Volunteering makes a huge impact in the community! Volunteers are out there
building houses, cleaning waterways, mentoring kids - they're doing so much for
causes that really need the help! But did you know that volunteering also has some
pretty cool and some unusual benefits to the people doing it? That is the subject
of today's video. Welcome back! My name is Amber Melanie Smith and I am a
non-profit executive director and public speaker on social impact, leadership,
service, and more. My goal with this video and my whole youtube channel is to help
aspiring changemakers with tips and strategies to help you make an impact in
the world while living a life of impact and purpose. So don't forget to subscribe!
I make weekly videos on topics like this and I hope that you'll be able to check
those out and join me for the next one too in the world of nonprofits I have
seen the power that volunteers can have on making positive change in the
community and it is just amazing what people who are willing to generously
give their time can accomplish not only that but the core focus of my life's
work and my nonprofit work is connecting volunteers to causes that they're
passionate about and getting more people just out there making a difference
because I really believe that if we can do that if we can inspire everyone to
get involved that we just won't face some of the critical issues that we're
facing in each of our communities and ultimately around the world so I just
love talking about the benefits of volunteering not just to the community I
mean volunteers have been a critical part of so many positive social
movements in our country and around the world that you really just can't argue
the power that they have to make a difference but volunteering also helps
you and I really believe that there's nothing wrong with that it is okay by me
if you feel better or help yourself or heal yourself when you are out there
doing good what I care about are the results what are the positive changes
that we're making in the community by volunteering and that is why we should
get down to it is to solve problems in our community so I'm going to talk about
six benefits some a little unusual that you can have when you're out there doing
good the first kind of unexpected benefit of
volunteering is that it can lead to a paid job that seems kind of weird right
but actually the research shows that if you are unemployed and you are
volunteering you are 27% more likely to find a job than if you're unemployed and
not volunteering there are a couple possible reasons for this one is that
you're out there building skills during the time that you're unemployed so
employers who are looking to hire you might be impressed by some of the
experiences or skills that you've built during your time away from the workforce
another really compelling reason that this might be the case is that when
you're out there volunteering you're meeting a lot of people and that
networking that you're able to do could lead to meeting someone who is hiring
for their company third think it was some kind of linked and study a couple
years ago that talked about how hiring managers would rather hire people with
community service and volunteer experience on their resume than hire
people without it so just by being involved in your community whether or
not you're currently unemployed could give you a leg up over others seeking a
job the second benefit to volunteering is perhaps not expected but when you
think about it it kind of makes sense and that is that volunteering can lead
to some pretty tangible health benefits for example when you are volunteering
regularly you are at lower risk of depression you have lower stress levels
you are at less risk of heart disease if you are a senior citizen and you're
volunteering you can actually increase your longevity that's pretty cool some
of the reasoning behind this makes a lot of sense you know when you're out there
volunteering you have this great sense of being connected to something bigger
than yourself your time being spent and your life has a sense of purpose and you
are able to spend your time meaningfully also as I said in the previous point
when you're out there volunteering you're meeting people and connecting to
other human and that's just proven to be good for
everybody okay so the third thing kind of goes along with the second part about
connecting to other people when you volunteer you also will make friends I
can speak from personal experience some of the best friends that I've ever had
have come from a desire to do good together through my work with my
nonprofit I've also heard of so many stories of people meeting each other and
becoming the best of friends and even going on vacations together sometimes
they even get married I have been to the weddings of people who have either met
each other through volunteering or have really formed a stronger bond through
volunteering and it's just such a great way to make connections with other
people the fourth also kind of unexpected
benefit of volunteering is an increased likelihood of getting a promotion at the
place you work when you're out there volunteering like I said before you are
building skills these can be professional skills you are showing and
practicing leadership and you're making some great connections that though this
may not be your intention may end up having a positive side effect on your
place of business it's no wonder that many of the top CEOs and major companies
have something in common and that is they serve as volunteers on nonprofit
board of directors okay the fifth one is kind of my favorite another unexpected
benefit to volunteering this one specifically applies to men it sounds
like guys if you volunteer you are more likely to attract a mate this is
according to a study published in the BMC evolutionary biology journal so look
that up turns out being a good person is kind of hot who knew the sixth and final
benefit to volunteering that I want to share today is this it helps you kind of
figure out what you want to do in life or a career volunteering is a great way
to try out a lot of different things
different activities hands-on skills based trying out different skills
getting yourself out of your comfort zone also exploring a number of
different causes and issues in the community and doing this can really help
you narrow down what has been a positive experience for you not just in the
volunteering realm but what kind of sparks a passion within you for the
whole rest of your life if you discovered that you really had an
amazing transformative experience while working with kids that tells you
something about maybe what you should be doing with other aspects of your life -
or if you found picking up litter or cleaning up the environment very very
fulfilling that indicates something that you want to consider for other aspects
of your life as well no matter what stage of life you are in helping out the
community through volunteering can really help you figure out what your
next thing should be okay well that's it don't forget please
subscribe to my channel for weekly videos on all things making a different
social impact service leadership and more and don't forget to bring that
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on Facebook check out my group change the world or bust I'm having great
conversations with other changemakers in the group about how we can work together
to make a difference in the world and really have a life of meeting once
again I'm amber Melanie Smith thanks so much for watching and see you next time