5 Charities That Make Great Gifts
Every year, even in flush economic times, my family says we’ll pull back on holiday spending — there’s nothing we really need. We all like the idea of giving to charity, but it’s still nice to have something to unwrap Christmas morning, especially for the kids. So here’s a list of five conservation-minded charities the staff of Compete to Conserve thinks make great gifts:
© Davide R. Schrichte. All rights reserved. A manatee nurses her calf.
For just $25, you can adopt the manatee of your choice and keep tabs on your adoptee throughout the year. An adoption includes:
• A photo of your manatee (we have our manatees’ photos framed on our wall at home)
• Your manatee’s biography
• An adoption certificate
• A membership handbook
• Four newsletters throughout the year with updated reports on your adoptee
The club also sells children’s books and plush manatees that make great gifts for kids. Money raised from the club goes toward protecting endangered manatees and their habitat, much of it in Florida.
Adopt a manatee at: http://www.savethemanatee.org/adoptpag.htm
We’ve got a soft spot for penguins, but you can also adopt other animals, including wolves, polar bears, snow leopards, sea turtles, and beluga whales. Most of the adoptions start at $25 and include a small plush toy, photo, and fact sheet.
Money raised goes toward protecting imperiled wildlife and wild lands through education, outreach, and political and legal action.
Adopt the animal of your choice at: https://secure.defenders.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=wagc_homepage#AllAnimals
Who doesn’t love the beach and think our coastal waters should be protected for all to enjoy? Even non-surfers can support the Surfrider Foundation’s mission to educate the public about threats to our coasts and to encourage grassroots activism.
For $44, you can give the gift of a membership to the Surfrider Foundation, which includes:
• An organic Limited Edition Surfrider Foundation t-shirt or all-purpose tote bag
• Six issues of the Making Waves newsletter
• A sticker to show your support
Purchase a membership at: https://www.surfrider.org/membership/gift_membership3.cfm?specialGift=holiday
Heifer International aims to stamp out world hunger through community involvement and sustainable development. Donors may fund a specific project, such as natural resource management in Tanzania, or pay to provide an impoverished family with livestock.
Buy livestock for a family at: http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/
Fund a project at: http://www.heifer.org/site/?c=edJRKQNiFiG&b=3538797&msource=pcb07
Register for the charities you want to support.
Think of it as the philanthropist’s gift card. Changing the present allows you to register for charities, in the same way a bride registers for gifts. If you’re serious about not getting gifts this holiday (or Valentine’s Day, birthday, wedding, any event at all), this is a great way to let friends and family get you something you want — and let them get a tax deduction, too.
Register at: http://www.changingthepresent.org/registries
December 4th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Thank you so much for the nice post about http://www.ChangingThePresent.org/
In addition to supporting any of 500,000 nonprofits, visitors can find such tangible charitable gifts as:
• preserve an acre of the wilderness
• provide a child with her first book
• fund an hour of cancer research
• feed a family for a week
• or even sponsor cataract surgery to restore a blind person’s sight.
More than 1,500 tangible donation gifts from hundreds of leading nonprofits address a full range of causes, so you are certain to find something that moves you. No wonder the New York Times called it the “amazon.com of the nonprofit world.”
You can also personalize beautiful printed greeting cards, which include a photo and description of your gift, right from the site.
December 4th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Oh, yes: be sure to see the great PSAs that StrawberryFrog created, at:
http://www.ChangingThePresent.org/film
December 29th, 2009 at 10:37 am
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