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Giving gifts to others is a fundamental activity, as old as humanity itself. Yet in the modern, complex world, the particulars of gift-giving can be extraordinarily challenging.

Some people are born with the necessary gift, and some work hard to build on the few gifts they have.

As I see it, most major philanthropists have been bullied into giving. They feel social pressure to give. It has become a cost of doing business.

When you give as a family, not only are you sharing the happiness that giving brings you by watching it translate into positive change, but you are also transmitting your giving values to your children by engaging them in the giving process itself.

Of course, giving is deeply emotional. But supplementing emotion with research makes it more likely that a gift can have a bigger impact. It's like any investment. After all, you wouldn't put funds into stocks or bonds without understanding the potential return. Why wouldn't you do the same when investing in society?

I'm pretty good at surprising friends and family with gifts. I tend to go towards the more sentimental side of giving.

Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.

When a gift is difficult to give away, it becomes even more rare and precious, somehow gathering a part of the giver to the gift itself.

Stress means something different if it is the result of rewarding work rather than struggling to keep the family out of debt.

Causes brings over 140 million people together to form the world's largest giving community. The belief that everyone has something to give is at the core of what we do; people just need a little inspiration, and to know that whoever they are, there is something meaningful they can do.