6 Benefits to Getting Involved in Your Community

Time and time again, volunteerism has proven to provide significant benefits, both for the community and the volunteer.

At TBG, we’re committed to supporting a culture of volunteerism and community involvement. In fact, it’s one of the main tenets of our culture, along with Learning & Development, Work-Life Balance and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. To support these pillars of our culture, we have a firm-wide Culture Committee that organizes various activities in an effort to enhance and protect our employee experience as we continue to grow as a firm.

To further explore the benefits of getting involved in the community, we sat down with our Community chairs from our Culture Committee to discuss reasons to consider volunteering and the specific benefits community service can offer.

1.) Improve Physical and Mental Health

According to the Mayo Clinic, research has shown that volunteering reduces stress, leading to a decreased risk of a number of physical and mental health problems, including heart disease, stroke, depression, and anxiety.

“Oftentimes, community involvement activities take place in an environment with an enthusiastic energy that encourages human interaction and meaningful conversation. This type of environment and connection can be greatly beneficial to the volunteer’s mental health,” shared Rachel Kavney, Manager within our Assurance Service Line and Community Committee Chair of our Central New York Region.

“And depending on the organization, the work needed is often physical in nature, including yard work, cleaning, and other activities that involve movement—this is all great for physical health as well!” she added.

2.) Broaden Your Network

Volunteer work can also expose you to new groups of people within your community that you may not have had a chance to build connections with otherwise.

These connections can be helpful or fulfilling in a number of different ways—you may make build a meaningful relationship or even learn about a new professional opportunity. The more people you meet, the more potential opportunities!

“Joining a board of directors opens the door to valuable connections with fellow community members, and who knows where those connections might lead in the future,” shared Kelsey Dempsey, Manager within our Assurance Service Line and Community Committee Chair of our Rochester Office.

For James Farr, Consulting Manager at FoxPointe Solutions and Community Committee Chair for our remote employees, volunteering has been a great opportunity to make connections with others.

“Volunteering has served as a great way for me to meet others and I look forward to building these relationships along the way,” he shared.

3.) Exposure to New Resources, Programs & Places

With broadening your community network comes exposure to new resources, programs, and places.

You may learn about a new resource that can help you or others in your life, discover a new part of your city, or even find an opportunity to further connect with your community such as a kickball league or a cooking class.

Most communities have hundreds of ongoing and oftentimes interconnected programs, activities, and resources aimed towards a variety of different people. Getting involved in one of these programs through volunteer work can open the doors to many more.

4.) Learn New Skills

In many cases, community involvement introduces you to a new skill. You may start out helping at an animal shelter because you like animals, but then end up gaining event planning and communication skills along the way.

Nonprofit organizations are often running on minimal resources, so you’ll likely be able to exercise your problem-solving skills somewhere along the way as well.

5.) Find Your Passion

Volunteer work can also help you pursue, or even find, your passion.

“With so many community organizations out there today, you may even discover a new passion through community involvement,” shared Hayley Dimon, Manager within our Assurance Service Line and Community Committee Chair of our Western New York Region.

Or perhaps you already know your passion and volunteer work can help you get closer to it while benefiting others in the process.

“Almost anyone can find an organization that aligns with a mission they are passionate about!” added Hayley.

6.) Help Others

Whether people are truly altruistic or not is a conversation for another time, but the bottom line is that community service helps those in need regardless of the reason why.

Theresa Ellis, Senior Accountant within our Assurance Service Line and Community Committee Chair of our Capital Region, enjoys helping others because it provides her with a sense of fulfillment.

“Personally, volunteering in the community has offered many rewards. One of the main benefits I have seen in my own life is the sense of fulfillment I have felt knowing I was able to help someone else and they were able to benefit from what I did.”

Get Started Today!

At this point, you might be thinking, well all these benefits sound great, but I don’t know where to begin! Fortunately, you don’t have to become a renowned philanthropist to make a difference in your community and reap the above benefits. Check out our recent blog, A Guide to Getting Involved in Your Community, for tips on how to realistically start your community involvement journey today.

For more information about community involvement efforts at TBG, please visit our community involvement page here. And if you are interested in pursuing a career where volunteering is not only encouraged, but prioritized, TBG could be the right fit! Check out current open positions here.