Benefits of Volunteering from The Practical Viewpoint

After examining volunteerism from a theoretical as well as a spatial approach, analysing data regarding the situation of the phenomena in Europe and Hungary, with special attention on the relevant demographic groups, we already know that volunteering has its very own significance and the reasons behind these viewpoints. But is volunteering that useful for the society that it is worth to be promoted? Why do the European Union and the Hungarian Government put so much emphasis on volunteer work? 

Many surveys pointed out that volunteer work has several positive effects on one’s mental health and well-being as well as the emotional intelligence. Educating the new generation and providing them experience about other cultures, the world of labour and social difficulties is an essential goal for the conductors of the nations. This way, volunteering offers mutual advantages for both the volunteers and their employers/organisations. Supranational organisations promote these kinds of activities because with the help of volunteering the cultural and social inequalities could be thinned, supporting economic development. Volunteering is capable of vitalize inner development as much as cooperation between international institutions.

Cross-border volunteer activities offer a prominent opportunity for people to gain new knowledge, learn other nations’ best practices on those field and get to know the work culture and traditions, only to bring these back to one’s country and utilize it at home. This knowledge is to be gained free of charge through volunteering, while many people is willing to pay for these experiences. Volunteering offers a unique alternative for youth people to experience the labour market of other countries or their own; making their state profit when the knowledge is transferred back to the consignor nation. 

Domestic volunteer work has different benefits: it is capable of highly vitalizing special sectors of the economy. Free of charge knowledge transfer plays a huge role also in the domestic volunteer work, but for a different reason – providing an aftergrowth of qualified, experienced employees for the future. These are the main points where the interests of the different participants of the process contact, forming a complex network of different aspects of volunteer work. 

To conclude, a successful promotion requires deep understanding of the motivations of the targeted audience. Advantages of volunteering for the institutions are not the same as what positive factors do possible volunteers are looking for; and the promoting process has to be built on the second one without any exception. Social marketing experts analyse the reasons behind people applying for volunteer work and youth exchange programmes to be able to create comprehensive marketing strategy for successful promotion.