Most of us want to do more for our community, to give back in powerful and rewarding ways — but most of us also tend to make excuses about lacking the time to devote to meaningful service. However, doing good doesn’t demand all your attention. In fact, you can be charitable every day for an entire month while living your life as normal and accomplishing other tasks. Here’s how you can get in the habit of giving:
Day 1: Compliment Others
If you aren’t in the habit of donating anything, donating kind words is a good place to start. Everyone can use a compliment, especially if it is sincere.
Day 2: Support Your Friends
You don’t have to support your friends financially; you can support them emotionally to make a significant positive impact.
Day 3: Become a Member
Your local zoo, theatre, or radio station is likely sustained by a group of members who commit to pay a certain amount every month. In return, you receive excellent perks, like swag or free admission to events.
Day 4: Send Away Leftovers
Unless you truly enjoy reheating old food, you can do more with your leftovers by sending them to a nearby food bank that accepts uneaten food.
Day 5: Clean Your Garage
The average American hordes more than 300,000 possessions. Undoubtedly, many of the things in storage in your garage could be donated to a good cause, like vehicle or boat donation that generates money to improve your community.
Day 6: Become a Mentor
Whether you mentor an at-risk child or teen or a budding professional in your field, you can change someone’s life dramatically with simple advice.
Day 7: Pick up Litter
Whenever you see trash on the ground, you should pick it up. You can also spend a whole day cleaning up your local park.
Day 8: Make Connections
While you are standing in line for coffee or groceries, you should try striking up a conversation with those around you. You might be surprised what you learn about others.
Day 9: Volunteer
Donating time is among the most charitable acts. You should start by setting aside one day to volunteer with a cause close to your heart. Eventually, you can make volunteering a priority.
Day 10: Be Courteous
You can hold the door open for people, say please and thank you, let others go ahead of you, and perform other courteous acts without harming your life whatsoever.
Day 11: Buy Local
Small businesses might not have the best prices, but they directly improve your community. You can consider your shopping to be charitable if you support your local businesses.
Day 12: Give a Massage
You can offer to massage close family or friends, or you can purchase a professional massage for someone you know or respect.
Day 13: Tip Generously
In America, service staff do not earn large enough paychecks to support themselves. Your tip directly affects your server’s well-being, so you should be generous.
Day 14: Party for a Cause
You can let loose and be charitable by encouraging your guests to donate to your chosen cause. Either demand a donation as admission to your event or fundraise while people are enjoying themselves.
Day 15: Bring Breakfast
Coming into work to find a spread of fresh bagels changes your day for the better. You can bring smiles to your co-workers’ faces with this simple gesture.
Day 16: Rate and Review
Plenty of professionals and businesses live or die by their reviews on social media. If you’ve had a positive experience, you should tell others about it with a five-star rating.
Day 17: Cycle
Choosing to avoid pumping toxic emissions into the air is an underrated charitable act. You can try cycling to work, the grocery store, and your friends’ houses for at least one day — but the less you rely on cars, the better.
Day 18: Sponsor an Athlete
If you don’t particularly enjoy exercise, you can charitably support those who do. Runners, cyclists, swimmers, weightlifters, and more are always looking for sponsors to help them pursue their passions. Plus, many pay their donations forward to charitable causes.
Day 19: Foster
You don’t have to foster a child — though that would be extremely magnanimous. You can foster puppies, kittens, and other animals to show them love before they find forever homes.
Day 20: Clip Coupons
There are two ways to use coupons charitably: Either you can go the extreme coupon route and donate your savings to charity, or you can donate the coupons directly.
Day 21: Purge Your Bookshelf
When was the last time you reread any of the books on your shelf? You can donate to libraries, leave books around town, or distribute your unwanted reading materials another way.
Day 22: Give Passively
There are a few apps that connect to your bank accounts and donate small amounts without your knowledge. Then, you can be charitable without trying.
Day 23: Compost
Composting is being charitable by preventing useful waste from filling up landfills. Plus, you can donate your compost to community parks or gardens.
Day 24: Forgive and Forget
It’s easy to hold grudges, and resentment feels productive. However, by forgiving those who have wronged you, you are offering simple charity and encouraging healing.
Day 25: Send Mail
Prison inmates, soldiers, and others love receiving mail from strangers. Even people you know might perk up after receiving a pen pal note or postcard.
Day 26: Write
You can write about your efforts to be charitable and submit your essay to a local newspaper or magazine. You might inspire others to attempt the same journey.
Day 27: Smile
Your general positivity can radiate outward and affect everyone around you. By smiling at strangers, you can make their day.
Day 28: Donate Yourself
Blood, tissues, and organs are always desperately needed by hospitals. You can be a living donor or sign up for organ donation after death.
Day 29: Be Genuine
True charity is not a façade; true charity does not demand benefits in return. You should practice authenticity to ensure your charitable acts come straight from the heart.
Day 30: Start Over
The best charity isn’t a single act — it is a habit. You can develop your generosity by restarting your month of charitable acts over and over again until charity becomes second-nature.