Holiday Gift Guide: Gift Donations to Charity

The holiday season is coming and with it comes holiday shopping. Some of the most meaningful gifts can't be purchased in stores, though. Do you have someone on your gift list with a big heart? You know the kind I mean: Someone who cares more about others than themselves and is always supporting various causes.

Here's a twist on holiday gift-giving: Donate something to their favorite charity in their honor. Instead of buying something short-lived that will break or spoil, you'll be making them a part of something lasting. (This is also an excellent way to honor a deceased loved one during the holidays.)

Most charities will allow you to make a gift in honor of someone else. At the Alzheimer's Association Web site (www.alz.org), for example, click on the Donate link and then on Donate Online. The first question asked is whether this gift is a Memorial (to honor a deceased person), a Tribute (to honor a living person), or a general donation. If you don't know how to designate a donation to a particular charity as a memorial or tribute, contact the charity and ask.

Here are six suggestions for making charitable donations to honor others this holiday season. You can use this list, or develop your own.

Homeless Shelters and Soup Kitchens

Nearly every city has at least one homeless shelter or soup kitchen. In addition to food and shelter, these facilities often also provide counseling and education. If you're not sure where to find one near you, this nifty site has list of shelters in nearly every state.

In addition to financial resources, homeless shelters need food, clothing and grooming items. With the oncoming cold winter season, the donation of warm coats and blankets is much appreciated. A coat or blanket can actually save the life of homeless person exposed to the elements.

Contact the homeless shelter or soup kitchen nearest you to determine their most pressing needs.

Compassion International

Compassion International (www.compassion.com) provides for the spiritual, economic, social, and physical needs of children impacted by poverty. They also have a number of other programs to help children including an AIDS Initiative to provide treatment to children affected by HIV/AIDS.

Typically donors sponsor a specific child, but you can make one-time gifts to any of the following programs: Christmas Gift Program, AIDS Initiative, fund for Unsponsored Children, Child Survival Program, Leadership Development Program, Partners of Compassion, Disaster Relief, Medical Treatment, and the Indonesia Earthquake Response Fund.

To designate the gift as a memorial, be sure to check the box under Other Information.

Alzheimer's Association

According to their Web site, the mission of the Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) is to "eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health."

Local chapters of the Alzheimer's Association fund community programs to improve the lives of those who suffer with Alzheimer's disease. They also run support groups and other programs at the community level.

You can choose to designate a gift for research, a specific local Alzheimer's Association, or to the area of greatest need.

National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.

The mission of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (www.nationalbreastcancer.org) is "to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need."

Their accomplishments include: teaming with another breast cancer organization to provide free mammograms to women in the New York City area, helping impoverished women in Puerto Rico get mammograms, working with the University of Texas to help fund a cancer center in Houston for women who might not otherwise get mammograms, and teaming with the Breast Cancer Site and the Los Angeles Mission to provide funding for mammograms to those who cannot help themselves.

Samaritan's Purse

Most people know Samaritan's Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org) for their Operation Christmas Child program, which turns a simple shoebox into a compassionate gift for a child in need. If you are not familiar with the project, a simple overview is that shoeboxes are filled (often by schoolchildren in this country) with small useful items such as toys, toothbrushes, socks, and soap. This ministry delivers the boxes to children all over the world who might not otherwise receive Christmas presents.

What you may not know is that they have many other programs in need of support. Other programs including projects in Afghanistan, Africa, Alaska, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Niger, Sudan, and Uganda. They have Clean Water projects. There is a hunger relief fund, an HIV/AIDS ministry, and a World Medical Mission. In fact, there are more projects than I can list here. They have so many giving opportunities they have actually created a gift catalog for giving.

Conclusion

Consider giving a gift to an appropriate charity in honor of those on your holiday list.