These are some of the charities we give to regularly. We love them. I’ve sorted out the ones that let you email the recipient or print your own card.
Quick, easy, heartfelt. The perfect last-minute gifts:
Environment / Nature
ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION
Mission: “to improve water and air quality, slow climate change, and reduce poverty by planting trees.”
These Trees in Celebration certificates are lovely and every single dollar you spend plants a tree. They also offer “Give-A-Tree E-Cards” to send a holiday greeting with meaning. Because. Trees. Behold the beautiful trees! 🌲
Animals / Wildlife
ASPCA
Mission: “animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans and must be protected…”
Show your love for our four-legged friends. Give a holiday gift card in honor of a beloved furchild. I can’t stand the cuteness of that puppy. You know you want to help these little munchkins. Available in ecards.
Hunger / Poverty
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL
Mission: “to work with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.”
Choose a donation and print it out, email, or text with a custom message to the gift recipient. Or you can give a gift card (to print out or send via email) so they can choose their own donation.
* My personal favorite gift to give is honeybees. They are awesome. Here are 2 reasons why:
“Food for Life: Honey is the only food that includes all the essential elements necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals and even water. Its unique chemical makeup also allows it to be preserved indefinitely.”
“Farmers’ Helpers: In the process of searching for nectar, bees pollinate plants. The placement of a single colony can potentially double local fruit and vegetable yields.”
Isn’t that incredible? It’s the bee’s knees. 🐝
KIVA
Mission: “to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. We celebrate and support people looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.”
Print these out or email them to the gift recipient and they can start loaning right away. Change someone’s life, get paid back, help someone else… And on it goes. Making spirits bright.
Childhood Cancer/Childhood Diseases
ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL
Mission: “Finding cures. Saving children. St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”
Please do check out the site if you don’t already know about St. Jude Children’s Hospital. And, if you do, well… ‘Nuff said.
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❄️ Have a beautiful holiday season! ❄️
What lovely thoughtful gifts and very worthwhile charities. How generous you are, and even more so to share!
I love the heart cloud too, and would love to know how you made it. 🙂
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Thanks, Norah. ❤️ These are great though by no means a full list of all the amazing charities out there. These are the ones I’m most familiar with and the ones you can quickly print out, email, text so…perfect last-minute gift.
(I’ve used wordle but this word cloud was tagul. They let you choose a shape and colors. Fun.)
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What an awesome list! I hadn’t heard of two of those so really appreciate you spreading their message.
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Thanks! More than happy to spread the word about these organizations. ❤️ And such quick, easy, thoughtful gifts.
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I love this idea of giving to a charity as a Christmas gift! I’m going to use this idea! Thanks for sharing!
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That’s awesome. Thank you! ❤️ I love giving these gifts for the holidays. So meaningful. Also, these ones are great for that one unexpected gift you need ASAP. 🙂
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You’ve got that right! Thanks for sharing!
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What a great list, Sarah. Our family has donated to Heifer International in lieu of Christmas gifts for years. Even the kids have donations made in their names (though they also get gifts). The spirit of giving is the best part of the season. 🙂
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That’s wonderful! Heifer is fantastic. We give gifts from there every year, too. The kids get gifts but they’ve had donations made in their names since they were very young. Exactly…feeling that spirit of giving. It really is the best part of the season. ❤️
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Fantastic post. I love this idea for a blog post!
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Thanks! ❤
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Just Beautiful! ❤ 😀
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Thank you, Rachael. ❤️ 🙂
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Thanks for the lovely share and holiday wishes. Happy holidays. 🙂
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Always happy to share the spirit of giving. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by. ❤️ Have a wonderful holiday!
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Thanks. You too Sarah. ❤
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Aww, now, all I need to do, is not be a holiday Scrooge 😜
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You can be a Scrooge… I’ll just make sure you’re visited by some spirits. 🙂
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God, so demanding 😜
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What? It’ll be fun! 👻
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Beautiful gifts, thank you for the links Sarah. Many Christmas cards here in the UK are sold by different charities, it’s a great fund raiser 🙂 ❤
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It is. I love how many organizations have taken advantage of this opportunity to raise money by providing something we need for the holidays. ❤️ Wonderful! Thanks, Sherri.
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❤
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A thoughtful thing to suggest, Sarah! I get my cards from the National Wildlife Federation as a way of contributing – another good cause!
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It is! We love NWF but I couldn’t find any ecards or printable ones so didn’t include it here as “last-minute”. So wonderful you donate to that organization. ❤️
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Your compassion never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for the suggestions and reminders of tis the season. 🙂
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No amazement. Just being human, you know? Didn’t Mr. Marley ever tell you that mankind is our business? 😉 Glad you liked the suggestions. It was fun to put together. ❤ ‘Tis the season to be giving!
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