Volunteering provides benefits beyond financial compensation, as it allows one to gain fulfillment from contributing to meaningful causes and helps advance one's career in several ways. Volunteering can fuel passion, provide opportunities to learn new skills and potentially secure paid employment, expand one's professional network, expose one to different approaches to problem-solving, and serve as an affordable team-building activity.

1. Income… $0. Value… Priceless.
It’s always a good thing to give back. Whether it is doing hands on service with a group like
Habitat for Humanity or assisting in the back office of a local non-profit, there are benefits
beyond money that come from volunteering. Apart from just the positive feeling of sowing good
actions into a cause you believe in and the impact on the lives of the recipients, volunteering can
also help your career. Here are six ways volunteering can boost your career:
1. It Can Fuel Your Passion
If your current job is not your ideal work, volunteering at something you enjoy is an alternative
source of the passion you can’t get from your job right now.
2. You Can Practice New Skills
No opportunity in your current job to stretch or learn something new? Find a volunteer
opportunity that allows you to explore new roles and skills you’d like to develop. You can add
this experience to your resume.

2. 3. Volunteer Your Way Into A Potential Job
Maybe you don’t have the experience to earn the paid position yet. Signing on as a volunteer
gives you a chance to learn the organization, build relationships there, and show you have what it
takes to do the job.
4. Volunteering Is An Opportunity To Expand Your Network
Not only will you meet people who support the same cause, you will find people that have
personal and professional connections that can help you – especially if you are looking for a job.
5. Exposure To New Ways Of Doing Things
Seeing how another organization runs things, and being exposed to different ways of managing,
brainstorming, solving problems, can provide a fresh way to look at the challenges you face in
your paid position.
6. You Can Use It As A Team Building Experience
This one goes beyond just you. Do you lead or work with a team? Finding a group volunteering
opportunity can be a low-cost way to do good and re-establish positive connections with your
team.