It’s now that time of year for thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. Here at Givey HQ, we’ve got a special New Year’s Resolution that we’re rather hoping everyone will want to adopt as their own! Read on to find out more…
Around New Year is a time when many of us pause and reflect on the past twelve months, particularly those things that we’d like to leave in the past and perhaps others that we’d like to take into the New Year with us. The New Year is often a watershed moment in some way and many people like to mark it by thinking about what’s important to them over the coming months in the shape of New Year’s Resolutions. This article from Brad Zomick on Go Skills lists the top 10 New Year’s Resolutions (the first three won’t surprise anyone: exercise more, lose weight and get organised). However, the article also goes on to give some handy hints about how to follow through with those New Year Resolutions to make them come to fruition, rather than just another wish list.
Here at Givey HQ, we have our own idea about a New Year’s Resolution that we rather hope will catch on. In this article, we explain what it is, why it’s important and use some of Brad’s top tips to help make this particular New Year’s Resolution stick.
Our Givey mission: “make giving a small part of everyday living”
Our Givey mission is to “make giving a small part of everyday living”. And this is precisely the New Year’s Resolution that we want everyone to adopt (and we know that lots of people already practice this!). Can you imagine how much of a difference it would make if everyone regularly gave back in some way – this could be donations to charity and community groups (Hint: this is our Givey platform HERE!) or just giving back in some other way – volunteering, helping neighbours and friends.
And we’re not talking about grand gestures of giving. What we mean is giving regularly and often; indeed these acts of kindness may sometimes go unnoticed, but it’s the thought behind it that is so precious. Givey is all about supporting the small but mighty charities and community groups, working at the grassroots level to give them a hand up. And you’d be surprised how powerful making giving a small part of everyday living really is. For small charities, help is invaluable, be that financial or some other type of in-kind support (ask them about where they most need help – they’re the experts on their own needs!).
So, back to our pick of Brad’s handy hints for New Year’s Resolutions that last beyond the 1st February:
#1 Mentally prepare for change
Our take on this is that, to make giving a small part of everyday living, then you need to consciously decide to go down this path by thinking about how you can tap into the rewarding feeling of giving. Perhaps plan a monthly regime – such as in Month 1, give a small sum to a charity that catches your eye on the Givey platform (we know that everyone’s giving may be curtailed with the cost-of-living crisis, so just give what you can), then in Month 2 give back in a practical way the next month (can you skill swap with someone? perhaps donate some unwanted items to Freecycle?), then Month 3, donate to your fave local charity, Month 4 – volunteer to help out at an event and so on.
#2 Set a new year’s goal that motivates you
Think about a theme (or themes) that you’re really passionate about – do you care about homelessness or are environmental projects more your thing? Do you know someone who’s experienced domestic violence and you want to stop others going through the same thing? Or perhaps you’re an animal rescuer and your heart is already given to animal welfare charities. You can then use this to frame making your giving a small part of everyday living. Why not weave these into your own 12-month plan for giving back? Support a charity that comes under the banner of your theme of, say young people, in Month 1 (Youth Concern), Month 2 – donate some items to a charity shop under your theme banner (say, The Children’s Society charity shops), Month 3 – find a local youth project to donate to, Month 4 – help local youth project out with some practical support.
#3 Limit new year’s resolutions to a manageable amount
Of course, here at Givey HQ we want to be transparent about our total self-interest (yes, we know that we are really all about giving) that we would love our New Year’s Resolution to be your one and only! However, we know that this is selfish (!), but there is a serious message in there about not over committing to too many New Year’s Resolutions. Stay focused, keep it realistic and give yourself the best chance of being able to succeed in them and reap the feel-good factor that goes with that.
For more inspiration about small charities and community groups in the UK to support, check out the charities, causes and fundraisers locally and nationally on the Givey platform HERE.
If you found this article interesting to read, here are some other podcast blogs that you may enjoy:
Why we love fundraising (and you should too!)
How to discover local fundraising opportunities