According to several studies, it appears the adage “’tis better to give than to receive” is a scientific fact.

Here’s to your health

In 2013, Emma Seppälä, PhD and Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), published the article “The Compassionate Mind,” where she reported that for people who are ill, showing compassion helps speed up their recovery from illnesses and may also lengthen life span.

Giving to others is particularly effective for those suffering from depression and anxiety. Altruistic behaviors cause the individual to focus on others, thus combatting a root enabler of depression.

We’re born to give

According to science writer Elizabeth Svoboda’s essay in The Wall Street Journal, “Hard-Wired for Giving,” compassion appears to be coded in our brains. Neuroscientists like Dr. Jordan Grafman, now director of brain injury research at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, have found, among other discoveries, that making charitable gifts activates the same part of the brain that releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter essential to many aspects of good health.

The act of giving also activates an area of the brain with receptors for oxytocin, a hormone that promotes social bonding, suggesting that giving to others and social connection are closely linked.

For those working in planned giving, understanding the physical relationship between philanthropy and a healthier life will broaden an understanding of why many of those who are devoted givers in later life tend to live longer, happier lives.