Inspiring Quotes to Motivate Donors: A Collection of Wisdom

"A man there was, and they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had."

- John Bunyan

"Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

- Albert Einstein

"For it is in giving that we receive."

- Francis of Assisi

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has."

- Margaret Mead

"It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving."

- Mother Teresa

"We can’t help everyone, but…Everyone can help someone."

- Dr. Loretta Scott

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not."

- Dr. Seuss

"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day."

- Sally Koch

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

- Aesop

"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth."

- Muhammad Ali

"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving."

- Albert Einstein

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"The unfortunate need people who will be kind to them; the prosperous need people to be kind to."

- Aristotle

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

- Winston Churchill

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference."

- Kathy Calvin

"It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving."

- Mother Teresa

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

- Anne Frank

"Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more."

- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one."

- Mother Teresa

"I think a hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people."

- Maya Angelou

"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."

- Albert Pike

"At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back."

- Denzel Washington

"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

- Albert Pike

"If you call yourself Save the Whales, every once in a while you have to save a whale."

- Tom Ahern

"Happiness doesn’t result from what we get, but from what we give."

- Ben Carson

"When you learn, teach. When you get, give."

- Maya Angelou

"No one has ever become poor from giving."

- Anne Frank

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one."

- Mother Teresa

"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope."

- Barack Obama

"I choose to rise up out of that storm and see that in moments of desperation, fear and helplessness, each of us can be a rainbow of hope, doing what we can to extend ourselves in kindness and grace to one another. And I know for sure that there is no them – there’s only us."

- Oprah Winfrey

"You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."

- John Bunyan

"The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Life’s persistent and most urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’"

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I don’t think you ever stop giving. I really don’t. I think it’s an on-going process. And it’s not just about being able to write a check. It’s being able to touch somebody’s life."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

- Gandhi

"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver."

- Barbara de Angelis

"The best things to do with the best things in life is to give them away."

- Dorothy Day

"There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up."

- John Holmes

"Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can."

- John Wesley

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."

- Helen Keller

"It is more rewarding to watch money change the world than to watch it accumulate."

- Gloria Steinem

"Giving to those in need will bring more joy than money could ever buy."

- Dave Ramsey

"There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others."

- Mandy Hale

"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another."

- Charles Dickens

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away."

- Pablo Picasso

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

- Leo Buscaglia

"To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own."

- Abraham Lincoln

"You don’t have to be an angel, just be someone who can give."

- Patti LaBelle

"To do more for the world than the world does for you – that is success."

- Henry Ford

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."

- Lao Tzu

"The measure of life is not in its duration, but in its donation."

- Corrie ten Boom

"The only gift is a portion of thyself."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it."

- William James

"Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving."

- Hank Rosso

"When one gives, two get happy."

- Amit Kalantri

"Everyone can experience the joy and blessing of generosity; because everyone has something to give."

- Jan Grace

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

- William James

"The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit."

- Nelson Henderson

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."

- Edward Everett Hale

"Kindness can transform someone’s dark moment with a blaze of light. You’ll never know how much your caring matters. Make a difference for another today."

- Amy Leigh Mercree

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."

- Desmond Tutu

"If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart."

- Arab Proverb

"Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared."

- Buddha

"Help one another. There’s no time like the present, and no present like the time."

- James Durst

"Go out into the world and do good until there is too much good in the world."

- Larry H. Miller

"It's easier to take than to give. It's nobler to give than to take. The thrill of taking lasts a day. The thrill of giving lasts a lifetime."

- Joan Marques

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead."

- Nelson Mandela

"As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way."

- Mary Anne Radmacher

"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."

- Minor Myers

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention."

- Oscar Wilde

"Lift up your eyes and see the good in the world, for we are people with an amazing capacity to do great good. And if only the minority choose to exercise this capacity to the smallest degree, oh how wondrous and sweet the deeds performed at but a few hands!"

- Richelle E. Goodrich

"The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet… Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experience. They can think themselves into other people’s places… We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."

- J.K. Rowling

"If you think you are too small to be effective, try sleeping with a mosquito."

- Dalai Lama

"Sometimes those who give the most are the ones with the least to spare."

- Mike McIntyre

"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world."

- Malala Yousafzai

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart."

- Elizabeth Andrew

"Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless."

- Sherry Anderson

"I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy."

- Kahlil Gibran

"Charity begins at home but should not end there."

- Thomas Fuller

"We need to value donors as much as we need value from them."

- Reinier Spruit

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."

- Plato

"Volunteers will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no volunteers."

- Ken Wyman

"Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered."

- Michelle Obama

"You often say; I would give, but only to the deserving, The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and nights is worthy of all else from you.And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, is but a witness."

- Kahlil Gibran

"Giving does not only preceed receiving; it is the reason for it. It is in giving that we receive."

- Israelmore Ayivor

"Be happy with what you have while working for what you want."

- Helen Keller

"At the end it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back."

- Denzel Washington

"There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward."

- Kahlil Gibran

"If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them."

- Jeff Brooks

"Non nobis solum nati sumus.(Not for ourselves alone are we born.)"

- Marcus Tullius Cicero

"To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The most truly generous persons are those who give silently without hope of praise or reward."

- Carol Ryrie Brink

"Always have a willing hand to help someone, you might be the only one that does."

- Roy T. Bennett

"A single act of kindness is like a drop of oil on a patch of dry skin—seeping, spreading, and affecting more than the original need."

- Richelle E. Goodrich

"I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it."

- Abraham Lincoln

"I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back."

- Maya Angelou

"In a gentle way, you can shake the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"It always seems impossible until it’s done."

- Nelson Mandela

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."

- Edmund Burke

"Giving is not an act of depletion, it’s an act of repletion."

- Pete Kelly

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader."

- John Quincy Adams

"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."

- Chinese Proverb

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

- Maya Angelou

"Find a need and fill it."

- Ruth Stafford Peale

"Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows."

- Moliere

"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others."

- Plato

"As one person I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person."

- Paul Shane Spear

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"As I grew older it seemed that I was not making a big enough difference, particularly given my own incredible good fortune. I went from feeling content that things were going well, to realizing that I hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface of what needed to be done."

- Richard Branson

"Believe you can and you are halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"God damn it, you’ve got to be kind."

- Kurt Vonnegut

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."

- Steve Jobs

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

- Edith Wharton

"If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito."

- Betty Reese

"You miss 100% of the chances you don’t take."

- Wayne Gretzky

"The work of volunteers impacts all our lives, even if we are not aware of it."

- Anthony Worrall-Thompson

"Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders."

- Tom Peters

"He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own."

- Confucius

"Our society has an obligation to invest now to improve the lives of all those coming into this world, not just those already here."

- Mark Zuckerberg

"Every sunrise is an invitation for us to arise and brighten someone’s day."

- Richelle E. Goodrich

"The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

- Mitch Albom

"The secret to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

- Socrates

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it."

- Amelia Earhart

"If you can dream it, you can do it."

- Walt Disney

"A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart."

- Jonathan Swift

"Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t."

- Bill Nye

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

- Winston Churchill

"The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer."

"You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you."

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

"We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something."

"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members."

"One of the marvelous things about community is that it enables us to welcome and help people in a way we couldn’t as individuals. When we pool our strength and share the work and responsibility, we can welcome many people, even those in deep distress, and perhaps help them find self-confidence and inner healing."

"Think of giving not as a duty, but as a privilege."

"Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others."

"The most precious thing I have to give is my time."

"Wealth isn’t always measured in dollar signs. We each have time, talent, and creativity, all of which can be powerful forces for positive change. Share your blessings in whatever form they come and to whatever level you have been blessed."

"While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary."

"If you’re in the luckiest one percent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 percent."

"The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves."

"I wondered why somebody didn’t do something. Then I realized, I am somebody."

"When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed."

"No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another."