Happy (belated) Generosity Day!

This post I wrote originally appeared on Care2.com:

How will you be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year? With some ethically-sourced chocolate or flowers? How about with some generosity?

About a year ago, Sasha Dichter, Acumen Fund’s Chief Innovation Officer, decided to spend the month of December saying “yes” to everyone who asked him for money – a homeless person, a street musician, a nonprofit. Prior to this, his gut response was to say “no.” He said that this was keeping him from being the open, generous person that he wanted to be.

Sasha then got together with with Katya Andreson of Network for Good, Scott Case of Malaria No More, and Ellen McGirt of Fast Company to reboot Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day.

What does that mean? As Sasha said, it’s “… one day of sharing love with everyone, of being generous to everyone, to see how it feels and to practice saying Yes.”

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Happy Generosity Day!

About a year ago Sasha Dichter, Director of Business Development at Acumen Fund, decided to spend the month of December saying "yes" to everyone who asked him for money - a homeless person, a street musician, a nonprofit. Prior to this, his gut response was to say "no". He said that this was keeping me from being the open, generous person that he wanted to be.

He tells his story here:



As a result of his personal experience Sasha decided to reboot today, Valentine's Day 2011, as Generosity Day:

... one day of sharing love with everyone, of being generous to everyone, to see how it feels and to practice saying “Yes.” Let’s make the day about love, action and human connection--because we can do better than smarmy greeting cards, overpriced roses, and stressed-out couples trying to create romantic meals on the fly.

Bloggers from Fast Company to the HuffingtonPost have signed on. Join them by saying "yes" today.

Sasha shared these examples of great things to do on #generosityday:

* Give money to….a street musician, a homeless person, your favorite charity
* Take old clothes from your closet and give them to goodwill
* Leave a $5 tip for a $2 coffee
* Introduce yourself to someone you see every day but have never said hello to
* Bring in lunch for your co-workers
* Give someone a compliment

If you're a social media user then document and share your actions on Facebook and/or Twitter, using hashtag #generosityday to spread the word.

Here’s a sample tweet: I just left a $5 tip on a $2 coffee, because Valentine’s Day should be about generosity. http://bit.ly/generosityday #generosityday