effort is to give them extra time off from the job. This is especially helpful for workers who may not have been with your organisation very long and don’t have a lot of vacation time saved up to use.

Allow your team member to take an extra day off during the week. You could even consider allowing them to split up their extra time off so that they can come in a bit later for a few days or perhaps take an extended lunch break. Not only will they come back refreshed and more energised, but it will also help them to achieve a better work/life balance if they use the extra time to take care of personal obligations.

VIP Parking, Dry Cleaning and Other Perks

Additional benefits that you might offer your staff when they exceed your expectations include reserving a prime parking space next to your facility entrance, or other perks, such as taking care of their dry cleaning for the month. Of course, there are additional ways that you can recognise and reward exceptional service from your staff that will help to keep everyone motivated to give their best effort every day. These are just a few suggestions to help you come up with your own set of personalised rewards.

Keep in mind that recognition and rewards should never take the place of just compensation. Everyone deserves to be fairly paid for their work. Perks and other similar benefits should always be used as a way to reward and motivate your staff, rather than being viewed as a replacement for an honest wage or salary.