The Average American Does Five Good Deeds Each Month

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day set aside to give back, and it seems we're a more giving bunch of people than we realize. A recent OnePoll survey on behalf of Vitamin Angels showed that the average American does five good deeds a month. It may be something big like a gargantuan donation on Giving Tuesday or something as simple as holding the door for another person.

Here's how it breaks down.

At number five, completing a chore for a family member or friend. Something as simple as helping with the dishes or laundry. 56 percent of us do this regularly.

In fourth place is helping someone cross the street. I'm thinking this happens a lot more in the downtown areas than it does out in the rest of town but a full 60 percent of us say we do this.

Third place is letting someone with fewer items cut in line at the store. I've been on the giving and receiving end of this one and it was easy and painless both ways. This also came in at 60 percent.

65 percent of us have done the second most common good deed, opening or holding the door for someone. I do this all the time. There are so many doors to go through to get into our building that I frequently find myself holding one of them for someone. Sometimes it's a person with a load of supplies, sometimes it's an elderly person visiting one of the offices in our building. Everyone appreciates this simple gesture of kindness.

The most common good deed we do is helping someone with directions. It seems that even in the day of navigation apps in our cars and on everyone's phone we still occasionally need a little one to one interaction to find what we're looking for. 66 percent of us help someone get where they're going every now and then.

Other good deeds that didn't make the top five include donating clothing to a thrift store, buying someone else's meal, even helping someone carry their groceries. You can see the full survey results here.