Spike & Jack: Give to charities because it feels good

It seems some people have stopped giving to charities even though they are in a position to do so, and the reason why may surprise you.

According to a survey called the BBB’s Giving.org Study, many people believe there are “people out there who make significantly more money who should give to charity instead of me,” so they have stopped donating.

On KIRO Middays, Spike O’Neill and Jack Stine disagreed, saying you should give because it feels good.

“I suffer from crippling depression. So I had to build a bunch of strategies in my life in order to combat that,” Jack said. “I found that gratitude and charity is absolutely the best, hands down, antidepressant in the world. Because you don’t want to give away your money.”

Jack said the feeling of hitting the Donate Now button to a charity you really believe in creates a great sensation.

“When you get that card in the mail from the organization, you’re floating off the ground for a week, man,” Jack explained.

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That feeling is flying in the face of the BBB survey.

“News about declining numbers of households contributing to charities is concerning as this makes the sector more vulnerable and less pluralistic,” said H. Art Taylor, President and CEO of BBB’s Give.org (and Co-Chair of the Generosity Commission’s Policy Task Force), “Unfortunately, our survey also shows that people who stopped or decreased their giving to charities over the past five years are least likely to say they might increase their giving moving forward.”

But Jack and Spike believe charitable giving is important on multiple levels.

“It lets the sun into your day,” said Spike O’Neill. “I don’t mean to be cliche, but when we hit the skids five years ago, my wife Melissa and I had tough times. Two things we didn’t give up on, first, our insurance. No matter what happens, you maintain your insurance and charity giving.”

Many organizations like it when they get many small donors as opposed to large contributors because they can maintain consistency with a steady stream of income. With a few large donors, they are more beholden to individuals.

“You can change somebody’s life for what we spend at Starbucks on a daily walk-through,” Spike said. “You really can change people’s lives and you change your own. The best antidepressant is given outside yourself and looking outside into the world and letting the sun in.”

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Jack said charitable giving is an effortless way to feel better.

“Most of the time, you have to put a ton of effort into feeling good,” he said. “You have to work out, and you have to eat nothing but chicken breasts and broccoli and go to bed early,” Jack said. “In terms of instant relief, there are two things out there. There’s heroin and giving to charity. If you want to feel good immediately, those two things work, but giving to charity helps others.”

Listen to KIRO Middays with Spike O’Neill and Jack Stine on weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM.