Community managers give different incentives and rewards to stimulate members in an online innovation community. According to a blogpost on Fastwonderblog.com it is wise to stay away from monetary rewards and be creative in finding ways to reward participants. I absolutely agree with the reasoning behind this statement.

Activate community members
Community members can be stimulated to contribute more in the community by for example awarding points, higher status, an extra nice profile, mentioning in a newsletter or another type of promotion within the community. Some communities even give monetary rewards. However, in a short post on Feverbee.com it is suggested to send a fruit basket to an active participant instead of giving a monetary reward. The bottom line in that blogpost is that when you reward active participation with money it simply becomes work. Next time, people will evaluate whether it is worth their time to be active in the community. Whereas a surprise gift brings out the best in people. Of course, this gift does not need to be a fruit basket. It can be another type of gift, for example a free ticket to an off-line event. Just be more creative than simply giving a monetary reward.

At the innovation community from one of our clients it is very clear that a ‘surprise gift’ stimulates further participation. For example, an intangible gift like a personal thank you message from a senior manager on active member participation is one of the most effective ways to stimulate further participation. So be creative with rewarding your active community members.