Bold Question: Is charitable giving good for you?

It’s the end of the year and you know what that means: it’s giving season. November rolls around and you can bet that organizations are doing their final fundraising campaign pushes. Why the end of the year, though? 

For starters, with the biggest gift-giving holidays taking place in December, most people already have giving on the brain. This time of year is a great opportunity to tap into that motivation for a good cause. Then from a financial standpoint, the holidays come right before tax season. Many people use their end of year charitable giving specifically for tax purposes. When you consider all of these factors, you have a pretty good giving season set up.

There’s another surprising benefit of charitable giving to consider, though. People speculate that charitable giving is also beneficial to your health. When we reached out to medical professionals to investigate the claim, it turned out to be true.

The surprising benefit of charitable giving

If you’ve ever volunteered somewhere, you may notice that everyone seems so chipper. Studies show that charitable giving comes with a surprising amount of health benefits including stress relief, lowered blood pressure, and overall increased happiness. 

When you give, the human body produces natural happy chemicals like serotonin and endorphins. Edibel Quintero M.D. and Health Insider medical advisor said, “When we give to others, we trigger the parts of our brain responsible for pleasure, trust, and connections with other people.” 

This happens regardless of whether you donate time or money, but volunteering that requires physical activity can provide longer lasting benefits.

“Studies have found that people who volunteer are more likely to be physically healthy compared to those who don’t. Researchers have linked lower blood pressure levels with volunteering. Although they can’t say for sure that volunteering is what lowers blood pressure, the link is there,” shared Michele Navarro Ishiki LCSW, CSAC, ICADC, Clinical Director and Lead Therapist (licensed) at The Ohana Addiction Treatment Center.

Some research suggests that people who participate in charitable giving are more likely to participate in other activities that are beneficial to their health, too. If taking control of your health has been on the brain, adding in regular volunteering can help trigger your motivation, raise your self-esteem, and boost self-confidence.

Charitable giving can help you live longer

Along with mood stabilizing benefits, charitable giving can also help you live a longer, healthier life. Studies show that "making a contribution to the lives of other people may help to extend our own lives.” The study discusses how being a service-minded individual can contribute to a person feeling like they need to stay alive longer to continue contributing to their family unit.

Your gift is a gift

Not only does your gift benefit you, but it benefits whoever is on the receiving end. When you’re in need and receive necessary help, it can add to feelings of security, optimism, and more. By making charitable giving a part of BLK & Bold’s business DNA with the 5% For Our Youth program, we choose to use our influence to benefit others. 

This holiday season, a main aspect of our Give Boldly campaign is giving everyone an opportunity to do more. When you shop on the BLK & Bold website, you can choose to donate an additional percentage of your purchase to our pledge partners at checkout.