Charitable giving DOES feel good

‘Tis the season to be…joyful – so true!

As the year-end approaches, donors are making charitable gifts to their favorite non-profits.  It feels good to do good, and there’s a good reason for that.  It all happens in the brain.

National Institutes of Health researchers gave 19 subjects each $128 and gave them the option of keeping the money or giving some or all of it to a charity anonymously. All of the subjects gave some of the funds, gifts ranged from $21 to $80.

The act of donating activated two areas of their brains; one releases dopamine which causes pleasurable sensations, the other plays a role in helping us form beneficial social attachments.

So, the research found that we profit emotionally by doing good; we feel joy when we do beneficial things such as support a great charitable cause.

‘Tis the season -indeed!  Be joyful, in your giving! Charitable love is a powerful force.