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🦆 CHILL THE DUCK OUT

Volume 041: I write. You read. We give.

🦆 Cold open

Hey, Jason. That number in the picture above is new. What’s that all about?

Hey, thanks for noticing! That’s the topic of this week’s newsletter. Allow me to explain.

At some point over the past 40+ weeks, I wrote about the science of giving and how small acts of generosity trigger actual chemical responses in your brain, how helping others reduces your own stress, how the "helper's high" is a real, measurable thing. We talked about "yes, and..." thinking during the holidays, adding small acts of kindness to what you're already doing.

Every week, you show up. You read these newsletters about overthinking and spontaneity and not trying to become a different person every January. You share it with friends. You send me emails about what resonated or what you're struggling with. We've built a community here, even if it's a weird little community that exists mostly in inboxes.

So, in writing this newsletter and thinking about how to increase its impact, I got to thinking… what if we used this community to give back?

Not in a "donate your own money" way. I'm not asking you for anything. But in a "we're already here, let's make it count even more" way. Because it turns out that when you click those ads I occasionally drop in the newsletter, it generates a little bit of revenue. Usually a dollar or two per click. And over time, that adds up.

Now, writing about happiness doesn't make you rich. Trust me, I'm doing it and tens of dollars have flowed in from ad revenue. But what it does do is create this weird situation where every time you engage with the newsletter by reading it, clicking an ad, maybe buying something you didn’t know you needed, you're generating a tiny amount of money that's just... sitting there.

And I thought: what if we gave it all away?

🫶 How we’re gonna do this thang

Here's the plan, and I'm going to be completely transparent about how this works because I want you to understand exactly what's happening.

Every month, the ads in this newsletter generate revenue based on clicks. It's not life-changing money. November and December combined brought in $162.62 after taxes. But here's the thing. I started this newsletter as a way to put something good out into the world that hopefully helped someone, and to kind of hold myself a little more accountable for being a more chilled-out, happier version of myself.

Learning there are ways to make money is a cool byproduct and way to increase the impact this silly little newsletter can have over time. $162.62 (so far) isn’t Taylor Swift funding food banks for a year money, but it could be meaningful to the right organization. And if we keep doing this, if we keep growing this community and you keep reading every week and clicking those ads, that number gets bigger. And together, we can actually make a real impact.

So here's what we're going to do:

Every month, 100% of the ad revenue (after taxes, because the government insists) will be donated to a charity chosen by one of you.

Not me. You. One reader who engaged with every newsletter that month and clicked on the ads. That person gets to choose where the money goes. An animal shelter. A food bank. A mental health organization. A group supporting veterans. Whatever cause matters to you.

The only rule: no political organizations. I get that everyone has causes they care about, and many of those causes intersect with politics. But there's enough research out there that shows political discussions increase stress, reduce happiness, and make people feel worse about each other.

So the rule is simple: we'll support organizations doing direct good—feeding people, housing animals, supporting mental health, helping communities—but we won't support organizations whose primary purpose is political advocacy or campaigning.

🐱 The first donation

My son was my sounding board for this idea. Yes, I believe in taking life advice from a 12 year old. So he got to choose where November and December's revenue is going. He picked Cat Tails, our local animal shelter here in Ocean Isle Beach. It's where we adopted our kitty cat, and it's a no-kill shelter doing really good work for animals who need help.

So $162.62 is going to Cat Tails. It's not going to fund a new building or anything dramatic. But it'll feed some cats. It'll pay for some vaccinations. It'll help animals who are waiting for someone to take them home. And that's meaningful.

🧠The science bit

Giving as a community is so much more than just feel-good nonsense. It's actually backed by research that says we're onto something here.

Studies in the journal Emotion show that group prosocial behavior amplifies individual happiness more than solo giving, which means clicking ads together is scientifically better than me just writing checks alone (and way more fun).

Lara Aknin and Michael Norton did research proving that frequent small acts of generosity provide more sustained happiness than occasional large donations. So your weekly ad clicks beat one big yearly gift, which is convenient since that's exactly what we're doing.

And finally, research on collective action shows that working toward shared prosocial goals strengthens social bonds and reduces loneliness, even among people who've never met. Basically, we're all becoming best friends while helping animal shelters, which is possibly the most wholesome thing I've ever been part of.

🤝 How this works going forward

1. Ad clicks generate revenue. Every time you click an ad in the newsletter within the first 72 hours of it hitting your inbox, we get paid… usually $1-2 per click.

2. Revenue is paid out monthly. Ad platforms pay out around the 20th of each month for the previous month's activity. So January's revenue gets paid in mid-February, and we'll donate it at the end of February.

3. A reader chooses the charity. At the end of each month, I'll randomly select one reader who opened every newsletter that month and clicked on the ads. That person gets to choose where the money goes. I'll email you, you tell me your charity, and I'll make the donation and share the receipt in the next newsletter.

4. 100% goes to charity. Every cent after taxes. I'm not keeping any of it.

🍟 This week’s happytizer

This week, your "homework" is simple: engage with the newsletter in ways that help us give more.

Here's how:

• Click the ads. Even if you're not planning to buy anything, click them. Each click generates $1-2, and that money goes straight to charity at the end of the month. It costs you nothing but a few seconds.

• If you like a product, buy it. The ads in here are for products I actually use or think are worth checking out and would love to help those companies.

• Think about what charity you'd choose. If you get selected as this month's reader, where would you want the money to go? An animal shelter? A food bank? A mental health organization? A cause that matters to you personally? Start thinking about it now so you're ready if you get picked.

• Share the newsletter. Know someone who's stressed, overthinking, or just trying to enjoy life more, send them the signup link. The more readers we have, the more we can give. Plus, you'll be giving them weekly reminders to chill the duck out, which is a gift in itself.

• Keep showing up. Open the newsletters. Read them. Engage with them. The consistency of this community is what makes it work. Every week you show up, you're part of something that's doing real good.

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💬 Tell me what charity you’d choose

If you got picked to choose next month's donation, where would the money go? What cause matters to you?

📩 [email protected]

If this inspired you to click the ads and be part of our giving community, share this with a friend... or I'll assume you hate charity and happiness, which seems harsh but technically possible 🙃

🫶 Duckin’ done

That's Volume 041.

Here's to building something good together, one click at a time, and remembering that writing about happiness is better when it actually creates some more good.

Until next time: breathe deep, click the ads, and chill the duck out.

Jason

🔬 Behind the curtain

Research in the journal Emotion shows that prosocial behavior as part of a group amplifies individual happiness benefits compared to solo giving. Lara Aknin and Michael Norton's research demonstrates that frequent small acts of generosity provide more sustained happiness than occasional large donations. Studies on charitable giving show transparency about fund usage significantly increases donor satisfaction and continued engagement. Research in the Journal of Consumer Research found that giving people choice in charitable contributions increased both amount given and satisfaction derived. Studies on collective action demonstrate that participating in group prosocial efforts increases feelings of belonging and reduces loneliness. Pew Research found that majorities across political parties report political discussions as "stressful and frustrating."