Giving to charity promotes mental health

Psychology Today’s Minding the Body blog advises people to improve their mental health by giving money to charity: Worried About Money? Give Some Away.

The post cites several studies showing some of the positive impact charitable giving has on givers:

• It may foster a sense of social connectedness.
  
• It gives you a sense of making a difference.
  
• It may reduce your body’s stress response causing you to produce less cortisol, a stress hormone.
  

There’s a lot more than that too. Donors come out ahead financially, socially, physically, spiritually — in every possible way — when they give.

Never forget: When you ask donors for money, you are not seeking to make them less well off. You are offering them a path to a better life — including improved mental health.

When you realize how much good you open up for donors by asking them, you’ll do a better job of it. I promise.

(And if you aren’t giving, what are you waiting for?)

Thanks to Steven Screen for the tip.