Volunteering for (partially) selfish reasons?

[WaxOnWaxOff]

There's an organization here that repairs bikes and donates them to low-income people. They also offer bike mechanic classes and sometimes get new volunteers that way.

Decades ago, I was into bikes, but never got the chance to practice wrenching. I figure this would be a great way to practice, gain some great skills of my own, and do some good as well. However, I've never been big on volunteering (I occasionally volunteer at running events, but that's about it) and feel strange doing it when I get so much back. Would I be wasting my time? Doing more harm than good? Doing something useless (spitting in the ocean, as it were)? Or am I just overthinking this?

[Norman Johnson]

Way overthinking things in my opinion. I don't see the problem... they get help, you get to learn something, everyone is happy! I don't understand why you would feel strange.

[WaxOnWaxOff]

Way overthinking things in my opinion. I don't see the problem... they get help, you get to learn something, everyone is happy! I don't understand why you would feel strange.

Thanks for the reassurance! It's definitely my if-I-like-doing-something-it-must-be-selfish mentality kicking in.

[happy]

To be honest, I think volunteers always get something back, otherwise they wouldn't do it.  Whenever I've volunteered I've always enjoyed the experience.

[kkbmustang]

If you enjoy it, then do it. The Hubs volunteered at our church for several years building houses for low-income people (sort of like Habitat for Humanity). He even went on a 10 day trip to Pass Christian, Mississippi to help rebuild after Katrina. 

In the process, he learned many valuable skills that he has used around our house to save us some major cash. He learned how to retile a bathroom and shower, which we are going to utilize to update our house to sell. This year our hot water heater broke and he was able to install a new one himself, saving us thousands of dollars. Without volunteering and learning how to build a house from scratch, this wouldn't have been possible.

I also went on a 2 week mission trip to Africa to distribute malaria nets and work in a mobile eye clinic. I can give you a vision test, if you want one. :) I found that helping people, even when you acquire new skills, is much more worthwhile than the skills you acquire in the process. I think both The Hubs and I found both experiences incredibly humbling and increased our gratitude quotient by a lot.

One of our goals after gaining FI is to be able to do more volunteering like this.  I want to take my kids on a similar trip when they are old enough to handle the emotional part of the experience.

[igthebold]

Think of yourself as a journeyman. You know the basics, but there's always something more to learn, and doing activity X and learning is *always* better than doing activity X and not learning.

Even in my professional life, where I get paid to do things, I still tend to major on projects where I'm going to learn something, or projects that will help me down the road.

In other words, it's not selfish in the bad way, it's just a mutually beneficial scenario that will give you the motivation you need to be a good worker anyway.

[Mr. Tiny Stache]

Cool! This just sent me on a journey to find something like this in my town, Seattle. Bike Works is a similar organization and they give you a $50 discount for their classes for every 9 hours you commit to volunteer, up to $100. I have a bike that needs some work but I don't know where to start with it. I think I just figured out where to start.

http://www.bikeworks.org/adult_abc.php

[ShavinItForLater]

What is the net difference if you don't do it?  You lose (get nothing back), they lose (no benefit to the recipients of the charity).  I think it is very self-limiting when you look at the world in a net-zero way--anything I get must be taking away from someone else.  It's not how the world works. 

The world is full of win-win and lose-lose scenarios.  The reality is, most work, both volunteer and paid, benefits both the people doing the work and the "customers" (again, paying or not).  If it didn't, then the customers wouldn't pay or the recipients of the charity would have no demand for their services.

Based on what you outlined, guilt has no place here.  You're not taking a slice of the pie away, you're making the pie bigger.

[Russ]

One other thing nobody has mentioned - once you learn all this stuff, you're in a position to give back even more! Either by teaching new volunteers or just being more helpful around the shop. So teaching you new things is just as beneficial to the organization as it is to you.

[Bakari]

I feel strange about when I get paid for my work, when its for a non-profit, and all of the people I am supervising are all volunteers.
I am good at what I do, its true, but I imagine many of the people I'm supervising could do just as good a job.  Why am I the supervisor?  I honestly don't know.

Sometimes people come up and thank me for volunteering, and then I'm like "well, actually..."

In order to feel slightly better about it, I always donate any tips I make back to the bike coalition, and I occasionally "forget" to actually fill in an invoice - meaning I don't get paid at all - especially when the event turned out to be smaller than expected and didn't really generate any money.

[Wendyimhome]

To be honest, I think volunteers always get something back, otherwise they wouldn't do it.  Whenever I've volunteered I've always enjoyed the experience.

I agree with this.  If nothing else, you get repaid with a good karma deposit whenever you volunteer.  Besides, gaining experience in any field, whether paid or not, makes you a better rounded person.  As Solomon said, "Cast your bread upon the waters, and you will find it again."

[flyfamily]

I think this is great and what the world should be all about. You're helping, they're helping.. it just sounds like a great opportunity.