Two Resolutions You Can Keep: Giving & Gratitude
Giving and gratitude go hand in hand, and both have proven health benefits. So here are two resolutions to share with mission-driven people and organizations:
1. Giving Promotes Better Health
The belief that “it is better to give than to receive” is true in many ways. Some important benefits of giving are the significant health effects associated with generosity.
The Cleveland Clinic reports that if you give, you may experience the following health benefits:
- Lower blood pressure
- Increased self-esteem
- Less depression
- Lower stress levels
- Longer life
- Greater happiness and satisfaction
How does this help you?
Year-end donors might consider how practicing generosity year-round could amplify those effects. Generous donors might thrive through encouragement to share how giving makes them feel. Nonprofits could help families promote giving habits across generations.
Maybe there is some truth to that “give until it feels good” adage.
2. Practicing Gratitude Helps Improve Mental Well Being
The practice of expressing gratitude and focusing on the good in life is a path to better health.
Many studies support this claim. For example, University of Miami researchers conducted studies to see what happened to people when they focused on the good in life (as opposed to the bad).
- One group was assigned to write reflections on the positive things that had happened the previous week.
- Another group wrote about negative experiences.
- A third group simply wrote benignly about what happened to them, with no attention paid to whether or not experiences were good or bad.
What happened?
At the conclusion of the 10-week study they discovered the subjects who penned thoughts that focused on gratitude tended to be far more optimistic and felt better about their lives than the other groups. Even more astounding is they naturally exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than the group that wrote about their aggravations.
What does this mean for you?
Personally, are you finding ways to feel and express gratitude for all the good things happening in your life, even in challenging times?
Professionally, how are you encouraging supporters of nonprofits where you work or volunteer to embrace and share gratitude both for giving and for the work we accomplish together and the good it provides the world?
Giving and gratitude can work wonders on our physical and mental health, so let’s consider ways we can resolve to emphasize these benefits in 2025 while also helping to strengthen communities around us.
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