Korngleng Sear
Spring Education Center
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Abstract
It is likely that not every person has a desire to give, help, and share with other people. It is human nature to be selfish. To become selfless people, we need to be intentional in our giving. This means that we must shift our focus from ourselves to other people. This article intends to explain several rationales why people should not overlook giving and should take giving into their hearts. There are six reasons, including a small act of giving makes a big impact; giving benefits the giver; giving generates a ripple effect; giving is a powerful tool to build a robust and lasting relationship; giving makes a community a better place; and giving is what everyone can do. The article also argues that people will never run out of materials when they initially give, continuously give, and regularly give to other people. On the contrary, as people make a decision to become constant givers, their lives can become better, happier, richer, and more significant.
Keywords: Giving; the act of giving; benefits of giving; givers; charity
Introduction
In April 1992, the Rodney King trial caused street fighting for many days in Los Angeles, California. Approximately 1,100 buildings were terribly damaged (Wallenfeldt, 2023). Surprisingly, all the McDonald’s restaurants in the location were in good condition. Why did people not want to demolish McDonald’s infrastructure? The answer lies in its corporate social responsibility. McDonald’s cares about the community. It supports literacy efforts and sports programs. Young people know they can always get a job at McDonald’s (Covey, 2006).
The McDonald’s story gives a true example of what we will receive in return when we give, help, and care about people. However, not every person or organization has a commitment to corporate social responsibility. According to Maxwell (2004), in the United States, only 2.5% of American revenue goes to charitable causes. This number is lower than the number of donations during the Great Depression, which was 2.9%. Sadly, 80% of American citizens who could get at least $1 million a year for their salaries are not willing to donate their money to charity.
According to the National Blood Transfusion Centre (Bosaba, 2022), only 15% of Cambodian citizens donated their blood, and the majority of them did it in groups because it was part of a certain program or a requirement by their organizations. The number of donations increased significantly when there was a call for donations from a prestigious hospital, Kantha Bopha Hospital (Kimmarita, 2023). However, I believe that the number of donations fell dramatically when the campaign ended. People give away their money only when there is a campaign or an important event. They do not regularly donate their money to charitable causes.
This article aims to provide readers with rationales for why they should not overlook giving and should take giving into their hearts. It also intends to urge people to implement giving in a consistent manner. The article is divided into six sections. The first section discusses how a small act of kindness can make a big impact. The second section examines the benefits that constant givers will receive. The third section argues that giving will produce a ripple effect. The fourth section asserts that giving is a cornerstone of robust and lasting relationships. The fifth section outlines the remarkable influence of giving on people and society. The sixth section argues that people from every walk of life can implement giving if they truly want to give, help, and share with other people.
A small act of giving makes a big impact
Many people possess the belief that they will give when they gain more wealth and have independent finances. In fact, any small act of kindness can make a significant impact on people’s lives. A smile, a note of encouragement, or a compliment to a person when he or she is suffering from emotional exhaustion can make a big difference in his or her day. As Mark Twain once said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.” (Goodreads, n.d.). This quote shows the importance of compliments as a small act of kindness. According to Red Nose Day (n.d.), if we donate one dollar to Comic Relief, a British charity, it helps give ten meals to kids and families. A five-dollar donation can give a child a doctor’s visit, and a ten-dollar donation provides essential medications for a child. More importantly, 100% of the donations to Comic Relief will be contributed directly to the cause (Kim & Mauborgne, 2017).
Similarly, if we donate to the Cambodia Kantha Bopha Foundation, our contribution will help to heal, save, and prevent children, and 97% of our donations will rescue children across the nation (Foundation of Children’s Hospitals Kantha Bopha, n.d.). In just two weeks after its announcement of the “10,000 riels, 10,000 donors” campaign, the Cambodia Kantha Bopha Foundation received approximately 2 million dollars from over 200,000 philanthropists (Kimmarita, 2023). The combination of small acts of kindness can make a big difference. We do not need to wait until we are rich to give because giving is more about heart and less about money. Our little giving precisely benefits the poor, the sick, the elderly, vulnerable children, and homeless people. It even has positive impacts on people who are outside our sphere of influence and beyond our reach.
Giving benefits the giver
Giving can benefit the giver in many ways. First, giving, helping, and sharing can make the giver happier. As a Chinese proverb states, “If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.” According to a joint study between the University of British Columbia and the Harvard Business School (Ben-Shahar, 2021), when a person buys something for himself or herself, his or her level of happiness goes up significantly. Sadly, the happiness level will go back down to where it was after one day. However, when a person buys something and gives it to someone, his or her level of happiness also increases dramatically, but his or her happiness level will go down just a little bit after one day, and it takes one week for the happiness level to go back to where it was.
Second, people, by the principle of reciprocity, will try to repay what another person has provided them. If we are leaders in an organization, steady kindness to our employees helps us earn loyalty from them. As noted by Cialdini (2021), the owner of a candy shop can increase the likelihood of clients’ purchases by 42% when he or she gives a free piece of candy to the customers who enter the shop. Likewise, survey researchers can significantly increase survey completion rates when they send questionnaires attached to a monetary gift, such as a silver dollar or a $5 check, to potential respondents. In a restaurant, the customers tend to be willing to give additional tips when the owner gives the bill, accompanied by candies or mints, to them (Cialdini, 2021).
Third, research has demonstrated that when we give away $1, we will receive $3.75 in return (Grant, 2013). The result of this research study became evident to me a few years ago. In fact, the more money tycoons give away, the richer they become. The renowned philanthropist Warren Buffett has given away $48 billion (Durot, 2022), but the revenue of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, from 2002 to 2023 has steadily increased, except for 2008, 2011, 2015, and 2020 (Companies Market Cap, n.d.-a). As of 2018, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates donated about $36 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (“Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” 2023); however, the revenue of their company, Microsoft, from 2002 to 2023 has increased, except for 2009, 2015, and 2016 (Companies Market Cap, n.d.-b). Giving does not cause people to run out of materials. In contrast, it can make them happier and richer.
Giving generates a ripple effect
Children are influenced by their parents’ behavior. In essence, when a child observes that his or her parents are always helpful and take care of other people, he or she experiences a family-like feeling, too. He or she is willing to treat people with kindness when he or she grows up. In 1940, a Japanese diplomat, Chiune Sugihara, rescued 200 Polish Jews from the infamous Holocaust. What triggered Sugihara to have this kind of phenomenal benevolence? It is due heavily to the home and family he grew up with. His parents always warmly welcomed guests who were in need of food and shelter. They even provided strangers with baths and washing clothes (Cialdini, 2021). In Sugihara’s perspective, humans are valuable assets on the planet, no matter what their backgrounds are.
Likewise, the venerable humanitarian, Mother Teresa, also had a similar childhood. Her mother always gave away clothes, housed people, and fed hungry citizens (Cialdini, 2021). Such behavior and environment genuinely influenced Mother Teresa and led her to dedicate her life to serving the poorest of the poor. Her life mission also generated a ripple effect. Plenty of nuns have continued her work and vision until now.
I grew up in a family full of givers. My grandmother and my mother often donate to charity, contribute to constructing pagodas, and help the poor in the village. These exemplary acts of their benevolence, coupled with the articles about generosity I have read, tremendously affect my life, and generosity has become one of my core values. For example, every month, I donate $15 to the Cambodia Kantha Bopha Foundation, another $15 to the Mengly J. Quach Foundation, and the other $15 to the Cambodia Education Forum. In addition, since 2018, I have given a number of books to my students, colleagues, and friends because I believe that reading good books can help improve people’s lives. My family and other generous people have set very good examples that I have emulated and followed in their footsteps for many years.
Giving is a powerful tool to build a robust and lasting relationship
What is a great way to build relationships with people? As an old adage goes, “Kill someone with kindness.” Ben-Shahar (2021) asserted that giving is one of the best ways to meaningfully strengthen our relationship. Covey (1998) echoed this statement by saying that doing little things can help us build friendships because the little things in relationships are the big things. In fact, as two people consistently implement mutual giving, it creates trust, which leads to a secure and robust relationship. When a talented person is a giver in the team, the members will appreciate him or her and want to see him or her flourish and succeed. In contrast, when a potential taker accomplishes great success, the team members tend to envy him or her (Grant, 2013). People desire to have lasting relationships with givers rather than takers.
As we practice giving in relationships, we should think beyond money and materials. Because children often want their time from their parents, I believe that our time is the most priceless asset we should give to people around us. This means that we give others ourselves. We invest our time in others and make ourselves available to them just for the sake of seeing them blossom. All the things in this world may be temporary, but people and relationships matter. As Albom (2002, n.p.) wisely said, “Death ends a life, not a relationship.”
Giving makes a community a better place
It is worthwhile for every person to notice that their growing community is the result of the contributions of each person residing in it. As a person gives for the sake of improving the community without expecting any returns, it helps improve the living conditions of people in the country. For instance, the Cambodia Education Forum (CEF) was founded on July 1, 2020, by three Cambodian researchers. Its core purpose is to promote education research and publication in Cambodia (Heng, 2021). People can download the articles from its website free of charge. As of September 2023, CEF has published five edited books and around 100 articles. According to Dr. Kimkong Heng, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, the books will be donated to several public libraries in Phnom Penh, such as the National Library, the Hun Sen Library at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the Senate Library, etc. Furthermore, CEF has offered research seminars and mentorship programs to university students, graduates, and new researchers. At the time of writing, CEF is training 16 selected mentees for Cohort 4 of its research internship program. It is also recruiting new research interns for its new research internship program.
The emergence of CEF has had a remarkable influence on people and the community. It is an innovative initiative that is created to promote research and publication, contributing to the betterment of society. It offers voluntary professional opportunities to people, imparts extensive knowledge to students and researchers, improves the quality of general and higher education through its promotion of research activities, and builds hope for the research movement in the country.
Giving is what everyone can do
Whenever we talk about giving, we often think about it in terms of money. We believe that we need money to give to people. Moreover, we tend to appreciate people who can donate a lot of their money. In reality, it does not require us to spend money on some acts of giving. I categorize giving into four ways of giving:
Giving at a zero cost: As the name implies, we do not need to spend money on this picture of giving. A few examples of this act of giving are saying hello to a stranger, smiling at a friend, hugging a kid, mentoring a new generation, and sharing knowledge with a group of people.
Giving at a micro cost: We need to spend a little money if we want to practice this one. Some examples include buying food for a poor child, giving a friend a treat, and paying a stranger for his or her parking fee.
Giving at a meso cost: Surprising a colleague or a classmate with a birthday cake and regularly donating a portion of your salary to a charitable cause all fall into this picture of giving. How much should you donate regularly? Research has demonstrated that people whose socioeconomic status is in the middle of the wealth ladder can donate 4.65% of their yearly income to charity (Grant, 2013).
Giving at a macro cost: It requires us to spend a lot of money for this picture of giving. A few examples are building a church for the community, opening a hospital for patients, and constructing a bridge for a village.
The bottom line is that everyone can give. We simply give in accordance with our financial situation or ability. If we are billionaires, we can practice the last three ways of giving. Nevertheless, if we do not have a good financial situation, then we can at least practice giving at a zero cost.
Conclusion
Maxwell (2004, n.p.) once said, “Today’s generosity gives me significance.” Having a useful and significant life is better than having a successful life. A successful life is what we do for ourselves, whereas a significant life is what we do for other people. It means that we value every person, believe in people, see the seed of greatness in them, and help them reach their potential. It is important to realize that significant people are givers rather than takers. They are rivers, not reservoirs. They possess an abundant mindset, which makes them believe that they never run out of materials when they give, help, and share with others. However, as they initially give, continuously give, and regularly give, they can also receive great returns. They sleep well at night, and their lives become better, happier, richer, and more significant.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to express his gratitude to Dr. Kimkong Heng, the Editor-in-Chief of the Cambodian Education Forum, for his constructive feedback and editorial support. The author also wants to thank an anonymous reviewer for his/her comments on an earlier version of this article.
The author
Korngleng Sear is an ESL teacher at Spring Education Center. He is currently a research mentee in a research internship program of the Cambodian Education Forum. He has been a student of personal growth since 2018. His areas of interest are leadership, education, business, psychology, relationship, and social influence.
References
Albom, M. (2002). Tuesdays with Morrie: An old man, a young man, and life’s greatest lesson. Crown.
Ben-Shahar, T. (2021). Happier: No matter what. The Experience.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (2023, August 31). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation
Bosaba, K. (2022, October 12). NBTC hoping to raise Kingdom’s blood donor rate from 15% to 90%. The Phnom Penh Post. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/nbtc-hoping-raise-kingdoms-blood-donor-rate-15-90
Cialdini, R. B. (2021). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. Harper Business.
Companies Market Cap. (n.d.-a). Market cap history of Berkshire Hathaway from 2001 to 2023. https://companiesmarketcap.com/berkshire-hathaway/marketcap/
Companies Market Cap. (n.d.-b). Revenue history for Microsoft from 2001 to 2023. https://companiesmarketcap.com/microsoft/revenue/#google_vignette
Covey, S. (1998). The 7 habits of highly effective teens. Touchstone Books.
Covey, S. M. R. (2006). The speed of trust: The one thing that changes everything. Free Press.
Durot, M. (2022, June 14). Warren Buffett has now given record $48 billion to charity. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdurot/2022/06/14/warren-buffett-just-gave-another-4-billion-to-charity/?sh=3dd769cc2f9e
Foundation of Children’s Hospitals Kantha Bopha. (n.d.). How you can support us. https://www.beat-richner.ch/en/unterst%C3%BCtzung
Goodreads. (n.d.). Quotable quote. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8325811-i-can-live-for-two-months-on-a-good-compliment
Grant, A. (2013). Give and take: Why helping others drives our success. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Heng, K. (2021, September 13). The launching of the Cambodian Journal of Educational Research. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 1(1), 1-2. https://cefcambodia.com/2021/09/13/the-launching-of-the-cambodian-journal-of-educational-research/
Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2017). Blue ocean shift: Beyond competing – Proven steps to inspire confidence and seize new growth. Macmillan.
Kimmarita, L. (2023, June 15). Kantha Bopha raise $2M in two weeks. The Phnom Penh Post. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kantha-bopha-raise-2m-two-weeks
Maxwell, J. C. (2004). Today matters: 12 daily practices to guarantee tomorrow’s success. Center Street.
Red Nose Day. (n.d.). Your donation makes a difference. https://rednoseday.org/donation/main?rnd_usa_version=b&rnd_usa_freq=onetime
Wallenfeldt, J. (2023, June 2). Los Angeles riots of 1992. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Los-Angeles-Riots-of-1992
| Cambodian Education Forum (CEF) Website: www.cefcambodia.com Email: cef.correspondence@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/CEF.Cambodia Twitter: www.twitter.com/CEFCambodia Telegram: https://t.me/cefcambodia |
Cambodian Education Forum 