Last call to nominate cities and towns for the 2025 Volunteer Community of the Year Awards! The deadline for the awards, which are co-sponsored by Engage Arkansas, the Arkansas Municipal League and the Governor’s Advisory Commission on National Service and Volunteerism, is October 22. This year marks the 43rd anniversary of the annual award that recognizes Arkansas municipalities—rather than individual volunteers or nonprofits—that seek to address their community’s greatest needs through the engagement of citizens.

Volunteer Community of the Year Awards recipients are selected by a panel of judges composed of distinguished citizens from across the state. The winning communities will be notified in December and celebrated at the League’s Winter Conference in January 2026. Winners receive two street signs, donated by the Arkansas Highway Commission, that designate them as a Volunteer Community of the Year for the specified year. And new for 2025, Engage Arkansas is offering a civic engagement funding investment for the winners of the Best City and Best Town to contribute to the municipality’s most-needed volunteer projects.

Visit Engage Arkansas to learn about the award criteria and to nominate a community.

This post was updated by City & Town staff in October 2025.