Gift This: Charity Gift Cards & Donations

Friday, December 18, 2009

--By Pearl C.

World Wildlife Fund Gift Center - Adopt a Polar Bear
WWF Adopt a Polar Bear

$25 - $250
Available at: worldwildlife.org

Happy Holidays SJ Peeps! Hope you are having a very happy holiday season. I just wanted to take a minute and share my gift idea with you. I really hope my family is not reading this right now (spoiler alert)!

As I’ve alluded to before, I feel like this year has been tough on a lot of us. Spending cash on more golf paraphernalia for my dad or clothes that my mom will inevitably return just isn’t appealing to me this season. Instead, I have decided to give a little more this year and hope that my family and friends appreciate it as much as I do. There are several ways to give charity donations as gifts, but these are some cool ones that stuck with me.

TisBest is a company that allows you to choose from printing out a gift card, sending one over email, or receiving a plastic (recyclable) gift card in the mail. You can choose from their designs, or upload your own photo to the card, and I dig that personal touch. You can also choose the amount you add to the card. The way it works is that you give the card to the recipient (and you get the tax deduction), and the recipient logs on to the TisBest site and chooses between 250 charity organizations for their donation. I loved this idea, since I wanted my family and friends to feel as good as I felt after giving them this gift. You can still rush your order with them in time for Christmas.

Heifer.org - Give a Flock of Chicks
Flock of Chicks Gift

$20.00
Available at: heifer.org

The World Wildlife Fund has a really cool gifting program that allows you to “adopt” from 100 different endangered species and they will send you a symbolic stuffed animal and certificate with facts on your animal. They have different price levels, which will give you a larger gift depending on your donation. What a great way to introduce the younger generation to charity gifting!

Heifer International is another cool site that allows you to buy livestock and training in increments for impoverished families all over the world. For example, you can buy a flock of chicks for $20 that will feed a family from the chicks’ eggs or a goat for $120 (you can purchase a share of a goat for $10) which will produce a ton of milk throughout the year for another family in need. You can print your donation gift online and give it to the recipient on the spot, no shipping charges necessary.

Happy gifting!
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Pearl C.
Pearl C. is a contributing writer for Adventures in the Stiletto Jungle. After nine years in SoCal, Pearl returned to her east coast roots, taking up residence in NYC. Formerly with Interscope Records, Pearl is now Agency Client Services Mgr. at start up music video site Vevo. Although a smart girl all-around, Pearl's true gift is for finding the best party in town.