The Surprising Benefits of Volunteering on Your Mind, Health and Soul  

Last year around Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the local Boys and Girls Club in my city. We served a feast to the kids and their families, provided entertainment, had giveaways and photo opportunities with costumed characters. At the end of the night, everyone left with smiles on their faces as they thanked us for the wonderful time they had. This meant more to me than I could express, and it made me want to give back to the community again, because I, too, had a wonderful time.

Volunteering has surprisingly great effects on your mind, on your health, and on your soul. So much so that we should all find the time to do it. We should be taking our children with us and encouraging them to give back to their community as well, especially while they’re developing skills that will prepare them for the future.

Volunteering  and Your Mind

• It helps you meet other people. If you’re new to a city, this is a great way to meet people. If you’re not, it can help you meet new people.
• It helps you connect to your community. The more you’re connected to your community, the more you’ll care about its well-being and longevity.
• It increases your social skills and your ability to build bonds with people. It will broaden your support network, connecting you with people who have similar interests.
• It can help your career by providing training for a field you want to work in, resources you can use for a job search, or contacts who can help you along the way. At the very least, you may gain valuable job skills that can be applied to different careers, or find an outlet for your creativity and interests that your current job doesn’t allow. An article in Stanford Social Innovation Review actually called skills-based volunteering overseas “the next executive training ground.”

Volunteering and  Your Health

• It can contribute to lower blood pressure, which can reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death. A 2013 study from Carnegie Mellon University found that adults over age 50 who volunteered on a regular basis were less likely to develop high blood pressure than non-volunteers.
• It can encourage you to walk more, which may lead to having fewer symptoms of chronic pain, and better thinking skills.
• It can lower your mortality rate. A recent research project at Exeter Medical School that collated evidence from 40 different studies over the last 20 years reported a 22% reduction in the risk of dying among people who volunteer.

Volunteering and Your Soul

• It helps counteract the effects of stress, anger and anxiety, and helps you decrease feelings of loneliness and depression. Connections with other people and animals can have a profound psychological effect and help you develop a social support system that you might not have otherwise. According to the Exeter Medical School research, volunteering leads to lower depression and increased well-being.
• It provides happiness and love. When researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of happiness in a large group of American adults, they found the more people volunteered, the happier they were, according to a study in Social Science and Medicine. Compared with people who never volunteered, the odds of being “very happy” rose 7% among those who volunteer monthly and 12% for people who volunteer every two to four weeks. Among weekly volunteers, 16% felt very happy—a hike in happiness comparable to having an income of $75,000–$100,000 versus $20,000, say the researchers. So how does this lead to love? Volunteering builds empathy, strengthens social bonds, and makes you smile, which are all factors that increase the feeling of love.
• It can increase self-confidence. Doing good for others will make you feel good, too. And the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and goals.
• It gives a sense of purpose. This can be especially true for older adults who have retired and don’t have to care for children anymore, but volunteering at any age can keep you mentally stimulated and provide something fun and fulfilling to look forward to doing.

I’m lucky—my employer partners with a different local organization each month and encourages its employees to volunteer. It’s a win-win situation: we help others and become a stronger, happier, more fulfilled team.

But what do you do if your employer doesn’t offer volunteering opportunities? There are many resources you can use to help you find some on your own. Ask others on your social networks, such as Facebook and/or LinkedIn, how to get connected to an organization in your area. You can also use LinkedIn’s For Good program, Catchafire, VolunteerMatch, or city-specific sites like LAWorks to find projects in your area. If you are interested in International volunteer opportunities, MovingWorlds.org is a good place to start.

When deciding what volunteer opportunity is right for you, consider the following:

• Do you prefer working with children, adults, animals, or the environment?
• Are there any causes that you’d prefer to focus on or that are important to you?
• How much time and responsibility do you want to commit to your volunteering?

Once you’ve narrowed your choices, try them out. Volunteer for different jobs at a few different organizations to make sure you find the right fit. Don’t feel you have to stay in a job if it’s not working out.

Lastly, make sure to have fun! If volunteering feels like a chore, you won’t get the benefits out of it and the organization won’t, either. Good luck and happy volunteering!