{"id":523,"date":"2019-07-15T00:13:23","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T04:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=523"},"modified":"2022-04-14T11:15:30","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T15:15:30","slug":"why-do-people-volunteer-the-importance-of-volunteering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-do-people-volunteer-the-importance-of-volunteering\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do People Volunteer? Why Volunteering Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Why do people volunteer? What are the benefits of it, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-self-care-and-why-is-it-important\/\">and why is it important<\/a> to try to volunteer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-grow-as-a-person\/\">Personal growth<\/a> feels great but reaching outward to contribute to others also is necessary for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/balanced-life\/\">balanced life<\/a>. Humans have a built-in need to contribute beyond themselves. Moreover, <strong>the more you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-are-you-helping-others-grow\/\">help others grow<\/a>, the more you grow in turn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>People often decide to write a check to charity because they don\u2019t have time to volunteer for an activity. But the personal contact and satisfaction you receive from doing a hands-on task are more rewarding than writing a check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are unlimited ways to contribute. Whatever way you choose to contribute is fine \u2014 all contributions have value.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Joshua and Ryan contribute locally through hands-on projects with Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchens, and charitable organizations. They\u2019ve also used their website to raise money for development projects around the world.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why do people volunteer? You\u2019ll feel a level of satisfaction you don\u2019t experience in other areas of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Start Volunteering<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some tips for getting started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Visit the website volunteermatch.org to see which organizations are looking for help.<\/li><li>Explore different organizations until you find the one that\u2019s right for you.<\/li><li>Serve in a variety of ways, so you don\u2019t get bored and lose motivation.<\/li><li>Start your own thing. Some people come up with their own unique means of contributing. Joshua and Ryan created their website to share what they\u2019d learned about life. However, if you\u2019re thinking of starting your own thing, it\u2019s useful to spend time volunteering for local organizations first to learn how you can best help.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Besides volunteering for a particular organization, you can find small ways to contribute in many of your current activities. For example, you can mentor others at work. The important thing is to <strong>do something that adds value to others\u2019 lives<\/strong>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>So whatever you\u2019re doing after figuring out why people volunteer, ask yourself how the task adds value. <\/strong>The question helps you identify how you\u2019re contributing. If you\u2019re not contributing, consider how you <em>could<\/em> add value to the situation, or how you could add better value.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time you\u2019ll start to replace things that don\u2019t add value to your life or other people\u2019s lives with things that do add value.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unless you contribute beyond yourself, your life will be perpetually self-serving. <\/strong>It\u2019s OK to serve your own interests, but doing so exclusively creates an empty existence. A life without contributing to others is a life without meaning.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Personal growth feels great but reaching outward to contribute to others also is necessary for a balanced life. Humans have a built-in need to contribute beyond themselves. Moreover, the more you help others grow, the more you grow in turn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-spiritual","tag-minimalism","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Do People Volunteer? Why Volunteering Matters - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do people volunteer? What are the benefits of volunteering, and why is it important? 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