Most of us spend more waking hours at work than anywhere else, so it's one of the best places to practice generosity. That means company giving programs, and it also means the everyday stuff: sharing credit, teaching what you know, and pitching in when a coworker is drowning. Here's a practical guide, with what the research does and doesn't show.
What the research says
Givers, takers and matchers
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant's book Give and Take sorts people's work styles into three types: givers, who help without keeping score; takers, who try to get more than they contribute; and matchers, who keep things even. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton, Grant explains a twist in his findings. Givers are overrepresented at the bottom of success measures, because putting others first can lead to burnout or exploitation by takers. But givers also show up at the top. The difference is how they give. Successful givers help generously while protecting their own time and goals.
The practical lesson: generosity at work works best with boundaries. Help in ways that use your strengths, and say no to people who only take.
Prosocial bonuses
A 2013 paper in PLOS ONE by Lalin Anik, Lara Aknin, Michael Norton, Elizabeth Dunn and Jordi Quoidbach, "Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance," tested what happens when people get money to spend on others rather than themselves:
| Experiment | Setup | What they found |
|---|---|---|
| Australian bank | Employees received charity vouchers of $25 or $50 to donate | Those who gave $50 reported higher happiness and job satisfaction afterward. The $25 group did not show gains. |
| Canadian dodgeball teams | Some players got $20 to spend on themselves, others on teammates | Teams whose members spent on teammates went on to win more games. |
| Belgian pharmaceutical sales teams | Some salespeople got 15 euros to spend on themselves, others on teammates | Teams that spent on each other saw sales rise. The authors estimated a much higher return on prosocial than personal spending. |
These were small field experiments, and some results were only marginally significant (the full paper reports the details). Treat them as a promising signal, not a guarantee. They fit with the broader research on giving and happiness covered in the science of giving.
Company programs worth using
| Program | What it is | How to make the most of it |
|---|---|---|
| Matching gifts | The company matches your donations, often 1:1 | Submit a request every time you give. See how matching gifts work. |
| Volunteer time off (VTO) | Paid hours or days to volunteer | Book it early. Group days are easier to schedule than solo ones. |
| Volunteer grants | The company donates based on your volunteer hours | Log hours as you go. Servicehours is a free volunteer-hours log. |
| Workplace giving campaigns | Payroll giving, often during a fall campaign | Small monthly payroll gifts add up and take no willpower. |
Federal employees have their own long-running workplace program, the Combined Federal Campaign, run by the US Office of Personnel Management. For ideas on choosing where your time goes, see our volunteering guide.
Everyday generosity at work
Most workplace generosity costs nothing. A few habits that make a real difference:
- Share credit in public. Name the person who did the work in the meeting, the email or the release notes. Be specific about what they did.
- Give feedback that helps. A short, honest note on a draft is a gift. So is a sincere compliment to someone's manager.
- Mentor, formally or not. Offer 30 minutes to a newer colleague. Explain the unwritten rules nobody writes down.
- Make introductions. Connect two people who should know each other, with a sentence on why.
- Cover for people. Take a shift or a task when a coworker has a sick kid or a family emergency, and don't keep score.
- Share the dull jobs fairly. Rotate note-taking, snack runs and cleanup so they don't always fall on the same people. A simple rotation tool like Snackduty, a free duty-rotation app, takes the awkwardness out of who's up next.
- Remember people. Birthdays, work anniversaries, new babies, a hard week. A free tracker like Giftwise helps you jot down gift ideas when a colleague mentions something they love.
- Tip and thank the people who serve you. Cleaners, cafeteria staff, delivery drivers. See our tipping guide.
If you lead a team
- Model it. Teams notice whether the manager shares credit or takes it.
- Make helping visible. Recognize the people who unblock others, not only those with the flashiest results.
- Protect your givers. Grant's work suggests generous people can burn out. Watch for the person everyone leans on and make sure their own work gets done and noticed.
- Try a prosocial budget. A small team fund for thank-you lunches or donations, decided together, echoes the prosocial bonus research.
- Keep it voluntary. Pressure to give takes the generosity out of it.
Frequently asked questions
What does generosity at work look like?
It includes company giving programs like matching gifts and volunteer time off, and everyday habits like sharing credit, mentoring, making introductions and covering for coworkers when they need help.
Do generous employees get taken advantage of?
Sometimes. Adam Grant's research finds givers at both the bottom and the top of success measures. The ones who thrive give generously but set boundaries and are wary of people who only take.
What is a prosocial bonus?
A bonus that employees spend on others, such as a charity donation or a treat for teammates. A 2013 study found prosocial bonuses were linked to higher satisfaction and better team performance in small field experiments.
How common is paid volunteer time off?
SHRM reports that 28% of employers offered paid time off for volunteering in 2024, a share that has been creeping up.
Sources
- Anik, Aknin, Norton, Dunn & Quoidbach (2013) — Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance, PLOS ONE
- PubMed Central — Full text of the prosocial bonuses study
- Knowledge at Wharton — Givers vs. Takers: The Surprising Truth about Who Gets Ahead
- SHRM — Position community volunteering as an employee benefit (April 2025)
- Double the Donation — Matching gift statistics
- US Office of Personnel Management — Combined Federal Campaign