The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation established the President's Volunteer Service Award in 2003 to acknowledge the vital contribution of volunteers in reinforcing America's strength and national character. This accolade pays tribute to individuals whose service positively impacts communities and motivates others to follow suit.

The PVSA has persisted through each administration, commending volunteers who dedicate their skills and time to address some of our nation's most challenging issues.

Administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service and co-managed with Points of Light, this initiative empowers Certifying Organizations to recognize their most outstanding volunteers.

Eligible Service includes unpaid acts of volunteer service benefiting others. Volunteering​ is working for others or a cause ​without compensation​ for their time and services. Be ​logical and uphold the values of integrity​ as a volunteer. Only the ​actual amount of hours you volunteer counts ​for PVSA. Time spent traveling, sleeping, eating, socializing, etc., does not count toward your total service hours. In general, for activities to qualify as community service, they should:

Be for the benefit of others.

Give service to an area in need

Not involve payment/monetary compensation

Be voluntary, meaning you are not required to do service for any reason (e.g., for a class grade)

Only Permanent Residents (Green Card holders) and Citizens are eligible for these awards.

Kids (5-10)                           26-49              50-74             75+

Teens(11-15)                         50-74             75-99            100+

Young Adults (16-25)           100-174           175-249         250+

Bronze, Silver, and Gold Packages include:

Customized certificate

Choice of pin, coin, or medallion

Congratulatory letter from the president

Volunteers may choose to receive only the certificate.

Enlarged, personalized certificate

Congratulatory letter from the President

Political lobbying

Religious instructions

Conducting worship service

Proselytizing

Serving only family members

Court Ordered Community Service

The person's age determines the age category for at least seven months within the 12-month calendar year.  For example, if the person were 16 for seven months within the year in question, that person would qualify within the 16-25 age group.  

The maximum number of years an admin can return to order an award is two calendar years.

UPFNA, as the certifying organization, recommends a volunteer name to the program administrator (Corporation for National and Community Service) after the volunteer logs the required service hours for each award category.

No. UPFNA will pay for the award package it chooses to have issued to the awardee.

UPFNA reserves the right to select the type of award package. It will be based on a consistent set of established guidelines, complying with the program recommendations.

UPFNA currently uses a time management tool, trackitforward.com, to log volunteer hours. Volunteers should upload proof of volunteering work within two weeks of completion. Since the tool is not comprehensive, we recommend maintaining an Excel spreadsheet with the date of service, detailed description, hours, the purpose of the work, and supporting material/pictures. The information on the tool shall be accessible for audit by the program administrator when required.

The minimum age for a volunteer to qualify for the award is five years and above. Volunteer hours will count toward the lifetime goal, which is 4000+ hours, in addition to the yearly goal for different award tiers (Bronze, Silver, and Gold). The PVSA program administrator has yet to make it available for award.

There is no limit to the number of times a volunteer can receive the award. Each award recognizes eligible service hours accumulated within a continuous 12-month period.

The certifying organization (UPFNA) selects and maintains the start date of the 12 months. You will have 12 months from the date of your first entry to complete your hours (If your first-hour log starts April 1st, you have until March 31st of the following year to submit hours for your Award). Submissions will be accepted from March 15 to March 31st, and awards will be ordered on April 5th. 

Yes, UPFNA will honor hours from another organization if the other organization is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and more than 50% of the total hours served are for UPFNA causes/campaigns. The volunteer's primary organization can count hours volunteered elsewhere. For hours from a different organization to be applied towards the PVSA award, volunteers should post hours and proof of work and also contact details of the other organization. At a minimum, the designated administrator at the different organizations has to vouch in writing that they received the volunteer hours for their organization along with the dates of service and details of service performed.

No. For example, a child completing 50 hours for Certifying Organization A and 50 hours for Certifying Organization B would qualify for the following awards:

A silver award from Certifying Organization A, but no awards from Certifying Organization B

A silver award from Certifying Organization B, but no awards from Certifying Organization A

A gold award representing the total 100 hours performed for both organizations was presented by Organization A, where Organization B provided Organization A with a letter summarizing the child’s volunteer record.

Where Organization A has provided Organization B with a record of the volunteer’s service, Organization B may order awards at all levels reached (gold, silver, and bronze).

Anyone who qualifies for an award must do so through a Certifying Organization. We encourage you to contact the organization where you do most of your volunteer hours to see if they are a Certifying Organization. If the organization is not a PVSA-certifying organization, please encourage them to complete the application process to become a Certifying Organization.