Volunteers Say Charity Work Helps Them in Their Careers

Fifty-seven percent of Americans who volunteer believe that volunteering has helped their careers by providing them with opportunities to learn new skills and meet other professionals, according to a new survey. Thirteen percent of respondents reported finding a job or making a career change as a result of volunteering.

Young people said they found volunteering especially helpful in making career choices: Of volunteers ages 18 to 24, 87 percent said volunteering was already helping them in their careers, and 34 percent reported finding a job or changing careers as a result of volunteering. And nearly one in four in that age group said they had met a romantic partner through volunteer work.

People in other age groups also valued the social connections of volunteering. Eighty percent of people surveyed said they had made friends while volunteering.

The 2004 Lions Clubs International Volunteerism Survey, conducted in February, asked 1,000 people, 480 men and 520 women, about their volunteering habits.

Fifty-four percent of survey respondents said they had volunteered in the past three years for a charitable, civic, or community cause. Eighty-eight percent of respondents said that their interest in volunteering had either grown or stayed the same in the past three years.

The survey also found that many people volunteer with their families. Seventy-four percent of volunteers are parents, and 80 percent of these volunteers said they had exposed their children to volunteering. Sixty-five percent have volunteered with their children, while 59 percent have talked to their children about volunteering.

Key results from the study are expected to be posted this week at http://www.lionsclubs.org.

Copies of the study can also be obtained by contacting Ellen Mahon at (312) 228-6956; Ellen.Mahon@ketchum.com.