In this season of giving it’s good to remember that time, not money or what it can buy, is the most precious gift. A person can usually make more money, not so with time. This holiday season give the gift of listening, of visiting those in need of company. Break bread with friends, hold family close and show kindness to strangers. Such things, sages say and scientific studies have found, bring joy.
That’s not to say that money’s not important. This year, despite a strong economy, many are suffering. The number of homeless in many communities is growing because wages fail to rise nearly as fast as rents. Cuts, both real and threatened, to the federal food stamp program promise to increase hunger.
Meanwhile, thanks to the 2017 tax cuts enacted by President Trump and his fellow Republicans, charitable giving by individuals fell to a 10-year low last year. Millions of taxpayers who once itemized their tax returns no longer had to do so and thus received no deduction for charitable giving. Predictably, and unfortunately, many gave less or not at all, which put a big dent in the budgets of charitable organizations.
A remedy is possible. Two bills have been filed that would return the incentive to give. One, if enacted, would add a line above the standard deduction on the form for taxpayers who don’t itemize. The other would make the charitable deduction a tax credit available to all taxpayers, which, its proponents say, means taxpayers in every income bracket would see an equal percentage benefit for their gifts.
Both proposals have bipartisan support, but nonprofits and charities need help now.
Giving, especially contributions to a cause that one holds dear, sends a little dose of the neurotransmitter dopamine to the brain’s pleasure center. Thinking of the gift later brings a warm glow. Happiness rekindled. So treat yourself. Give some money to a good cause. There’s no lack of them, locally or globally, but do some homework. Look up unfamiliar organizations on Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) or the Better Business Bureau’s www.give.org or GuideStar (www.guidestar.org).
Think expansively. A gift to a group combating climate change, for example, potentially benefits the planet and its inhabitants. A gift to an arts group keeps culture alive. A gift of food sustains life. A gift to medical research may fund a cure. And then, of course, there’s the gift of time.
For years if not decades, state comparisons, as measured by percentage of income donated to charity, ranked New Hampshire last or next to last in charitable giving – the Skinflint State. In 2014, the journal Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that New Hampshire residents contributed just $17.40 for every $1,000 of income to charity and placed last in the nation. But in more recent studies, using multiple measures of giving, including hours of volunteer work per capita, the Granite State moved up to ninth in one study and 11th in another. Whether of time or money, the point is to give and make yourself a happier person and this world a better place.