Creative & Cutter-Free Gifts {Day 5}: Charitable Donations

Today is day 5 in my week-long Creative & Clutter-Free Gifts series… and we’re talking about a bunch of ways you can give back to different charities! All week long I’ve been sharing lots and lots of creative ways to give practical and clutter-free holiday gifts that should please everyone on your Christmas list — click on the links below to read the previous posts in this series.

Monday = Food
Tuesday = Gift Cards
Wednesday = Experiences
Thursdays = Cash
Friday = Charitable Donations
Saturday = Acts of Service

Oh, and I’d love to hear your ideas too, so feel free to leave them in the comment section below!

Day 5: Charitable Donations

photo source

I have several people on my Christmas list who are extremely difficult to buy for — mainly because they don’t need anything, they don’t want anything, or they have plenty of money to buy whatever they want/need themselves!

So while I still like to show that we’re thinking of them during the holidays, it’s REALLY hard to come up with a gift they will appreciate. Many times food and experience gifts won’t work because of food allergies or being immobile. And gift cards or cash don’t seem appropriate — especially if the person is quite wealthy, if they don’t enjoy shopping, or if they don’t buy into the commercialized aspect of Christmas.

In these situations, I often turn to charitable donations as my clutter-free gift of choice. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

1. Make a Donation in Their Name:

This is probably the easiest option — but no less meaningful. If you know there is an organization, group, charity, etc. that is near and dear to your recipient’s heart, I’m positive they will LOVE to know that you’ve made a donation in their name. And it doesn’t have to be a large donation — even $10 or $15 can make a difference.

Some organizations you might consider donating to are schools, churches, colleges/universities, food banks, orphanages, adoption agencies, hospitals, local non-profit organizations and/or businesses, homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, nursing homes, mission support, etc.

2. Volunteer Together:

If  money is tight this year, consider volunteering your time to help in a local soup kitchen, at a school, public library, nursing home, church, etc. You could volunteer your time WITH the person you’re giving the gift to, or do alone it as a gift to them.

I know many elderly people who would love to know you’re giving up your time for the good of a cause they believe in. This could also be a valuable opportunity to involve your children in the volunteering process.

3. Sponsor a Child for a Year.

There are so many different organizations you can partner with to sponsor an underprivileged child from a third world country — and all of them are fabulous opportunities for you to give back.

This would actually be a really neat gift for your children or grandchildren — you pay the monthly sponsorship fees, but let them write letters, send pictures, and build the relationship!

4. Sponsor a Local Child or Family for Christmas:

If you can’t afford to sponsor a child for an entire year, consider sponsoring a child or a small family just for the holiday season — and doing it WITH someone on your Christmas list.  Go shopping together, wrap the gifts together, and deliver them to the child/family together.

I’m sure there are many people on your list who would love the ability to spend time with YOU and know that their efforts are making a difference for a local family in need. I also know from experience that this is a great way to engage children of all ages in the process of “giving back”. Maybe you could choose a family with the same age children as you have and then let each of your children choose age-appropriate gifts and come with you to deliver the gifts. If nothing else, it might be an eye-opening experience {I know it was for me!}

I think this is what Dave and I will be doing instead of giving each other gifts this year.

5. Support a Global Ministry:

This is on a broader scale than just sponsoring a child — this could be helping to support missionaries all over the world, helping third world countries get clean drinking water or medical supplies, bringing schools to tiny foreign communities, etc.  Dave and I did this a few years ago and really  had a lot of fun figuring out creative ways to give a donation along with a tangible gift from everyone’s list.

6. Support any Non-Profit Organization:

No matter where you live, there are scads of local non-profit organizations that would benefit from any size donation. And depending on what type of non-profit organization you’re interested in, you might be able to support them even further by purchasing different items they might sell.

For example, I recently did a giveaway with Better Life Bags — a Michigan-based non-profit organization that uses their proceeds to support underprivileged women right in their own community. And while I know they would take monetary donations, you could also support their cause by simply purchasing any number of their fabulous bags {which I just so happen to love!}

7. Support Disaster Relief Efforts:

There are many ways you can support disaster relief efforts locally, nationally, and globally. If someone on your Christmas list is especially connected with a specific disaster event, I’m sure they would love knowing that instead of a gift, you gave a donation to that specific relief effort.

Obviously, there are SO many more ideas — but since there’s no way I can list them all, I just tried grouping them into a few main categories. I’d love to hear your ideas too — feel free to leave links for specific groups and organizations in the comments section.

What are your favorite donation gifts?