Research shows that volunteering has both mental and physical health benefits. It can help improve your mood, grows your perspective and gratitude, increases your sense of purpose, and reduces your stress levels. Volunteering with an industry group, a not-for-profit cause or local sporting clubs in a committee or governance capacity can also be a very rewarding experience in terms of growing your career and networks.
It is the perfect opportunity to share and grow your own skills, (particularly your soft skills) and make valuable and unlikely contacts in other industries.
Sometimes an opportunity may come your way that’s too good to refuse, but other times you may need to actively seek them out. Either way, there are a few things to keep an eye out for so you can pick a cause that is equally rewarding and fruitful for the organisation you’re supporting and to your own growth as a person.
Find the right cause
With numerous causes out there in need of support, you’ll want to pick something that aligns well with your values and is something you are genuinely passionate about.
Are you passionate about the environment? Your local footy club? Sharing your culture with your community? Do you want to raise awareness for a disease? What really means the most to you?
Volunteering really does become a passion project so make sure you won’t end up resenting the commitment that you make!
Be realistic about your time commitments
Take a look at your ‘average’ week. Are you free on a regular night or weekend day and find yourself looking for something other than Netflix to fill it?
Can you commit a day a week? A day a month? A few hours every few months? Can you meet in person? Can you contribute online or virtually? When it comes to volunteering organisations, they are often happy to fit around your availability, but make sure you communicate this upfront.
If a role presents itself, make sure the organisation can give you a transparent guide to the level of time commitment required to fill the role, the kinds of tasks you’ll perform and what skills might be needed for the position.
Be clear about what skills you can bring to the cause
If you’re a writer, can you bring this skill to help document the cause’s history? Are you a photographer that can take photos at events? Are you a lawyer who can provide support for constitution and governance? Are you up for on-the-ground work getting the organisation’s mission done? Or can you bring people to events or raise funds?
We all have skills that are valuable in different capacities, but at the very least you have something very valuable, which is ‘time’.
Identify what you’d like to gain from the experience
This could be as selfless as contributing to the organisation achieving its goals in the community. And good on you for that!
But don’t feel like you can’t get something out of the experience as well. This is a great opportunity to gain more tangible skills for your career growth in the process.
This could be:
- Growing your leadership skills as Committee Chair;
- Learning about board or governance processes through being part of the Committee and attending Annual General Meetings or Budget meetings;
- Honing your industry specific skills that your current job might not allow you to expand (photography, design, legal advice, auditing, event planning, fundraising etc.);
- Growing your professional networks; or
- Gaining soft skills like teamwork or growing your own confidence
If you check all these points off before you commit to an organisation you’ll hopefully find the role that just keeps giving!
About the author
Andrea Bradbury graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Commerce, Majoring in Marketing and Economics with a Business Law Minor, in 2014. She was accepted into The Communications Council Graduate Program and was later given an internship with Meerkats the Brand Leadership Company. Andrea worked as an Account Coordinator at Meerkats from 2014-2016 and then made the switch to client side marketing at West Australian Ballet.
She’s currently the Marketing Coordinator at West Australian Ballet managing the creative production of the ballet’s paid advertising.
You can connect with Andrea here.