Benefits
YOUR MOTIVATION
Your reasons for contributing your time and talents are unique to you. You may care deeply about community involvement and helping others. You may volunteer to meet new people. You may volunteer to put your skills and experiences to work in new ways, or, perhaps, to discover the possibility of a second career.
LIVE LONGER: VOLUNTEER!
The real benefit people get from volunteering is the satisfaction of incorporating service into their lives and making a difference in their community. The intangible benefits alone—such as pride, satisfaction and accomplishment—are significant reasons to serve. Moreover, when we share our time and talents, we:
- Solve problems
- Strengthen communities
- Improve lives
- Connect to others
- Transform our own lives
Over the past two decades we have also seen a growing body of research that indicates volunteering provides individual health benefits in addition to social benefits. This research has established a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.
Comparisons of the health benefits of volunteering for different age groups have also shown that older volunteers are the most likely to receive greater benefits from volunteering, whether because they are more likely to face higher incidence of illness or because volunteering provides them with physical and social activity and a sense of purpose at a time when their social roles are changing. Some of these findings also indicate that volunteers who devote a “considerable” amount of time to volunteer activities (about 100 hours per year) are most likely to exhibit positive health outcomes.
TANGIBLE BENEFITS FOR RSVP MEMBERS
RSVP San Francisco & Alameda Counties partners with more than 100 nonprofits and agencies to offer over 1500 different service opportunities to RSVP members. In addition, membership is free, and includes valuable benefits.
- Personalized matching: We work to find the right opportunity for your passions, skills, interests, and schedule.
- Travel reimbursement: This modest stipend helps defray the cost of service.
- RSVP communications: Through Connections, our quarterly newsletter, we like to keep in touch and keep you aware of new opportunities, events and information.
- Social events: Network with like minded, civically engaged individuals who want to make a difference in their community. Attend the theater, lectures, or musical presentations.