If you care about the community you live in and the people and organizations that help it to thrive, or if you are passionate about certain causes, it’s natural to want to do your part in helping to address major problems. This is particularly true during the holidays, such as GivingTuesday, and during hard times, such as violence, disease, or natural disasters. However, it’s important to support your favorite charities and nonprofits at other times as well.

In addition to helping your community, giving can also have surprising benefits for you. Giving back can improve your mental health and happiness, reduce stress, build social connections, inspire a sense of purpose, and even help you live longer. A wide variety of ways to give offer you a satisfying and meaningful experience. You can choose the ones that work best for your budget, schedule, and lifestyle.

How To Make a Difference in Your Community

Here are some ways to give back to (and be more active in) your community:

• One-time volunteering. If your regular schedule is typically jam-packed, but you occasionally have extra time during certain weeks or months, consider volunteering at a specific fundraising event or information booth. If you invite friends or family to join you, you’ll provide more helping hands to the nonprofit of your choice—and can spend some quality time with the people who matter most in your life.

• Regular volunteering. Many volunteer opportunities exist for the frequency that works for your schedule, whether that’s weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Volunteering regularly can help you get to know nonprofit staff members and the work they do, and it can allow you to make contributions to a variety of tasks, projects, and events at your favorite organization.

• Donate to a specific fund. Charities and nonprofit organizations frequently have separate budgets for various departments and functions. Donating to a specific fund can give you the satisfaction of knowing exactly where your gift went and what it helped to accomplish. Alternatively, if you’re not sure how much to give or which budget to contribute to, consider giving to a “greatest needs” fund that will allow nonprofits to use your gift where it’s most needed.

• Use your platform. You can use your voice at work, school, social organizations, and on social media to make the people you know aware of how much your favorite nonprofit does for a cause or community and encourage your audiences to support them. Your employer may even be interested in organizing a company giving event, fund, or donation-matching program as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility efforts.

• Make a donation in honor of a loved one. If you’re missing a friend or family member who has passed away, making a donation in their memory to a nonprofit they cherished or would have cared about can be a wonderful way to remember them. Making a donation in memory of another person not only helps charities and nonprofits, but also offers a way for you to feel connected with and celebrate loved ones who are gone. You also can make donations in honor of those who are still living. This type of gift will never break or collect dust. While demonstrating that you care about what matters to them, you make a long-lasting impact.

• Plan a legacy of giving. Honoring a loved one with a donation may get you thinking about ways you can establish your own legacy one day, and what that might look like. You can support your favorite nonprofit mission even after you are gone by organizing the planned gift of a bequest, charitable gift annuity, stock, charitable trust, or other accepted kinds of donations.

Make a Difference With Chapel Pointe

Chapel Pointe is a faith-based continuing care retirement community which serves and enhances the quality of life for people aged 62+ in Central Pennsylvania. We’re honored that our greater community sees the servant-heart of our local nonprofit organization and consistently selects Chapel Pointe as “The Best of Cumberland County.”

Since the beginning, our team's mission has been to ensure that every resident is treated with love and respect, including when they outlive their assets. Residents who’ve depleted their savings know that they can always call Chapel Pointe home because generous donors support the Benevolent Fund. Through this ministry, residents receive the housing, care, and support they need to live fulfilling lives surrounded by love.

Contact us to learn more about our community or make a difference today!