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Below are
some popular charity links for those that want to make a difference too.
Charity
Navigator, which evaluates the financial health of more than 5,000
charities, expects individual donors to contribute at least $100 billion this
holiday season. At Network for Good,
an online resource for bringing together donors, volunteers and charities, 40
percent of donations during the holidays are given as gifts, up from 20 percent
the rest of the year.
So
where do you start if you're new to charitable gifting? Here are some ideas:
-
A gift of $250 to Heifer
International can buy a water buffalo and training for a needy farmer in
Asia.
- At
GlobalGiving, you
can choose from several grassroots projects around the world and send a
beautiful card (including project details) via email or post. Or, gift
certificates allow recipients to support whatever projects they choose.
- DonorsChoose
provides students in need with resources that public schools often lack. A gift
certificate enables your recipient to fund projects of his or her choice
and receive thank-you letters from the children.
- Network
for Good helps you “think out
of the gift box” with specific actions such as delivering medicines or
improving playgrounds.
Green
Gifts
- Undo
your friend's contribution to global warming by buying a TerraPass,
which funds renewable energy projects such as wind farms. Or buy a gift
certificate to let your friend choose how to balance carbon emissions.
- Adopt
an animal from the World
Wildlife Fund and help your friends save their favorite animals. Plus,
they get a card, stuffed animal, or other gifts as acknowledgement.
- No
child could possibly resist a horse tire swing, and you'll feel good knowing
it's made of recycled tires. That's just one clever find from Joe
Lazarus of the Yahoo! Shopping team.
- Old
fabrics look good as new when they're remade into sweaters,
totes and hats. And cosmetics
made from fragrant herbs and other organic botanicals will leave your
friends looking, feeling and smelling great.
Global
gifts
- Find
warm hats, scarves, and more from World
of Good and help eliminate poverty in low-income craft-producing
communities around the world.
- Send
a one-of-a-kind handwoven
basket made by the women of Rwanda.
- Check
out traditional
handicrafts from Pangea Market made by artisans in developing countries.
More
ways to give
- Create
holiday cards with your favorite
photo and a background designed by a child at St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital.
- Raise
money for your favorite cause
– and your cause could receive a matching gift up to $50,000.
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