People volunteer for a wide number of reasons that may include helping out the community, assisting with a cause through a charity, becoming a board member of a local community organisation, learning about something new as well as offering your expertise to support others.  Whatever the reason, often the benefits are significant not only from a direct and positive outcome for the organisation or people you are assisting but for your own personal development. Consider some of the benefits: Allows you to develop new skills or even provides an opportunity to maintain or even develop existing skills. Sometimes it is difficult to get experience so volunteering provides a great way to get a foot in the door into a particular industry and even within a specific organisation you want to work in.  This can be ideal when looking for a new job or trying to make a career change. Provides a great opportunity to develop your personal and professional network.  If running a business you may be able to make referrals or receive referrals from these people. You are most likely volunteering because you want to make a difference and this in itself can have a positive outcome on your health and wellbeing.  Your personal satisfaction, self-esteem and sense of fulfilment will grow and studies have shown that volunteering can improve your health especially if coping with an illness. Volunteering provides a great counter balance if you have a busy lifestyle, especially if you have a demanding job.  In some cases it can help put things in perspective and result in appreciating the other side of life and the people you are assisting by getting an understanding of their circumstances. Volunteering often brings people together from diverse and cultural backgrounds that you may not have been exposed to in your regular day to day activity.  This not only includes people from different countries but people with disabilities. The above represents only a few areas of personal development you can obtain through volunteering but there are so many more.  One of the great outcomes of volunteering is that you are often receiving a level of accomplishment, achievement or personal satisfaction that you otherwise may not be able to gain in your day to day activities – and at the same time the community is gaining as well.