Starting a new gift idea thread because I had a question…if we have a current thread please let me know!
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Okay my question is…which charities that you know of have holiday gifts?
WWF have animal adoptions and apparel (I used to give older nieces the adoptions at $25. Little nieces are about to get $50 adoptions!!! so much shock)
And Plan Canada has good gifts of hope - I usually get these for my parents plus something pretty or tasty.
Does anyone know of any other good ones? I actually email food banks Canada asking them why they don’t have any.
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I look for local ones. We have a local thrift store/food bank I give to.
Libraries are under severe cuts, so I give to a designated area (we have a choice).
Local Nature Conservacy groups is another.
For more long range charity I use trusted charities like the MCC (Mennonite Central Committee). They have a great track record of how much you give goes to the actual cause, vs. administration.
For Canada wide charities I have been giving to Special Olympics, but I am reviewing that this year. We have relatives involved and they are lamenting the negative effects of the increased emphasis on competitiveness and politics on their adult SO athlete. That’s not what Special Olympics is supposed to be about.
All that to say, I’m on the lookout for good charities too.
I tailor my charity to the interests of the people I give on behalf of. My family prefers people give to charity, rather than them. We are all old enough to have everything we need…and most things we want.
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Those all sound great! On a national/international level I’m really looking for gifts that hit a social/emotional niche of feeling like a gift - so for teacher gifts I’ll probably do the Plan ones and give books to classrooms or all school supplies for a child. It’s just marketing and story telling but it works on me!
I should check if our conservation area or any of the hospitals are doing similar!
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Ah yes. That’s another area I gave to once - the hospital foundation. They redirected my gift from the area I wanted it to go to, to a totally different area. I was not impressed. I also ran into this with some church charities. I had wanted to support micro-business and they redirected it to Christian education. I never gave through them again. I mean, don’t give us a choice if you’re not planning to honour it.
One way I could have avoided this is to actually pick up the phone and call the charity, asking where the greatest need is. But that need doesn’t always coincide with what I think is important. And I’m really just asking one person’s opinion on greatest need - the person on the other phone!
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There are a couple of books on philanthropy that helped me make decisions about charitable givings. “The Art of Giving” (Bronfman & Solomon), and “Giving 2.0” (Arrillaga-Andreessen). They are aimed at people who have lots of money. But if you consider your time and talent, as well as your money, most people have a lot more to give than they realize.
I went through “Giving 2.0” first, answering all the end of chapter questions as if I were including time and talent, as well as money. I ended up with a blueprint for giving that I follow to this day.
I use Charity Intelligence to help me sort out the good ones from the bad.
There are some wildlife charities that sell jewelry that come with an animal you’ve “adopted” that you get to check out their location on a tracker.
I know about this one because my sisters lab is one of the data collectors for one of the animals.
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Most people are aware of it but the deal where you buy a Scottish title and support land conservation is a fun gift.
When I got this for my parents I painted fancy chalices gold (from the thrift store) and included a dollar store tiara. I made it fancy.
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On an international level I’ve given to Heifer International before. As far as I know they are legit and I’ve used it for people who are otherwise hard to buy for/don’t actually need anything, lol
I like to do silent auctions for various charities/ non profits. I can get little gifts and the charity gets the money.
Previously I have gotten wine tours, gift cards, fun earrings (little guitars), and other activities.
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For one of my siblings I’m looking for artists who don’t use AI who have kind of a trippy fantasy vibe who sells prints or originals?
Eta here’s a print they have and love and I cannot find the artist
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Idk what your budget is or really what things cost, but this reminded me of a friends neighbor who does some trippy fun art: