101 Ways to Build Then Bless

Find a little inspiration from 101 of our favorite ways to build and bless your community!

Hand-to-Hand, Eye-to-Eye Blessing

1. Sign up for Lasagna Love and deliver food to someone in need
2. Take a care package to a neighbor who had a baby or who is sick
3. Buy food for someone on the street corner or a local unhoused person
4. Cover unpaid balances or fund a month of lunches for students in need at your local school
5. Pay for the food of someone in line behind you (this could be anonymous too)
6. Drop off an Uber Eats or Doordash gift card to someone you know in need
7. Start a Go Fund Me for someone in dire financial need
8. Find Amazon lists for teachers and see what you can provide or purchase
9. Sponsor a student’s field trip 
10. Offer to mow a neighbor’s lawn or shovel their drive
11. Pay for someone’s gas at the pump
12. Volunteer at a local nursing home and spend time with the elderly
13. Stop at every lemonade stand/cookie stand/otter pop stand you see and tip them extra
14. Buy a copy of your favorite book, write a little note in it, and give it to a friend or stranger
15. Quietly help someone in your area with minor legal financial aid, like covering small court or filing fees
16. Take treats to the local police or fire station 
17. Help a struggling college student with groceries
18. Pay for tutoring or test preparation courses for a student who couldn’t otherwise afford it
19. Gift a hobby-related item to a friend who loves a particular hobby
20. Visit an elderly neighbor with a homemade treat and a friendly chat
21. Go to small business pop-ups and buy from local businesses
22. When you have more leftover food than you need, knock on a neighbor’s door to see if they’ll join you
23. Go to your local book store and purchase a book from a local author
24. Go to the Dollar Store or Five Below and get niche/silly gifts to give to friends that are having a hard time to brighten their day
25. Go to a bookstore and buy a gift card, then go to the kids’ section and give it to a family
26. Gift an indoor herb garden to someone in an apartment building
27. Ask a newlywed couple what they still need a week or two after their wedding
28. Buy gas gift cards for delivery drivers
29. Pay for a neighbor’s commute one week
30. Start a Community “Rainy Day” Kit and collect funds for items like bus tokens, small cash gifts, or gift cards and distribute them during moments of emergency
31. Cover a friend’s or neighbor’s vet bills
32. Sponsor a small business’s ad fees
33. If you know someone who is struggling to pay rent, chip in or cover this month’s rent
34. Cover repair fees for people who can’t afford to fix their gadgets, bikes, or tools
35. Partner with barbers or beauticians to fund a free haircut day in the community
36. Pay for tutoring or test preparation courses for a student who couldn’t otherwise afford it
37. Pay for a small business’s farmer’s market stall fee so they can take home more of the profit
38. Cover unpaid balances or fund a month of lunches for students in need at your local school

Anonymous/Digital Giving 

1. Buy a gift card at the cash register and ask the cashier to give it to the next person in line
2. Leave gift cards in diaper boxes and cans of formula at the store
3. Buy food to donate to the local food bank
4. Donate digitally to your local animal shelter
5. Buy the meal of the person behind you in the drive-through line
6. Leave flowers and a sweet note on cars in a parking lot
7. Donate to local arts initiatives, theaters, etc.
8. Order food to be delivered to a friend who’s home sick or has a new baby
9. GoFundMe donations to strangers
10. Put money in an envelope and leave it in someone’s mailbox 
11. Give a Doordash gift card to a couple with a new baby
12. Participate in Secret Santa gift giving for a local family
13. Donate using a Light the World Giving Machine
14. Email an Amazon gift card to help with a birthday gift 
15. Put a few dollars and a nice note in some envelopes and leave them under a few windshield wipers to brighten people’s day. They’ll be happy to find it’s not a ticket!

For Service and Staff

1. Give your server an extra big tip
2. Buy gift cards for airline employees
3. Leave a gift card in the back of the Uber on your way to the airport
4. Gift card or tip for your mechanic
5. Buy birthday or Christmas gifts for your kids’ teachers
6. Leave a tip for hotel staff in your room when you check out
7. Give a gift card to the person who checks your groceries out at the store
8. Notice nametags and call your server/cashier by name or strike up a conversation
9. Give the staff a gift card for food that complements their job, like a Cold Stone gift card for a sandwich shop, etc
10. Bring cookies or a fruit bouquet to your doctor’s office
11. Leave snacks and drinks at your doorstep for Amazon delivery people 
12. Bring water and snacks out to the sanitation workers on a hot summer day
13. If you have house cleaners or lawn service people, add a tip onto their monthly service fee
14. While talking to customer service people on the phone, thank them for their time
15. Host a staff appreciation lunch for local teachers, firefighters, or healthcare workers
16. Buy meals for hospital staff
17. Donate to holiday bonuses for school janitors, nurses, or delivery drivers during the holidays
18. Give a big tip to your babysitter or nanny
19. For your hairstylist, manicurist, or frequent pet groomer, add 20-50% more to the bill as a thank-you
20. If you work in a building with security guards or maintenance staff, deliver pre-packed lunches on a random day

Short on Build Then Bless Funds? Don’t Let That Stop You

1. Call a friend or family member you haven’t talked to in awhile
2. Hold the door open for someone
3. Pick up trash
4. Volunteer your time at the local food bank
5. Leave a good review the next time you have a great experience with a business
6. Help a friend move
7. Donate clothes to a local women and children’s center
8. Spend time at your local animal shelter
9. Visit a nursing home and ask residents to share stories
10. Send a thank you card to someone who helped you recently 
11. Let someone ahead of you in line at the store
12. Go on a “compliment walk” and compliment strangers 
13. Make a goal to wave at every car that passes or say “good morning” to everyone you pass as you’re walking
14. Offer to run an errand for a friend or neighbor
15. “Heart attack” a neighbor’s door
16. Help a neighbor rake their leaves
17. Shovel snow from someone else’s drive way
18. Help a short person reach the top shelves at the grocery store (love, a short person) 
19. Take a friend’s dog on a walk
20. Show some love to a new artist’s exhibit at your local museum
21. Share small companies you love on social media
22. Hold the door open for strangers
23. Donate blood
24. Show interest in the hobbies of a kid you meet. Niece, nephew, cousin, neighbor kid, etc
25. Donate hair from significant hair cuts to Locks of Love-type companies
26. Strike up conversation with a person experiencing homelessness and make them feel seen 
27. Watch a movie over video call with a friend or family member who lives far away
28. Share your talents (musical or otherwise) at an old folks home

Stories to Get You Motivated 

 

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A post shared by Build Then Bless (@buildthenbless)

Now that you have over a hundred ways to bless someone this month, take a look at some of our favorite experiences. These accounts should give you just enough bravery to go out and bless! 

• Cooper’s Story: How Build The Bless Reunited Long-Lost Cousins
• Derrek’s Story: Wait On It  
• Hailey’s Story: Build Then Bless from a Beachy Oasis
• Adrie’s Story: A Tale of Two Cities and One Street Musician
• Alohi’s Story: How Build Then Bless Gave Some College Students a Free Date 

Operationalize Giving With Build Then Bless

For employees throughout the US, experiences like these are “sponsored” or made possible by their employer through a work benefit! At Lemonade Stand, each team member is given $50 every month to use to help someone else—over my three years at Lemonade Stand, I’ve used $3600 from my employer on people in my community to help lift them up or “build and bless” them. 

Learn more about Build Then Bless or skip right to getting a demo from one of our team members and see what the Build Then Bless software and community is all about.