Are you looking for that “warm glow” feeling?
The one you get when you know you’ve made a real difference in someone’s life?
You don’t have to be a millionaire to change the world.
Every single one of us has the power to make a difference. Sometimes it’s big and bold, and sometimes it’s as simple as volunteering with a local charity, making a small monthly donation to a cause you care about, or offering your skills to an organisation that’s making a real difference.
It all counts.
Generosity is contagious. When you give, whether it’s time, money, expertise, or influence, you are quietly telling the world, “This is the kind of place I want to live in.” You plant a seed, and if enough of us plant seeds, we grow a forest of change.
Here’s the secret…giving doesn’t just help others, it changes you. Studies show that giving, purely for its own sake, activates your brain’s reward system, creating that warm glow even when you expect nothing in return.
But to really maximise that impact, it helps to know your why, and that’s where a personal philanthropy manifesto comes in.
It’s your giving blueprint, a short statement about what you care about most, the change you want to see, and how you will contribute. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to come from you.
Here’s how you can write one:
Name your causes: What breaks your heart? What fires you up?
Define your impact: Will you give your time, resources, expertise, or voice?
Set your principles: Will you give quietly or share to inspire others? Will you take risks on new ideas or stick to proven ones?
When you know your values and commit them to paper, giving becomes easier because every decision lines up with your why.
The world doesn’t need a handful of perfect givers; It needs millions of imperfect people doing something.
So choose your something, give what you can, and maybe, just maybe, inspire someone else to do the same!
Because every ripple matters…and you might be the one who starts the wave. 🌊
For me, that wave is Mercy Ships, delivering free surgical care, building agricultural programs, and training healthcare workers so care continues long after the ships have sailed. I support them because they transform not just individual lives, but entire communities. ⚓
What cause gives you that warm glow feeling? I’d love to hear your why in the comments.
You can learn more about Mercy Ships and the amazing work that they do here.