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5 Great Reasons To Make Charitable Donations

Supporting a charitable organisation is one of the most positive and rewarding financial decisions that you can make. But, with so many charities benefiting from so many donations, you may wonder why on earth you should give part of your hard earned money to charity.

Here are five compelling reasons to make charitable donations.

1. You help the less fortunate

There are times in everyone’s life when we need the support of someone else. That support could be financial, medical or simply having another person around to help you.

Charitable donations make that support happen. Whether it’s medical support for an illness, paying for a carer or helping the victims, disease or war abroad, charitable donations help support less fortunate people across the world.

2. You can help research into diseases that affect loved ones

Many people elect to make charitable donations to organisations that focus on areas that have affected them or their loved ones. It’s not unusual for people to donate to medical charities who support research or care into illnesses that have personally touched their life.

3. It feels good

Scientific studies have found that donating to charity helps stimulate the regions of the brain associated with pleasure.

In 2008, Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, published a report in the journal Science which found that personal spending had no link with a person's happiness, while spending on others and charity was significantly related to a boost in happiness.

"Regardless of how much income each person made," Dunn said, "those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not."

4. You get something good in return

There are lots of ways that you can personally benefit from a charitable donation. Charity auctions are a great way of raising money for a good cause, and successfully bidding at an auction can result in your getting anything from a signed football shirt to an adrenaline experience.

Lots of charities now offer events that you can sign up to as long as you raise a minimum amount in sponsorship. These range from abseiling down a tall building to conquering Mount Kilimanjaro.

5. It’s tax efficient

The Gift Aid scheme means that charities take your donation and reclaim basic rate tax from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on its 'gross' equivalent - the amount before basic rate tax was deducted.

For example, if you’re a basic rate taxpayer and you give £10 using Gift Aid, it's worth £12.50 to the charity. If you pay higher rate tax, you can claim the difference between the higher rates of tax (40 and/or 50 per cent), and the basic rate of tax (20 per cent), on the total 'gross' value of your donation to the charity.