Getting Rich by Working for Free: Three Ways Volunteering Creates Wealth
A recent study showed that millennials dedicate about half as much time per day towards volunteer activities as nonmillennials do. In fact, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, only 28% of millennials are engaging in volunteer activities each year.
When I hear statistics like this, I cringe, as this only reinforces the thinking of elder generations that millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who would rather binge watch the latest Netflix show than do anything productive with their time.
Truth be told, I suspect every generation has been less inclined to volunteer their time in their younger years. Our sense of gratitude isn't as strong when we've got many decades ahead of us.
Plus, when you're just starting out your career and working to payoff those pesky student loans, putting in OT, or working a side hustle to make an extra buck, that usually takes precedence. We will just help out that local nonprofit when we retire, right?
I get it. Millennials are graduating college with six figure loans and in many cases, working two jobs where the pay hasn't kept up with inflation over the past twenty years. Who has time to work for free?
But for those 28% of millennials that are putting in "unpaid" time each year to a cause, many are quietly building a lifetime of riches all because they are willing to show up and lend a hand, with no expectation of receiving anything in return.
How is this possible? Because with nearly 8 billion people in this world, it's hard to get noticed and the only way you'll ever be truly important to anyone else in this world outside of your family is if you bring value to others.
The fastest and cheapest way to add value in this world is through volunteerism. There is literally no barrier to entry, it's as simple as showing up.
And when you volunteer, the world has a funny way of giving back to you when you least expect it. Here are three ways that adding value in the world through volunteering will make you wealthy.
Make an Impact
"A toast to my big brother George, the richest man in town!"
That has to be one of my favorite quotes from the holiday classic, It's a Wonderful Life. In that one quote, it embodies what it means to have lived a good life for George Bailey.
No, it doesn't literally mean George is the richest man in town when it comes to dollars and cents. Rather, it tells us that there is no greater wealth in this world than the riches created by touching the lives of others.
We are born, we go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, and eventually...we die. You're path may deviate ever so slightly from this but at the end, we all have the same fate. Knowing that one day you will die, the idea of leaving your mark and making an impact on the world is something we do to give our lives meaning. (Related: Millennials Donating to Charity? Yeah, You Heard That Right)
We don't get to take the money with us to the grave, but our legacy is something that will live on well past our last breath, for many years to come.
Of course there are many ways to create a legacy and do good for the world on a global scale. But for the vast majority of us, our day to day lives take place in local communities. It's in your community where the magic of the world takes place. Co-workers, clients, teachers, counselors, firemen, cashiers, baristas, dentists, teammates, friends and family - that's your community. And whether you like it or not, your personal well-being depends on a strong community.
But without volunteers, our communities can not thrive as volunteers help fill the gaps that free enterprise is unable to address.
Imagine if every non-profit in your town ceased to exist tomorrow and every volunteer decided to cash it in and just focus on improving themselves. Crime, depression, homelessness, disease, anarachy, hunger, isolation - this is all we would know.
It doesn't matter if you are feeding the homeless, tutoring school children, or helping to bring a group of like minded professionals together, you help to create a strong community.
Build New Skills
Have you ever wanted a specific job but didn't have the required experience necessary for the position? All candidates must have five years of management experience to apply, a history of managing budgets or a creative portfolio of marketing work. Sound familiar?
Lucky for you though, organizations needing volunteers tend to be a little bit more lax around the experience needed for certain roles. Honestly, how could they not when just finding a warm body to show up and commit is half the battle?
This presents a unique opportunity for anyone looking to add skills they might be able to leverage into future career opportunities.
Interested in getting into finance or accounting? Join the budgeting committee or become a treasurer on a nonprofit board.
Ever wanted to see if you have a future in sales? Try selling sponsorships, memberships or fundraise for an organization you care about.
Want a job in marketing? Manage the social media account or communications for a professional group.
Need leadership or management experience? Join a board and work your way into a top position (trust me, it's 50x more likely you'll rise to President of a volunteer-based non-profit board versus your own company).
You get the picture and in an economy that values skills above all else, volunteering paves the way to the experience and skills you need to get ahead.
Networking Your Way to Opportunity
When I first started sales, I would go to business after hour networking events with the hope of meeting clients. If you've ever been to a meeting like this you are probably familiar with the drill - sign in, get a name tag, grab a drink and walk around aimlessly trying to pretend like you know what you're doing. While I definitely worked hard to improve my networking skills, it always felt like half the room already knew each other and had consolidated into one big clique.
My eyes were not deceiving me. If you've had similar experiences, depending on the type of event you're attending, there is a good chance these folks had already formed a bond with each other that can only be built though blood, sweat and tears. To put it in another way, they are volunteers who have committed to a role for a period of time on behalf of the organization. And by working together for weeks on end, they developed a mutual respect and relationship with each other that could never be achieved from a single encounter.
As an outsider, I didn’t stand a chance! Seeing this first hand, I knew that if I ever truly wanted to make more connections in the community, I was going to have to step up my game and get involved.
Your friends, family and existing colleagues can only take you so far in supporting your career. At some point, if your goal is to seize new opportunities and make more money, you'll likely need to expand your base of professional contacts. Volunteering is the fastest way to achieve this and after you build this network, opportunities will open up for you like you never envisioned.
Ponder this for a second: for any given group of volunteers, you'll find individuals of different socioeconomic statuses, backgrounds and or other credentials all working together for a single mission. With access comes opportunity. To put it in another way, the next volunteer position you take on might have you working side by side with someone that could eventually help you in your career in a major way. This could be anything from the senior executive of a forture 1000 company, a local business owner, a future business partner for your start-up idea or perhaps just a person you get to call your friend for the next fifty years.
I must qualify this however. A key component of being able to leverage these relationships is you MUST add value in whatever volunteer role you are taking on for the organization. This is imperative, not only because you're helping advance a good cause but because your work is the single biggest thing that people you're volunteering with will remember about you. Sorry, there are no shortcuts, you actually have to show up, be consistent and do the work.
Looking back on the last few years of my career, the majority of opportunities that have presented themselves were due to the fact that I built up credibility among a core group of volunteer colleagues. This opened the doors to several lucrative career opportunities I never would have been considered for had I just simply applied for the job. Perhaps more importantly for me though, it has created the Monday-Friday connection that I desperately need as a employee who works remotely. If you’ve ever worked from home, you know what I mean. You get a bit stir crazy. It turns out volunteering with others in my community is also good for my mental health!
Thinking about ways to improve your life for 2020? It's time to consider that volunteering might be the best investment of your time. Not only is it good for your soul, it might be even better for your wallet.
For more ways to give back, check out our piece on millennials giving to charity