Benefits of setting up a node?

Total mining noob here! I've been mining on and off but am curious about getting more experience in this space. I've been DCA'ing Raven but would like to do more to help the project move forward. So, my question is this… what are the benefits of running a full node? I know it's supposed to help secure the network, but what else does it do for the project, for the person running the node, for others in the network? Can someone give me a breakdown?