The importance of showing gratitude

Author and filmmaker Erwin Raphael McManus once said, “Gratitude changes your perspective about life. You see the future, experience the present, and remember the past in a dramatically different way.” What he means by this is that gratitude is a powerful emotion that can transform our lives and the lives around us.

Numerous studies have shown a connection between gratitude and happiness. When we cultivate a heart of thankfulness, we become more mindful of the blessings in our lives and share compassion with those around us. In non-profit work, showing gratitude builds a bond between organizations, volunteers and the people they serve. It inspires positive change.

Showing gratitude

How can we cultivate gratitude? It starts with small but sincere acts. It’s not enough to just say thank you to someone; we should be specific in our language to communicate that we genuinely appreciate what someone has done for us and acknowledge their work. For example, we like to show gratitude for our NGO partners’ work and dedication by holding a ceremony at the end of our education workshops. At the ceremony, we award all attendees certificates of completion to thank them for their commitment and hard work. This small but important ceremony helps build a positive group of people committed to making positive changes in their communities.

People tend to express more gratitude when they receive it from others, creating a cycle of gratitude. By performing acts of kindness, we bring happiness to those we help. This, in turn, creates the conditions for them to return the kindness within their communities. These gestures, whether big or small, will directly impact a community’s happiness and dedication to contributing positively to their communities.

How we show gratitude

IlluminAid always strives to find new and better ways to show gratitude to our NGO partners. We’re currently considering new ideas for our Capacity Development Program that will incentivize our partners to create even more videos and collect more data. Some of the ideas we’re contemplating include offering small payments for each new video created and badges for their website and staff resumes.

We’re also committed to finding new ways to show our gratitude to our donors. In truth, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the generosity of our donors. Every donation we receive helps us leave a positive impact on the communities we serve. We’re always open to hearing from our donors about what else they’d like to see from us. We believe that gratitude is a two-way street, and we’re committed to finding new and innovative ways to express our thanks. We want to build and maintain strong relationships with our partners and donors.

If you have any ideas on how we can show even more gratitude, we would love to hear from you. To share your ideas, please contact us at info@illuminaid.org. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to cultivate a cycle of gratitude in the communities we help.