Civil society, a non-profit and non-governmental organization whose goal is to promote democracy in society, is important for strengthening social cohesion and social capital in society. Civil society is based on the virtues and activities of others for the common good, and hence civil society is associated with social capital that is defined as a characteristic of a society made up of trust, norms and values that can increase social efficiency and improve relationships between people. One of the important factors of civil society is also volunteering. The volunteer work we know today did not exist until the Second World War, but there were various humanitarian organizations for helping the wounded and victims which was considered as volunteering, and by the formation of the independent Republic of Croatia, a civil society is formed, and thus volunteering. Volunteering is defined as acting for the common good and the act of separating free time and helping others without expecting material or any other compensation and should be based on their own motivation for work and altruistic motives. Thus, volunteering is a significant tool for gaining experience, knowledge and core competences for life, but, unfortunately, in Croatia it is still not sufficiently recognized. After analyzing the available literature, follows the analysis and the presentation of the results of the conducted survey research whose aim was to confirm or reject predetermined hypotheses. The main objective of the survey was to determine the impact that volunteer work has on the level of generalized trust in people. In other words, to confirm or reject the hypotheses investigating whether volunteering affects individuals in a way that they trust people more for doing volunteer work. As well, investigate whether volunteering affects the perception of generalized trust in society.