Should we call you Madame President? Don’t worry if the notion gives you the willies; getting involved in politics can be as low-profile as stuffing envelopes for a local charity or as high-profile as running for a national office. But the bottom line is, “if you don’t take action, the people you dislike will,” says Kristin Goss, assistant professor of public policy studies and political science at Duke University. If that’s not incentive enough, here are four more reasons to get out there and do something!

You Can Make a Difference

“It doesn’t take a whole organization to impact a lot of others,” says Debra Berg, author of The Power of One. Her book details different cases in which one person has impacted the lives of many others, like Leeanne McGrath, a suburban mother of four.

When McGrath learned that babies without cribs were “crawling out of windows to their deaths in the Chicago housing project high-rises, she began buying up every used crib she could locate,” says Berg. McGrath’s cause inspired her friends and eventually evolved into a much larger donation effort called Sharing Connections.

Although McGrath’s mission made an immediate impact on the lives of the Chicago children, in many cases, it may be hard—or even impossible—to see immediate results. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get involved—because one person can make a difference in the long run too! Birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger began her crusade for a woman’s right to universal birth control in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t until 1965 that the Supreme Court struck down a law prohibiting the use of contraception. Instead of focusing on immediate results, sometimes you “really have to think about your daughters, nieces, and the children in the schoolyard,” says Holley Tankersley, assistant professor of politics at Coastal Carolina University.

Woman Need to Be Heard

Women comprise just 16.1 percent of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, even though they make up slightly more than half of the total U.S. population, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

“Women and men have different life experiences. If we don’t have both perspectives in public life, we’re missing something,” cautions Tankersley. And Berg adds, “[Public officials] are always looking for women who are excited about how things can change” to get involved in politics.

However, you certainly don’t have to run for office to be heard; volunteering at the grassroots level can be just as powerful. Tankersley points to movements like education reform for women in the 20th century as an example.

“A grassroots effort began in education when women were locked out of higher learning. Then, once they gained access to those arenas and became professors and administrators, they were able to affect change from the inside.”

Improve Your Own Life

Sure, getting involved in politics and public policy can improve the lives of others, but volunteering your time to these causes can also make you feel better about yourself. It is extremely gratifying to know you are making a difference—and helping a cause bigger than yourself.

“If you want a balanced life that has meaning,” suggests Berg, “volunteering will add that dimension to your life.”

Additionally, volunteering allows you to polish skills like networking, problem-solving, and creativity that can serve you in your professional life. Berg has found that in particular, when employers see volunteering on a résumé they “see you as a person who is a team player, and not selfish or with an ego. That’s a big plus.”

You Set the Example for Others

When you volunteer your time to political or social causes, your enthusiasm is often contagious. Berg likens it to the “gawker slow-down” when there is a car on fire at the side of the road.

“You can be that car on fire,” she says. “The energy you impart, just by your enthusiasm, will draw others in.”