Volunteering isn’t just about doing something tangible to advance a cause that you personally care about. In addition to giving back to your community, volunteering can make you feel better about yourself, and increase your feelings of self-worth and value.

One of the top benefits of volunteering is often overlooked. Volunteering doesn’t just make you feel good; it also improves your job prospects and makes you a more attractive candidate in the for-profit world. The following are three ways that volunteering makes it easier to land meaningful roles that advance your career!

Gain Perspective

Altruism is gaining importance in our society as a growing number of for-profit businesses are turning their attention to solving social problems and great positive change.  Serving as a volunteer treasurer shows organisations that you share their values and goals and may be a better fit with their corporate culture than candidates that lack volunteer experience.

Volunteering also adds depth to your ability to come up with new ideas and solve problems. Serving as a volunteer treasurer allows you to see things from a different perspective than someone who perhaps comes from a finance background with experience only in the for-profit sector. The way that you think about, and approach various challenges, such as managing finances for example, changes once you’ve had the opportunity to see things from a different viewpoint.

Innovation is a crucial need in all organisations. It’s also the natural by-product of broadening your perspective and using insight to come up with new ideas and solutions.

Hone Your Skills

When most of us think about the role volunteer treasurers fulfil in nonprofits, we tend to focus on their duties related to compliance and governance. Being a volunteer treasurer, however, isn’t just about having your hand on the financial pulse of your nonprofit.

Volunteer treasurers gain plenty of experience sharpening their communications skills as they must take very complex financial information and distil it into language that others on the board can easily understand. In addition to answering financial questions and providing clarity, the volunteer treasurer acts as a wise advisor and actively partners with other board members in strategic planning activities such as creating the annual budget. In addition to providing information, the volunteer treasurer must also develop their people skills to build trust with others on the board and form strong relationships.

Expand Your Network

A third way that volunteering makes it easier to advance your career is that it puts you into contact with new people that come from all walks of life. This allows you to form new friendships while expanding your contact list.

The more people that you meet on a regular basis, and get to know on a personal level, the more likely it is that you will meet someone that knows of an opening at an organisation that aligns with your personal values and goals! Expanding your network can also make it easier for you to be able to recruit the top talent that your current organisation needs, which provides a significant boost to your value and reputation!