Volunteering to Meet Women (does it work and where to do it)
Volunteering to meet women is viable, but it comes with some significant disadvantages.
Meeting someone who's around your age, is attractive, likes you, and is single isn't guaranteed. While the quality of the person could be higher, it may just not be worth your time.
However, if you're already planning to volunteer, you can certainly still have some success with it.
We'll cover how to gauge if it's worthwhile for you, the best spots to volunteer at, and how to actually progress things with someone you may meet and like.
Is Volunteering to Meet Women Worthwhile?
To get a more accurate picture, let's further break this down to help you make a more informed decision.
As mentioned, the likelihood of meeting someone is low.
When you go and volunteer:
- There may only be a handful of others there.
- There might not be anyone around your age.
- There is no guarantee you'll like anyone (or that they'll like you).
- If you do like someone, they might not be single.
You could easily volunteer for weeks on end without ever getting a number.
If all you care about is meeting someone, then it probably won't be worthwhile. You can expect a better return on your time invested by committing to online dating (or even cold approach).
Yet, if you do already plan to volunteer anyway, then why not? If you find someone, they're going to see you're the type of person who volunteers (and how you care about similar causes).
That's a big green flag right off the bat.
How to Get Girl's Numbers From Volunteering
First, choosing a place you're actually interested in is best (we'll review some options in the next section).
If there are causes you're passionate about, you should follow them. Choosing the spot that you believe has the most single women isn't guaranteed to work out.
You may also want to bounce around a bit if there is more than one. So if you first helped out your local SPCA, you could volunteer at a different location the following week (or even at an aquarium or zoo).
The people you meet will likely be friendly- which will work in your favor.
You're in an environment where it's natural to chat and get to know each other, which can be a great ice-breaker. If there's someone you like, ask them questions like:
- If there are any other places they lend a hand at.
- What's it like helping out here.
- If they've volunteered here for a while
If you become a "regular," it's likely that others will want to exchange phone numbers with you. It's also an easy "excuse" to ask for her number (especially as you could suggest carpooling together).
The Best Places to Volunteer to Meet Singles
There are many options beyond the usual spots. It may be worthwhile considering any skills you have that may be relevant to a specific cause.
VolunteerMatch.org and Idealist.org are great resources to help match you up with organizations in your area that currently need someone too.
- SPCA
Beach clean-ups or conservation groups
- Soup kitchens or food banks
- Churches
- Big Brothers
- Political groups/campaigns
- Homeless shelters
- Museums
- Non-profit organizations
So, is it Worth it?
While it's understandable many guys struggle to meet women through common methods like clubs or social circles, volunteering is no better off.
Dating apps, despite being competitive, will likely have a much better return on your time invested. They are also a better option for hooking up with women when you're broke.
Despite this, there are still opportunities to be had if you already want to volunteer.
If you're still looking for a place to spend your time and need work, look into working at restaurants or clubs.
Even being a cook or a doorman can help you meet a lot of women you may be interested in.
Finally- look into volunteer groups aimed towards singles, like on Meetup.com. I personally don't have experience with this site or the specific group, so I can't vouch for it. However, it may still be worth looking into.
If you volunteer, ensure you know you would be completely fine if it doesn't work out. If you approach this being authentic and genuine- you'll be in a better position to meet someone too.
Reasons to Still Volunteer Anyway
If you already want to volunteer but are still on the fence overall, it's only fair to talk about some of the reasons to do it:
- If you believe in the cause (for instance, the SPCA), you will likely already have some shared interests with her.
- Just being there helps your image as a good and trustworthy person.
- It helps you develop social skills and gets you talking to the opposite sex.
- There are nearly 30% more women volunteering than men in the US.
- It can serve as a valuable addition to any resume.
- Meet some genuinely great people, ones worth more than a hookup.
- Those you meet may only have competition from their social circle.
- It's also, of course, just a good thing to do.
2 replies to "Volunteering to Meet Women (does it work and where to do it)"
Library book clubs (assuming you like to read), though not volunteering per se, is a great way to meet woman. It’s not snobby, hoity toity people either just more of a conversation about characters, the plot, what you liked didn’t like. Also very welcoming to new members (just went to 3rd monthly meeting).
I’m divorced and in my 50s. Sure, you’ll have some old ladies there but, lot of worn my age.
The female:make ratio is off the charts.
Take for example monthly meeting I went to last week. Of 18 people there, only 2 guys (including me) and 16 women. That’s 89% women.
You automatically have something in common, reading, but also smart, nice. funny, curious, empathetic women in general.
Apologies about typos in prior post. Maybe you can fix them?
Anyway, a volunteering gig where you are extremely unlikely to meet any women is Meals on Wheels.
I do it because it’s a good thing to do and directly helos people and strengthens the community. It makes me feel good to help people who desperately need the help.
However, the recipients of the meals are almost exclusively people in their 70s & 80s and a few in their 90s, almost all living in very dire conditions.