(FORTUNE Magazine) – Can you do well by doing good? Meet Lorraine LoPresti. A lower-middle manager at Campbell Soup, she introduced the Philadelphia chapter of the "Christmas in April" charitable group to St. Joseph's Carpenter Society, a devoted band of community activists based in Camden, New Jersey, who spend their free time rehabilitating low-income housing. LoPresti, 32, soon took on the top construction-management job, revealing rare leadership skills. Not long ago she was promoted to manager of financial analysis in Campbell's international grocery division--a huge leap. What happened? Her bosses say her volunteer work helped mightily to gain her the big promotion.

Or think about Ronald Homer, 48, vice chairman of the Boston Foundation, which supports a host of local charities. This clearly helps his work as CEO of the Boston Bank of Commerce, a relatively small bank managed by African Americans. "Up to 40% of our demand deposits," says he, "are kept by the nonprofits that I am involved with." Homer is also a member of the "Vault," a group of corporate chiefs devoted to uplifting the city, and he says quite candidly, "Many of these people invested in the Boston Bank of Commerce, particularly during a period when the bank needed to raise some capital a few years ago."

Then there is Jewelle Bickford, in her early 50s, an investment banker and head of capital markets at Rothschild Inc. in New York City. She has started to do business with dozens of people she has met through her countless volunteer activities for institutions ranging from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Phoenix House, a drug rehabilitation center. "For example, I met Martha Clark Goss when we both were on the board of the Financial Women's Association, serving on the scholarship committee. She was then with Prudential Insurance, and she introduced me to the people in the Prudential bond area who now buy the bonds we create. She's lately moved up to become VP-CFO of Booz Allen & Hamilton, and we're getting ready to do business there now."

Don't count on your good deeds to give you good deals immediately, but volunteering can make a difference. It can--and often does--call you to the attention of your bosses as somebody who has balance in life. "If nothing else," says Unilever U.S. CEO Richard Goldstein, "that tells me you are a very well-rounded individual. I'm prejudiced in favor of that." Adds Mary Lou Quinlan, the 41-year-old president and CEO of the N.W. Ayer ad agency: "Being involved in charitable activities demonstrates that you have a more caring instinct and not just a money instinct. Better ideas come out of people who are complete in that way."

There are many companies that stimulate the development of such "better ideas" by actively encouraging volunteering. They include IBM (45% of its employees do volunteer work), American Express, Equitable, Chevron, and McGraw-Hill. Of the law firms, Debevoise & Plimpton and Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy have long traditions of pro bono service. At Goldman Sachs, where partners sit on the boards of 55 colleges and universities, every young associate knows that she had better become active if she hopes to move up.

High-wire volunteering can cost more than just your time. If you're not prepared to dig into your wallet, don't hope to be an outsider who breaks onto the board of a prestigious museum or orchestra. Outside directors of New York City's Metropolitan Museum or Museum of Modern Art are expected to contribute $50,000 to $100,000 a year, and many donate millions. But younger directors and those on educational or medical boards can get by with about $2,500.

When searching for places to volunteer, it's smart to seek outfits your employer favors. There's a new focus on local efforts (such as Campbell Soup's) that produce visible results. You can make your mark more quickly with a local outfit than with a big national charity, in part because the locals more often really need your know-how.

Don't overlook nonpaid work for local government, which is a good way to get recognized. Just one example: Patricia S. Pineda, general counsel of Nummi, the joint GM-Toyota manufacturing operation in Fremont, California. When she was a middle manager, she volunteered to work on the rent-arbitration board in Oakland, and then moved up to become a nonpaid member of the city's powerful Port Authority Commission. She was sought out on port business by Robert V. Shetterly, retired chairman and ceo of Clorox Corp., who learned that she was an alumna of Mills College, of which he was a trustee. Impressed by her talents, he facilitated her appointment to the Mills board. There she met another trustee, who was also on the board of Levi Strauss. He helped set up her election to its board.

What goes around comes around. Do your career a favor by proactively jump-starting the process.

--REPORTER ASSOCIATE David C. Kaufman