Four Good Reasons To Give, No Matter The Tax Deduction

“When in doubt as to what you should do, err on the side of giving.” – Tony Cleaver

As often is the case, when I tell someone my profession this around time of the year, I get cornered for tax tips and advice.

Here’s what I WOULD respectfully suggest to the Scrooge of Giving: four good reasons why you should strongly consider giving money to your favorite charity, right now — regardless of the tax deduction or even the impact the money will create…

1. Your heart changes.
Studies show that when individuals spend money on gifts for friends or charitable organizations, their happiness increases — while those who spend on themselves get no such boost. Even Scrooge can agree that everyone wins.

2. You’re likely to just blow it on something dumb anyway.
As pious as you are, there’s still extra money in your budget somewhere. Create a budget for charitable donations, then take some of your extra money (each month or each year) and donate it to your favorite cause. Use your spending money to make a difference instead of spending it on Brookstone junk you’ll use just once. And if you think you don’t have enough, take that extra 2% you’ll be earning next year and put that toward a charity fund. For someone making $100,000, that’s $2,000.00!

3. Face it: If you don’t help now, you never will.
Don’t pretend that instead of giving money, you’re going to donate time. When was the last time you volunteered at a soup kitchen? Don’t let your mind fall for this trick. Send the money now or you’ll end up giving nothing.

4. Be a leader, not a follower.
This is the biggie, in my opinion, and perhaps the most important. There’s something intangible that happens in your psyche when you cut a big (or relatively big) check to someone in need, or to a charity organization. You feel more powerful — more dynamic. You signal to your own soul: “Money doesn’t rule me. I have more than enough, so much more than enough that I’m giving it away.” Then, of course, something special often happens: more money seems to find itself in your hands.

I’m not advocating a mystical pay-it-forward scheme or weird “prosperity-style” theology; I’m simply making the observation over years of being a student of how money works. And, perhaps ironically, it just seems to find itself in the hands of those who give it away.