If you join a volunteering group, you should decide after a couple meetings if it's worth staying with that group or finding another. It's not just whether you agree with their mission but also their social dynamics.
There's no "best setup" here; it's whatever you'd enjoy most. It's hard to help people if you're unhappy doing it. You may prefer a "show up, help, leave" deal, or something more like a social club that meets over drinks to plan events and chat about life. So don't feel discouraged if your first group doesn't feel right.
With work—stuff that you're paid to do—everyone on the team has some shared incentives that can help foster alignment and consensus. Everyone wants stuff to get done because you and your team are in 100% agreement about wanting those paychecks to keep coming. Even with that, there is often drama and office politics.
With community organization, hobbies, etc. everyone is in it for the instrinsic rewards, and those vary widely among people. Some will be in it to meet new friends, others like seeing a neighborhood visibly look better. Some like the sense of power, others the sense of belonging.
It is really easy to end up in a group whose personalities and goals are too different to work together effectively, through no real fault of any individual. Like any relationship, you may have to try a few before something gels.
There's no "best setup" here; it's whatever you'd enjoy most. It's hard to help people if you're unhappy doing it. You may prefer a "show up, help, leave" deal, or something more like a social club that meets over drinks to plan events and chat about life. So don't feel discouraged if your first group doesn't feel right.