NWR: Thank you gifts for volunteers

JellyBean52513

I am the business manager for a titleholder in the Miss America Organization here in Boston. Little bit of background: She holds a local area title and will be competing for Miss Massachusetts in June (if she wins, then she competes at Miss America). Part of my job is to help prepare her for the state pageant, and what is arguably the most important part of the competition is the 10 minute, press conference style interview (minus the hand-raising) where a panel of judges ask questions, one after another, for 10 minutes. Because Miss America is a scholarship organization, the questions are usually pretty intense at the state level, and the contestants are asked anything from their resume, to current events, to politics, to their particular community service efforts. 

I thought the best thing to do for her preparation would be to organize a mock interview, complete with a mini panel of judges, for an interview practice session of about 30-45 minutes with feedback and the anticipated chit-chat.  I have already gotten 3 volunteers to sit for it (2 pageant people, 1 'novice' judge who is a very good friend of mine), so I was thinking of treating the group to a nice lunch as a thank you for their time. Is that an appropriate way to say "thank you," or should I be giving some gifts as well? I don't have a TON of money to invest in this as the months of April-July are going to be chock full of things requiring lots of spending, but I just really wanted to do something nice for my titleholder and I want to make sure I'm taking care of my volunteers properly.

Imagine that you are interested in this kind of thing and let me know if you would feel adequately compensated by a nice lunch.

saric83

I would actually probably prefer a small gift card to a coffee shop instead.  Maybe I'm just being anti-social, but after giving up some free time to help out with it, I probably wouldn't want to sit around and chat more at lunch.  

JellyBean52513

saric83 said:

I would actually probably prefer a small gift card to a coffee shop instead.  Maybe I'm just being anti-social, but after giving up some free time to help out with it, I probably wouldn't want to sit around and chat more at lunch.  

That's a very good point that I hadn't considered. I pictured this playing out by reserving a table in a private room at a restaurant and having the lunch immediately follow the practice interviews. It's very possible that they will want to just get on with their day afterwards. Thank you for that insight!

STARMOON44

People are still pretending that Miss America is a scholarship organization with a straight face? Huh.

Dreamergirl8812

STARMOON44 said:

People are still pretending that Miss America is a scholarship organization with a straight face? Huh.

Hey, nice tits and a flat stomach help you concentrate.

JellyBean52513

@STARMOON44 @Dreamergirl8812

Really unnecessary, rude comments. First of all, MAO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Second of all, all prizes won must be dispersed directly to Bursar's offices or to loan lenders, therefore qualifying as scholarship money; cash is never given. Third of all, I can definitely say with confidence that not every contestant has a flat stomach and/or nice tits.

If you've never participated in the Miss America Organization then you really have no idea what it's like and what kinds of doors it can open. I went several semestera of undergrad without having to pay for books because my scholarship winnings eliminated those costs from my Bursar bill (which made that diploma with the Summa Cum Laude designation that much more rewarding); I've been published in a magazine where I wrote about the platform that I promoted as a titleholder; I was named the recipient of one of my university's highest honors for women because of the volunteering I did as a titleholder. Would have I still done that volunteer work without a title? Yes, I was volunteering for this cause for years before I started competing. But the extra visibility of being a titleholder gets attention which helps raise awareness for a cause that is very important to me.

The one thing I did as a titleholder that had the greatest impact, I think, was the time I addressed nearly 1,500 students at my college's annual Take Back the Night Rally, which is a world-wide initiative to help end sexual violence. After I spoke and shared my story of survival and then advocacy, I got Facebook messages from strangers the next day telling me that the world needs more strong women, I've changed their perspective about what a beauty queen is, and mos notably that I encouraged them to finally speak up to their parents about what their uncle had been doing to them for many years as a child.

So, yeah, maybe you and plenty of other people don't want to acknowledge the Miss America Organization for the positive impact it can have, and maybe you'd like to pretend that it's all T & A and there is nothing of substance involved, but you'd be wrong. That's why I stay involved, to help other people get the most of their time competing. All I did was ask if my idea would be a good enough thank you to the people taking time out of their day. But thanks for your bullshit opinion about MAO, it was incredibly unhelpful as I'm sure you intended it to be.

STARMOON44

Actually, I think it's all a giant scam that sucks a fortune out of it's "scholars" while claiming it provides a ton of scholarship money but in reality only providing a small portion of that. Serious scholarships don't need to see you in an evening gown or a bathing suit. Nor do they necessitate business managers.

But as for gifts for volunteers a Starbucks card would be nice, or a gift cert for a pedicure if they'd be into that.