Why Giving Matters

This is an article by a Catholic economist, sociologist and author Arthur C. Brooks that inspired me a couple of years ago.  It is about why giving matters and I actually first saw it as a forum address at BYU.  You can listen to the audio here while you are doing little Holiday chores today.  I guarantee you'll be inspired.  And, despite what everyone in the Occupy Movements may say, Americans are the biggest givers in the world, beating out the next closest prosperous, giving nation by a margin of  more than 3 to one, even when those stats are corrected for income differences. 

Here are some main points in brief:

1. Many of the most wealthy people who give, don't do it because they are wealthy.  They are wealthy because they gave first.
2. Americans give more than the entire national income of Sweden.
3. 75% of American families give every year
4. Utah is the most charitable state in the nation, a fact we are not "proud" of, because that would be wrong.  But, we are pleased, right?
5. People who give to charity are 43% more likely to say they are happy than those who do not.
6. People who donate blood are 50% more likely to say they are happy.
7. Giving does not make people poorer, diminish resources or happen because it is a luxury of the rich.
8. The more government tries to step in to give to the poor and needy, the less people are inclined to help in those same causes.
9. Providing opportunities for giving to those around you is the highest form of giving.
10. Giving is a core competency of successful citizenship and a happy life. We need to think of creative ways to teach the importance of this principle.

Go read it or listen and feel grateful to be part of such an amazing movement.