It doesn't matter how good you are at selling cookie dough. The biggest reason people are buying your items or services — or simply donating money — is that it's for a good cause. Giving to a friend or neighbor is self-satisfying — especially when they are doing good work.

Why does someone help you when you're struggling to change a flat tire on the highway? In general, people do not sit idly by when others are in need. This phenomenon is what sparks the abundance of fundraising organizations and volunteer groups around today. Still, not everyone you reach out to will be able to commit the time to attend meetings or follow a plan of action. You'll find more than 50 percent perform some kind of activity to help others, beyond donating money through an employee plan at work or writing a check.

No matter how much calculating and profiling an organization may do to find the ideal donor or how much time corporate executives may spend determining how their charitable efforts will best portray their businesses, there is no underestimating the basic power of the warm fuzzies. It is simply giving for no other reason than the sake of giving.