Give It Away: The Giving Experiments (part 2)
As I considered the idea of passionate giving, I asked myself, “What am I passionate about?” Well, if you’ve ever been to my house a quick glance around my office answers that question. It’s books. I’m passionate about Books. I love to read. A lot.
That’s when I came up with a plan.
As a longtime member of “PaperBackSwap.com”:http://www.paperbackswap.com/index.php?n=2&r_by=jackardiac, I’m constantly mailing books to other members in exchange for credits. I can then use these credits to request books that I want to read (and keep). So I decided I would conduct an experiment. Instead of the standard exchange where I’d get a credit for each book I send out, I decided I would start giving away extra books to requestors, at no charge to them. Just to see what would happen.
I began with a total of 6 credits in my account. On my next incoming book request, I made my unheard of offer to the requestor: “Feel free to choose 2 more books. On the house.” I explained that I’d send them some of MY credits to reimburse them, and they’d end up getting 3 books for the cost of 1 credit. Granted, it cost me 2 of my own credits and a few extra cents to ship ‘em via Media Mail, but the benefits quickly became clear. Not only would I get those 3 credits BACK when they made their requests, but I’d feel good, knowing I was able to give books away, showing a total stranger some unmerited favor and kindness.
So I did this repeatedly, giving people extra books as my personal credit amount would allow. You’ll recall how I started with 6 credits? Well, within 3 short weeks of this giving spree I ended up with a total of 21 credits in my account. Twenty-one! That was more than I’d ever seen at one time in my entire 3 years of being a site member!
How did this happen? Well, for one thing, a lot of the requestors went on to pick MORE than the extra books I offered to cover. So just making the offer it resulted in more books being requested in the end, which meant more credits for me to share. Secondly, and more interestingly, I had a sudden increase in book requests. More and more people were requesting books, so I was suddenly receiving a windfall of credits.
I’ve since found I don’t even have to make the OFFER to get this giving stuff to work. Sometimes just the THOUGHT ALONE is enough to jump start things. Just last Friday night I was looking at my account and saw I was down to a measly 5 credits. I thought to myself “Man, looks like it’s time for me to give some books away.” The very next day I received an e-mail from a woman who sent me a list of 11 books she wanted, and was wondering if I’d be willing to “make a deal” with her.
I was. 11 books for the price of 5. 
Kevin
Update: Just this week I had another example of how outrageous giving resulted in amazing results. I had a request come in from a club member named Kathleen, and I made the same offer to her: pick an extra book on me. She did, and we thankful for it. As I later browsed her Wishlist (books she’d like to receive some day, but is in a waiting line for each one), I noticed she was wishing for Max Lucado’s “Fearless.”
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