Beyond FUNDRAISING: Score Points with Gift Donations

So you forgot to send flowers to your mom for Mother’s Day, forgot to mail a card to Aunt Tilly for her birthday, and forgot to call your dad on Father’s Day. How can a well-meaning but not-exactly-organized person safe face in such situations? Tell them all you were shopping on-line for the perfect gift and only now discovered what you should have been giving them every year: a gift donation in their name.

Global Girlfriend, founded here in Denver by innovative advocate Stacey Edgar and now a part of the GreaterGood network, sells all sorts of beautiful fair-trade and eco-friendly items created by women all over the world. They also offer opportunities to support women through one-time donations starting at only $15. These Gifts That Give More include clean childbirth kits to ensure more safe births in impoverished countries such as Rwanda and Haiti. A donation of $15 pays for three of these kits.

Men on your gift list might appreciate a donation to the Family Violence Prevention Fund. Based in San Francisco with offices in D.C. and Boston, the FVPF works “to end violence against women and children around the world” by educating men and youth about violence prevention, “promoting leadership within communities to ensure that violence prevention efforts become self-sustaining, and transforming the way health care providers, police, judges, employers and others address violence.” Your donation can be made in memory or in honor of anyone you like.

So why not turn gift-giving opportunities into opportunities for much (much) more than typical gift-giving? Your family will be so proud of you.