Often we think of "Giving" as a financial transaction and there are many other things you can give such as your time, passion and expertise.

1. Giving your time.

Spend time with those in need, helping a local community centre feed those less fortunate, washing dogs at a local animal shelter, helping a neighbour do the shopping/gardening, helping children to read at your local school, join a volunteer group such as a bush regeneration group.

2. Giving your Passion.

What ever it is that makes your heart sing maybe you could share or teach others about it. Maybe you love to sing, why not teach others or sing for others - the joy of music touches every heart, maybe you are a budding movie maker and a charity needs a small video clip made and edited, maybe you could that or teach 'bored' teenagers how to do that, the ideas are endless.

3. Giving your expertise.

Maybe you are brilliant at spreadsheets or other administration, you could set up new systems for charities so they could run more efficiently, maybe you are a great negotiator and could negotiate say a new rental agreement for a charity, do what you do well and allow others to benefit from your skills short and long term.

4. Participate or Start an Employee Giving Scheme.

Some companies have formal Employee Giving Programs, they can be in many shapes and sizes from specific days to maybe one or 2 days paid time off to give you time to give back.  Maybe your Company already has an employee Giving Program - check it out, there maybe something you'd love to do.  Maybe you could start the ball rolling to introduce one to your company!

New studies attest to the benefits of giving-not just for the recipients but for the givers' health and happiness, and for the strength of entire communities.  Of course, you don't have to shop to reap the benefits of giving. Research suggests the same benefits come from donating to charities or volunteering your time, like at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter. Here are some of the ways that giving is good for you and your community.

1. Giving makes us feel happy.

A study by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and colleagues found that giving money to someone else lifted participants' happiness more that spending it on themselves (despite participants' prediction that spending on themselves would make them happier). 

These good feelings are reflected in our biology. In a 2006 study, Jorge Moll and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health found that when people give to charities, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating a "warm glow" effect. Scientists also believe that altruistic behaviour releases endorphins in the brain, producing the positive feeling known as the "helper's high."

2. Giving is good for our health.

A wide range of research has linked different forms of generosity to better health, even among the sick and elderly. In his book Why Good Things Happen to Good People, Stephen Post, a professor of preventative medicine at Stony Brook University, reports that giving to others has been shown to increase health benefits in people with chronic illness, including HIV and multiple sclerosis.

Researchers suggest that one reason giving may improve physical health and longevity is that it helps decrease stress, which is associated with a variety of health problems. In a study by Rachel Piferi of Johns Hopkins University and Kathleen Lawler of the University of Tennessee, people who provided social support to others had lower blood pressure than participants who didn't, suggesting a direct physiological benefit to those who give of themselves.

3. Giving promotes cooperation and social connection.

When you give, you're more likely to get back: Several studies, including work by sociologists Brent Simpson and Robb Willer, have suggested that when you give to others, your generosity is likely to be rewarded by others down the line-sometimes by the person you gave to, sometimes by someone else.

4. Giving evokes gratitude.

Whether you're on the giving or receiving end of a gift, that gift can elicit feelings of gratitude-it can be a way of expressing gratitude or instilling gratitude in the recipient. And research has found that gratitude is integral to happiness, health, and social bonds.

Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough, co-directors of the Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness, found that teaching college students to "count their blessings" and cultivate gratitude caused them to exercise more, be more optimistic, and feel better about their lives overall. 

5. Giving is contagious.

When we give, we don't only help the immediate recipient of our gift. We also spur a ripple effect of generosity through our community.

A study by James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows that when one person behaves generously, it inspires observers to behave generously later, toward different people. In fact, the researchers found that altruism could spread by three degrees-from person to person to person to person. "As a result," they write, "each person in a network can influence dozens or even hundreds of people, some of whom he or she does not know and has not met."

Go on, I promise it will make you Happy.  

So whether you buy gifts, volunteer your time, or donate money to charity, your giving is much more than just a chore. It may help you build stronger social connections and even jumpstart a cascade of generosity through your community. And don't be surprised if you find yourself benefiting from a big dose of happiness in the process.