A lot of people, at first glance, might not think donating cards would be worthwhile. Most people don’t see value in them once they have been used, but there are actually quite a few ways that they can be repurposed and used by nonprofit organizations. Since these are often things that end up in the trash, why would anyone find it worthwhile to donate them. Here are a few reasons to consider.
Helpful to Non Profits
First and foremost, donating cards ends up helping a wide variety of nonprofits. It gives them materials that they can use for their causes which they don’t have to spend their limited resources on, thus giving them a chance to better fulfill their mission. While many people would consider cards to be something that nonprofits can use, with a bit of creativity and finding the nonprofits which can benefit from them, there are quite a few charities that would love to have them.
Environmentally Friendly
In many instances, people simply throw cards away. It’s always nice to be able to give something and additional life rather than send it to a landfill. By donating your cards instead of throwing them into the trash, not only are you helping a nonprofit they can use them, you are also helping the environment by keeping out waste that would otherwise end up in the landfill.
Inexpensive
One of the best parts about donating is that it is extremely cost-effective. In most cases, the cards would end up in the trash anyway so there is really no cost involved with the donation. It’s not often that you can help a nonprofit without having to dip into your own wallet. While there are some minor cost in sending the cards so that the nonprofits can use them, in the scheme of things it’s an extremely inexpensive way to help.
Easy
Many times when it comes to helping out a nonprofit, the problem is that it either costs a lot of money or it requires a time commitment. That’s not the case when you decide to donate cards. All it takes is a few seconds to put cards to the side as they are no longer needed, and then address an envelope to send them away. It’s one of the easiest ways that you can help a wide variety of charities.
Helps Lift Spirits
Believe it or not, donating cards can help uplift the spirits of those who have the chance to use them. Many of these are used for art projects and give both kids and adults a chance to express themselves through the art. In addition, donating can help lift the spirits of the person who donates then as they can get a positive feeling for helping a nonprofit with their donation.
Better Health
Better health is probably not something that you considered would be a result of donating cards that you no longer need, but it very well could be one of the results. There have been a number of research studies that have found that giving to others and generosity results in better health, even for the elderly and sick. Stephen Post wrote a book titled Why Good Things Happen to Good People and found positive health benefits increased for people with a variety of chronic illnesses. Being generous and donating can better both your and the recipients health.
Improves Connections
Another benefit of donation that you probably didn’t consider is that doing so can improve social connections. Studies have found that if you give, you’re more likely to get things back in return. generosity such as donating things is often rewarded down the line in unexpected ways — sometimes by the person who directly benefited from the donation, sometimes from some other person in a round about way.
Gratitude
Another great positive to donating is that giving brings out gratitude from both the person who gives and the person who receives. Gratitude has also been found in studies to be an important part for those who have healthy relationships, quality social bonds and are generally overall happy.
What this all shows is that taking a few minutes to collect the cards that you no longer need or want and sending them to us to be donated to nonprofits will likely result in far more positive that you thought possible.