Beyond the Mundane: Using Nametags to Build Community in Volunteer Programs

What a wonderfully complete coverage of the name tag situation for one-time and/or large events. With ongoing volunteers I have had one disaster and one success: At United Way of Cincinnati, I was told by my vice president to get name tags for the volunteers who came in weekly to do office work, even though the paid staff didn't wear name tags. (Mind you, the paid staff had name tags but they did not wear them routinely) I surveyed the volunteers, they said, "No thanks," I so informed the boss and was told to order the name tags anyway for the volunteers who came in on a repetitive basis. The tags were made and given to the volunteers and were never worn since the paid staff in the offices didn't wear them. It made the volunteers feel awkward and not "part of the gang." Another reason for this is that the name tags had the person's name and then the word "volunteer" under it, further separating the wearer from paid staff. This is an example of where the name tag isolated the volunteers and didn't build a team. On the other hand, at City Hall, the tour guides who were volunteers all wore name tags and were proud to do so even though the paid staff who participated as guides rarely wore their tags. This name tag said the volunteer's name and then had the title, "Tour Guide," under it. The volunteers had asked for these name tags and we agreed together what the tag should say. The volunteers in offices at City Hall did NOT wear name tags, since the city employees didn't. I think I was expecting some discussion about these issues although the content as written is certainly helpful for making the name tags for one time events. Thanks for your good work.

Sarah makes two great points about wearing nametags within organizations that I did not mention in my article, so I'm glad she brought them up. The first is in regard to consistency. Some organizations have employees, members, guests and other people coming in and out all the time. In order to avoid alienating some of those people, the organization must first make a decision: either EVERYBODY wears nametags, or NOBODY wears nametags. Unfortunately, there will always be people who refuse to wear nametags. The only solution is (if you decide to implement nametags for everybody) is to make it expressly written externally (signage) or internally (handbook) so people will adhere to the rule. Nobody is "too cool" to wear a nametag. Another concern is the nametag text's potential to segregate members based on position. I think it can go both ways. For example, I am a member of the National Speakers Association. We recently had our National Convention during which each member was assigned a custom nametag based on years of experience, membership, if a guest, etc. To my surprise, people were actually MORE willing to encourage team building because of these designations. I couldn't count how many of the veteran speakers who have been in the business longer than I have been alive came up to me and said, "So Scott, this is your first convention, huh? How do you like it so far?" On the other hand, if "isolation by way of nametagging" is a possible threat, I would suggest having the exact same type of nametag worn by all people, regardless of volunteer/member/paid employee status. Thanks!