Generosity: Definition, Examples, & Practices

Generosity, especially anonymous generosity that probably won’t be reciprocated, may seem irrational under evolutionary psychology. This behavior may have evolved, however, to promote cooperation in uncertain conditions (where it’s unclear whether a single meeting will blossom into a steady relationship) (Delton, Krasnow, Cosmides, & Tooby, 2011).

• Helping a friend move into a new apartment
• Paying for the coffee of the person in line behind you
• Offering advice to a student hoping to break into your industry
• Paying vet fees to neuter and release your neighborhood’s stray cats
• Tipping your restaurant server more than the standard amount
• Doing one of your partner’s chores so they have time to relax during a busy week at work
• Leaving a book in your neighborhood’s Little Free Library (if there is one nearby)

Here are several strategies you can try to practice more generosity: 

1. Set aside a certain percentage of your income for charitable donations. This strategy is a staple of the effective altruism movement (created, in part, through the work of philosopher Peter Singer). Effective altruists act out of a rational belief in doing the most good they can, and many choose high-paying careers so they can donate more money to life-saving organizations (Singer, 2015). This strategy clearly will not suit everyone’s ethics and preferences, and the effective altruism movement continues to receive thoughtful criticisms. 
2. Look for mentorship opportunities in your workplace. Especially if a mentor devoted time and attention to helping you reach the position you occupy today, you might find it satisfying to thoughtfully pay that generosity forward–especially because, on average, people are less likely to pay forward generosity than greed (Gray, Ward, & Norton, 2014). If your workplace runs an internship program, you can volunteer to get involved. If your workplace does not have an internship program, you may be able to start one or volunteer to speak at a local school or university.
3. Volunteer for a meaningful cause. The example of volunteering at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving is classic for a reason. You can also make a list of causes that are meaningful to you and do an internet search for organizations that work to advance those causes. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, you may want to narrow your list down to your favorite 2-3 causes–no one person can do everything, and you don’t need to burn out to effectively practice generosity. As Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
4. Make time to listen to a friend who’s struggling. If you already make time to listen to your friends’ problems, congratulations–you’re already practicing generosity. Sometimes, even actions that seem small, mundane, and automatic can be generous. In this case, you would be giving time to a friend primarily for that friend’s benefit. If you know of a friend who’s going through a tough time, you can give them a call and ask how they’re doing and whether they’d like to get coffee. You can even treat them to coffee. Again, it’s important to set boundaries–a commitment to generosity is not a commitment to serve as your friends’ on-call therapist. 
5. Immerse yourself in nature. …or just decorate your home with plants. In a 2009 study, some participants were shown pictures of natural settings or were asked to sit in a room decorated with several plants (Weinstein, Przybylski, & Ryan, 2009). Participants in the “natural immersion” group were more likely than control participants to demonstrate monetary generosity to a stranger (Weinstein, Przybylski, & Ryan, 2009). So, boosting your tendency toward generosity might be a literal walk in the park.
6. Make a commitment. In one study, participants promised to spend money on either others or themselves over the next month (Park et al., 2017). Those who pledged money to others actually behaved more generously in an experimental task (Park et al., 2017). Importantly, the people participants pledged money to weren’t the people they sent money to in the task (Park et al., 2017). Promising to behave generously in the future may make you more open to unrelated opportunities to be generous.
7. Say no when you want to say no. As the saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” Looking after your own health and boundaries ensures that you can offer generosity when you want to and where it’s needed most, and that you’re doing so from a place of joy and care rather than resentment.

A Forbes post by Tracy Brower also suggests the following generosity strategies: “think broadly” (beyond monetary giving), “think small” (bite-size gifts of time, money, etc.), “think empathetically” (ask what other people need most, not what you would need most in their position), “think regularly” (seize opportunities for generosity in daily life), and “avoid accounting” (try not to keep score) (Brower, 2021).

Finally, in the video below, Ami Campbell describes “contagious generosity.” As an example, she tells the story of her church’s sponsorship of a Tanzanian family–the family used donations to pay for food and a sturdier house, then began giving money away to build a community school.

• “Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• “(I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.” ― J.M. Coetzee
• “Those who give you a serpent when you ask for a fish, may have nothing but serpents to give. It is then generosity on their part.” ― Kahlil Gibran
• “The Dead Sea in the Middle East receives fresh water, but it has no outlet, so it doesn’t pass the water out. It receives beautiful water from the rivers, and the water goes dank. I mean, it just goes bad. And that’s why it is the Dead Sea. It receives and does not give. In the end generosity is the best way of becoming more, more, and more joyful.” ― Desmond Tutu

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• ​How to Be Kind: Examples, Tips, & List
• ​Selflessness: Definition, Examples, & Quotes​​​​

• Allen, S. (2018). The science of generosity. A white paper prepared for the John Templeton Foundation by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley.
• Brower, T. (2021, November 28). Giving is good–for others, but also for you. Forbes. 
• Delton, A. W., Krasnow, M. M., Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (2011). Evolution of direct reciprocity under uncertainty can explain human generosity in one-shot encounters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(32), 13335-13340.
• Gray, K., Ward, A. F., & Norton, M. I. (2014). Paying it forward: generalized reciprocity and the limits of generosity. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 143(1), 247.
• Park, S. Q., Kahnt, T., Dogan, A., Strang, S., Fehr, E., & Tobler, P. N. (2017). A neural link between generosity and happiness. Nature Communications, 8(1), 1-10.
• Singer, P. (2015). The most good you can do: How effective altruism is changing ideas about living ethically. Yale University Press.
• Trejo, S. (2020 January 19). Op-Ed:  I donated my kidney to a stranger — and more of us should. Los Angeles Times. 
• Weinstein, N., Przybylski, A. K., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Can nature make us more caring? Effects of immersion in nature on intrinsic aspirations and generosity. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 35(10), 1315-1329.​