Volunteer of the Month Nomination Form Template

Make volunteer recognition easy and consistent with a structured nomination form. This template collects everything you need to evaluate and celebrate standout volunteers — who they are, how long they've served, specific contributions they've made, and why they deserve to be recognized — from peers, staff, and community partners alike.

Use this template

Last updated 21 August 2026

Fields in this template

Your Name (Nominator)required
Your Email Addressrequired
Are You a Staff Member or Fellow Volunteer?required
Staff member · Fellow volunteer · Community member · Organization partner
Volunteer Being Nominatedrequired
Program or Area They Serve Inrequired
How Long Have They Been Volunteering? (Years/Months)required
Specific Contributions and Impactrequired
Why Does This Person Deserve Recognition?required
Is the Nominee Aware of This Nomination?required
Yes · No

Who uses this template

Nonprofit volunteer coordinatorsHospital auxiliary program managersSchool parent volunteer programsReligious organization volunteer leadersCommunity foundation staffAnimal shelter volunteer managersFood bank volunteer coordinatorsCorporate volunteer program leads

About this template

Volunteer recognition programs are one of the most effective retention tools available to nonprofit organizations. Research from the Corporation for National and Community Service consistently shows that volunteers who feel appreciated are significantly more likely to return, recruit others, and increase their commitment over time. Yet many recognition programs fall flat because they rely on staff memory rather than a systematic process for surfacing who deserves recognition and why.

A nomination form professionalizes this process. It invites peers, staff, and community partners to identify volunteers whose contributions might otherwise go unnoticed — the person who quietly shows up an hour early every shift, the volunteer who personally trained six newcomers, or the individual who completely reorganized a donation room. These stories are specific, credible, and compelling in ways that generic recognition plaques are not.

formformform makes it easy to collect, organize, and act on nominations throughout the year. Share the nomination form on your volunteer portal, include it in your quarterly newsletter, or announce it at volunteer events. Each submission lands in your dashboard where staff can review candidates, compare narratives, and select recipients based on documented impact rather than whoever comes to mind first. The resulting recognition content — pulled directly from nomination narratives — is ready to use in social posts, newsletters, and annual reports.

12 form ideas you can build with this template

Hospital Volunteer of the Quarter Nomination Form

Lets department staff and fellow auxilians nominate outstanding patient-facing volunteers based on compassion, dependability, and initiative.

Food Bank Volunteer Hero Nomination Form

Invites pantry guests, fellow volunteers, and staff to recognize individuals who consistently go beyond their assigned shift duties.

Animal Shelter Volunteer Spotlight Nomination

Captures nominations for fosters, kennel volunteers, or adoption counselors who showed exceptional dedication to animal welfare.

School Parent Volunteer Recognition Form

Lets teachers and administrators nominate parent volunteers who contributed meaningfully to classrooms, field trips, or school events.

Environmental Nonprofit Volunteer Champion Form

Recognizes volunteers who led cleanup initiatives, organized fellow participants, or contributed specialist skills like plant identification or water testing.

Youth Sports League Volunteer Coach Nomination

Allows parents and league officials to nominate volunteer coaches who demonstrated sportsmanship, player development, and community spirit.

Library Volunteer Recognition Nomination Form

Collects peer and librarian nominations for literacy tutors, shelvers, or program assistants who consistently exceeded expectations.

Senior Center Volunteer Star Nomination Form

Enables resident councils and activity directors to recognize companions or activity assistants who formed meaningful relationships with residents.

Disaster Relief Volunteer Citation Form

Captures nominations from deployment team leads and community partners for responders who showed exceptional leadership or sacrifice in the field.

Museum Docent Recognition Nomination Form

Lets visitors and curatorial staff nominate docents for excellence in tour delivery, visitor engagement, or exhibition research contributions.

Corporate Volunteer Program MVP Nomination

Enables team leads and community partners to recognize employees whose volunteer contributions had measurable impact beyond a single event.

Refugee Resettlement Volunteer Recognition Form

Captures nominations for volunteers who provided exceptional language support, housing setup assistance, or cultural orientation to newly arrived families.

What's included

Separate nominator and nominee information sections for clarity

Nominator role field to understand the perspective behind the nomination

Service length field to recognize long-term commitment

Specific contributions field to capture concrete examples, not just praise

Why-deserves-recognition narrative for selection committee use

Nominee awareness flag to handle public vs. surprise recognition

Centralized dashboard to compare and review nominations side by side

Fully customizable to match your recognition program criteria

How to create a volunteer of the month nomination form

1
Click 'Use this template' to open the nomination form in the editor.
2
Update the introductory paragraph with details about your recognition program — how often winners are selected, how they're announced, and what recognition they receive.
3
Add your organization-specific programs to the 'Program or Area They Serve In' field as a dropdown if you want cleaner categorization.
4
Customize the nomination criteria in the long-text field labels to match what your selection committee actually evaluates.
5
Set your notification email so the volunteer coordinator is alerted when nominations come in.
6
Share the form link quarterly or monthly, and announce the nomination window in your volunteer communications.

Best practices for your volunteer of the month nomination form

Open nominations for a fixed window

'nominations accepted through the 15th of each month' creates urgency and makes processing manageable.

Ask for specific examples, not general praise

'she always goes above and beyond' is harder to evaluate than 'she personally trained 12 new volunteers this quarter'.

Acknowledge every nominator

send a confirmation email thanking them for taking the time, regardless of whether their nominee is selected.

Feature nominated volunteers even if they don't win

a 'nominee spotlight' section in your newsletter makes the nomination itself feel meaningful.

Rotate recognition across program areas

if the same department keeps winning, volunteers elsewhere may feel invisible, reducing their motivation.

Preserve nomination text for grant applications and annual reports

specific volunteer stories are exactly what funders want to read.

Frequently asked questions

Can a volunteer nominate themselves?

This template is designed for peer and staff nominations. Self-nominations can be excluded by policy — just note in your form description that self-nominations are not accepted. If you want to allow them, the form works fine for that purpose too.

How should I handle nominations for volunteers in the same program as the nominator?

Peer nominations from the same program are often the most specific and credible, since co-volunteers witness daily contributions that staff may not see. Just ensure your selection committee reviews nominations from across all programs to avoid one well-represented team dominating.

What should the recognition itself look like?

Recognition can range from a certificate and social media spotlight to a gift card, reserved parking spot, or feature in your annual report. The form collects the narrative — what you do with it is entirely up to your program. Many organizations use the 'specific contributions' text directly in their spotlight content.

How do I handle a nomination for a volunteer who has already won recently?

Consider a policy of waiting 6–12 months before a previous winner can be selected again. You can note this in your form instructions, and keep track of past winners in your dashboard exports.

Can I run a public vote after collecting nominations?

Yes. After the nomination window closes, you can share finalist names publicly (with nominee consent) and run a community vote via a separate formformform poll. The finalist list comes directly from your nomination submissions.