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Volunteer Awards

Recognizing our community’s volunteers

Volunteers are an important foundation of many nonprofit agencies and bring many skills and resources. United Way provides local organizations an opportunity to recognize their volunteers through our annual Volunteer Awards. These awards are presented at Your Time for Art: Celebrate Volunteerism.

Nominate a volunteer for an award

The Process:

  • The community submits nominations in 6 categories.
  • A volunteer committee and past award nominees and winners select a winner for each category.
  • A winner will be chosen for each of the four focus areas under the Volunteer Excellence Award.
  • UWECI announces the winners at our annual recognition event in April.
  • Winners in each category receive $500 to donate to a nonprofit of their choice.

Award Descriptions

All awards are judged based upon the outstanding contributions to a nonprofit organization. There are six award categories.

Outstanding Workplace Volunteer Award:  Honors a philanthropic business that emphasizes corporate social responsibility and cultivates a strong culture of employee volunteerism.

Outstanding Group Volunteer Award: Honors a community group or family that has made volunteerism a core value and dedicates time to helping community-based programs and organizations.

Volunteer Excellence Award:  Honors an individual who contributes their expertise and time to build strong communities and tackle tough challenges. Volunteers can be nominated for their accomplishments in one of four pivotal United Way focus areas:

  1. Economic Mobility (Housing & Workforce)
  2. Childhood Success
  3. Access to Healthcare
  4. Safety Net Services (Crisis & Basic Needs)

Visit Unite to Inspire for more information on programs and services that address these needs.

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Nomination Guidelines

  1. The nominee’s volunteer time must be in United Way of East Central Iowa’s service area (Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, or Linn Counties).
  2. Nominee’s volunteer organization must be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and serve the community at large. Religious or professional groups providing services only to their members are not eligible.
  3. You may nominate only ONE outstanding volunteer or group per category. You may not enter the same volunteer or group in additional categories.
  4. The volunteer could not have received financial compensation for the volunteer service. Reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, such as gasoline, is acceptable.
  5. We cannot return submitted materials, and through submission, you give permission for future use in promotions or editorials.
  6. You may submit nominations for each of the six categories. You must complete one form for each category.