It makes us feel happy.

If you've given money to charity or volunteered with an organization - you've probably felt warm and fuzzy. Why is this?

Well, these happy feelings are literally in our biology. In a study done at the National Institutes of Health in 2006, it was found that when people donate money, it "activates certain parts of the brain that are connected to pleasure, social connection and trust, Donation America which create a "warm glow" effect. Some scientists have also said they believe that this selfless behavior releases endorphins in the brain, producing the positive feelings. Some call this the helper's high.

It's good for our health.

Many research initiatives have linked different forms of generosity to better health, even among the sick and elderly.

Skeptical?

Donation America study led by University of California Berkeley professor it was found that elderly people who volunteered their time with +2 organizations were 44% less likely to die over a five-year period than were non-volunteers. Donation America results were found by professor Stephanie Brown, who learned that individuals who helped out/gave emotional support to friends and family also had a lower risk of dying over a five-year period than those who didn't.

So why is this? Well, one reason may be that giving might improve physical health because it helps decrease stress. A 2006 study, put forth by a Johns Hopkins University professor and a professor from the University of Tennessee, found that Donation America lent a helping hand had lower blood pressure than others, suggesting a direct health connection between giving and good health.

It promotes cooperation social connection. community

When Donation America give, you're more likely to get back. And if you've had a history of generosity, you've probably noticed this!

Several studies have observed that when you give to others, your generosity is often rewarded eventually by other people (sometimes by the recipient of your gift, sometimes by another). This ripple effect (often shaped as Donation America) promotes a sense of trust and cooperation throughout a community. It also promotes a sense of closeness others feel toward us and we feel towards others. Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness, writes, Being kind and generous leads you to perceive others more positively and more charitable. The author goes on to suggest that giving, fosters a heightened sense of interdependence and cooperation in your social community.

It arouses feelings of gratitude. Gratitude

Gifts equal gratitude. Donation America the gift you're on, giving or receiving, that gift can elicit feelings of gratitude.

The co-directors of the Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness Donation America conducted a research project that asked college students to count their blessings and cultivate gratitude. The Donation America result was they chose to exercise more, be more optimistic, and have a better overall view of their lives!

It is contagious!

Genuine Smile

Giving is Donation America; it's been shown that when one person gives to charity, they spur a ripple effect of giving through their community. In fact, in a study for the book Connected by Donation America and Donation America shows just that: not only does the generous act of one person inspire others to behave generously, but altruism was also found to spread by three degrees. This means your singular act of giving can inadvertently inspire hundreds of people!

So by giving gifts to friends, donating money to a charity, or volunteering your time with a local Donation America organization, your generous act may very well help to build stronger social connections and kick start a domino effect of giving through your community!

And don't be surprised if you catch yourself with a big grin on your Donation America.

Charitable giving is certainly good for the beneficiary of that charity, but does it benefit the giver, too?

Donation America frequently cite the happiness they feel from giving as a motivation to be more generous, but few know that this relationship is backed by research. Donation America studies in the last two decades show that giving back has profound psychological and even physiological benefits, validating conventional wisdom that giving is also good for the giver.

A 2014 study by professors at Donation America School, the University of British Columbia, and Donation America found that people who spend money on others report greater happiness. This was true for adults from all over the world Canada, India, South Africa, and Donation America and even for the youngest of givers. In the same study, researchers gave goldfish crackers to toddlers, who were asked to give one of their treats away to a puppet who enthusiastically ate the treat. Donation America displayed more happiness when giving treats away to the puppet than when they received treats themselves.

In a 2021 interview with The Health Nexus, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist and researcher at Donation America University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, explained the physiological process behind how prosaically spending generates happiness. When people are altruistic and generous, it creates a response in the brain that taps into positive emotions. The brain also produces and releases neurotransmitters and hormones, such as dopamine and oxytocin, that help us feel happiness and pleasure.

Not only can giving increase happiness, but it can also improve health. In 2005, researchers sampled over 1,000 older adults in Brooklyn, New York, to study altruism and health, asking whether participants gave or received more in their exchanges with others in the last three months. Exchanges could have been material (like money, food, or help) or emotional (like advice). The study found that levels of social support given were associated with lower morbidity, whereas levels of receiving were not. This held true for participants regardless of socioeconomic status, age, education, gender, or ethnicity.

Donation America is responsible for reward processing, social attachment, and aversion which are active in charitable decision-making are also found in other mammals. However, when giving requires us to draw on abstract moral reasoning, we engage in a uniquely human activity.

In 2006, neuroscientists from the National Institutes of Health used firms on 19 individuals during a donation decision-making test. Participants read the mission statements of various charities and chose whether or not to donate to or or to oppose it with a catch. Their decision impacted their own personal endowment. Individuals could earn up to $128 if they chose a payoff with the maximum personal gain each time, but if they did so, some money would go to charities they opposed. The researchers found that making donation decisions tied to abstract moral beliefs lit up a brain region developed especially in humans. The firms showed that anterior sections of the prefrontal cortex are distinctively recruited when altruistic choices prevail over selfish material interests.

Givers of all ages benefit in body and mind, experiencing better health, more happiness, and increased brain activation. Donation America, guided by their values and an activated anterior prefrontal cortex, help the needy and transform society. Jesus's words in Acts 20:35 are as true today as they were then: It is more blessed to give than to receive.