Benefits of Volunteering

It’s easy to see how organizations, and society as a whole, benefit from volunteering. But how about the volunteers themselves? What are the individual benefits that volunteer activities bring? Here are a few:

• Develop new interests and hobbies. Expand your horizons and perhaps discover something you’re really good at; it’s never too late to learn! Volunteering can provide an “escape” from our everyday routines and create balance in our lives. Finding new interests and hobbies through volunteering can be fun, relaxing and energizing. That energy-and sense of fulfillment-can carry over to the work environment and help foster new perspectives for old situations.

• Be part of the making of your community. Our daily lives can sometimes lead us down the path that we’re a part of something bigger and we sometimes take for granted the community that we live in. People and societies co-depend on each other for survival. Volunteering is ultimately about helping others and having an impact on people’s well-being. What better way is there to connect with our community and give a little back? As a volunteer, we can return to society some of the benefits that society gives us.

• Generate motivation and sense of achievement. Volunteering is about freely giving our time, energy and skills. There is choice involved in volunteering, an enthusiasm to help. Sometimes volunteers are regarded as do-gooders… those that hold that view tend to also assume that one person can never make a difference. It may be true that no one person can solve all of our world’s problems, but what we can do is make that little corner of the world where we live just that little bit better.

• Enhance/develop new skills. Here are some examples of skills that can be developed while volunteering that’ll help to enhance a career:

• • Interpersonal skills – relationship building, working in teams, handling difficult situations
• • Leadership skills – goal setting and team motivation, facilitation and delegation
• • Communication skills – teaching, active listening
• • Project management skills – planning a project, adhering to a budget, training team members, completing administrative duties

• Gain life experiences. Experience the real world through hands-on work and see the direct impact of your actions on some of the most vulnerable people in our world. There are an infinite number of opportunities; volunteers can do anything!

• Meet new people and learn new things. Volunteering brings together people who share similar interests and therefore, offers an incredible networking opportunity; and you can never tell who you will meet or what new information you will learn and what impact this could have on your life. You can develop lasting personal and professional relationships and learn more about topic issues affecting the community.

• Be an inspiration to others. Friends, family, coworkers… they all care about you and your extra-curricular activities. Volunteering reflects and supports a complete picture of you, and gives real examples of your commitment, dedication and interests. Show people what you are passionate about and maybe you will inspire them too ☺

There’s additional research online regarding health benefits… “those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.” And tax breaks (if you itemize)!

A final note, if we may borrow the words of Gandhi:

“The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others.“