Creative Ways to Contribute to Charities This Season

Giving to others as a family, craft group, or church at Christmas is an excellent way to keep everyone connected to the need for compassion throughout the year. Making the items to donate does a great deal to create a stronger connection to the act of giving as well. If you have a talent in the area of organization, you may even want to consider taking initiative and challenging others to join you. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

*Adopt a family through a local shelter or church and personalize/create gifts for them.

*Choose a craft and create a group centered around making it (hats, scarves, mittens, quilts, baby blankets). Then find a place or places to donate them.

*Pick a charity and find out what they need. If it is something you can make (pot holders, table cloths, Christmas decorations, think of things they would normally buy instead of get donated), organize a group to make it. If they simply need money, see the next two ideas.

*Organize a craft/bake sale and donate the proceeds to charity, or...

*Contribute items to a charity auction. You can get very creative here - offer pieces of handmade jewelry, painting, sculpture, clothing you've designed, etc.

*Shelters and transitional housing non-profits often love to receive anything that will make their residents feel welcomed, so there's no limit to what you can do for them. I recently visited a charity that was thrilled that a woman had contacted them to find out if she could decorate their window wells for Fall. Consider something like putting together a house warming basket for an organization like Habitat for Humanity. Use your talents!

Get started now or make a plan for next year and start organizing! It make take this year to read and brainstorm, or start making contacts in the area of philanthropy you're interested in. In the long run, the time you put into thinking through your plan will be a gift in and of itself. Here are a few websites and articles to inspire you:

*Craft Show Basics
*Church Craft Fairs
*Hosting a Silent Auction
*Charity Auction/Party at Your Own Home
*Free Charity Knitting and Crocheting Patterns
*Local Charities at Wool Works

Craft Renaissance has a list of national and international charities that accept hand crafted items if you would like to work with an organization already established.

Also see my article on Cold Weather Crafting for Charity for a few more do's and dont's of donating handmade goods during the holidays.