Your volunteering family is just as important as your nuclear family. Eventually your volunteers start to click together like puzzle pieces, making the best, most colorful jigsaw ever. It may be a little harder to keep them all in touch outside of volunteer season, because life gets in the way. However, there are lots of ways to have a “Volunteer Family Reunion”.
One way is through social media. Creating a private group for your volunteers to share information related to your organization can be a great way to keep them involved, without having to organize a volunteering event every week. However, if you find a group or groups within your organization do well with in-person group time, you may want to organize a meet-up to discuss future projects, work on current or long-term projects, and just socialize with one another outside of the pressures of volunteering.
Another way is to set up an after-event party, where your volunteers can mingle and talk to one another on their own terms. This gives them a great chance to discuss their jobs within the event, and share experiences with others, allowing them to see what other parts of the organization and event look like behind the scenes.
Your volunteer family is unique and wonderful. They work hard and they have earned the time to play hard too. Keep social events light with minimal responsibility, though volunteers will be volunteers, and you may end up with more helping hands than party goers!