They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. As it turns out, doing the right thing and volunteering may also have health benefits. Studies have shown that people who volunteer may live longer than those who don’t.
There is one catch. The motive is important. If the volunteers reported altruistic values or desires for social connections as their primary reason for volunteering, they did indeed live a longer life. This study was published in the American Psychological Association Journal. The study says that people who volunteer for their own personal satisfaction have the same mortality rate as those who don’t volunteer at all.
Surely, you’re already thinking.. where do I sign up? The answer.. click here:
But just in case you need a little more motivation than this secret to a longer life, let’s breakdown the benefits of volunteering a little more.
1) Those who regularly volunteer have a 27% better chance of gaining employment. According to a study by Career Builder, 60% of hiring managers view volunteering as a valuable asset when making new hires. Likewise, a study by Deloitte found that 61% of millennials (even those who don’t volunteer or rarely volunteer) consider a company’s commitment to the community when making a potential job decision.
2) Volunteerism has a national value of over $184 billion. Nonprofits depend on volunteers to accomplish the organizations’ mission. According to the Independent Sector Study, volunteers are worth on average $25.43 to a nonprofit saving these organizations billions of dollars to feed back into local communities.
3) One in four (63 million) Americans volunteer. Individuals between 35 and 54 years old are the most likely to volunteer (Bureau of Labor Statistics), but the younger generations are gaining (22.6% of all volunteers are under 24 years old). Women volunteer about 6% more than men.
4) The top four national volunteer activities are food collection and distribution (24.2%), fundraising or selling items to raise money (23.9%), labor/transportation (18.8%), and tutoring (17.9%).
5) Nearly 60% of companies offer employees paid time off for employees to volunteer (Nonprofit Source).
So not only is volunteering a huge benefit to the organization one volunteers with, but the act of volunteering gives back to the volunteer as well. While the recipient organization receives the help of a volunteer’s time and talent, the volunteer improves his or her physical and mental health, increases his or her skills through new activities, and becomes more marketable professionally.
But despite the benefits of volunteering, volunteerism has been declining since 2005. In the years following September 11, 2001, Americans began to volunteer in record numbers. According to the Do Good Institute, volunteerism reached its peak in 2005 with 28.8% of Americans volunteering. That percentage has been trending down ever since, dipping to 24.9% in 2015 and still hanging around 25% today.
Finding opportunities to volunteer now though is EASIER THAN EVER. 67% of volunteers now find opportunities to volunteer online and spend about 50 hours per year volunteering. United Way of Central Georgia has made finding volunteer opportunities SIMPLE. Want to be the first to know about volunteer events in Central Georgia? Join our Volunteer United team TODAY!
Go to https://unitedwaycg.galaxydigital.com/ , create an account, select your interests, and “fan” your favorite agencies to be notified about volunteer events near you. For more information, contact Madison Bishop at mbishop@unitedwaycg.com.