Holiday Giving – Giving Profits to Nonprofits

by Jackie Cefola
Program Coordinator, NonProfit Center

Photo: Jackie Cefola, program coordinator at the NonProfit Center It is holiday time once again; time for celebration, reflection and the giving of gifts. This year’s gifting feels particularly challenging because of our volatile economy and the resulting impact on people we care about: what is an appropriate gift for someone who was laid off from work; someone who experienced foreclosure; or someone who lost a large portion of their retirement savings? And how do we manage the expense of these gifts to fit within our tightening budgets?

While there are no “right” answers, there are several gift options that support worthy causes and our community.

Support Boston-area Nonprofits This Holiday

Several organizations have let us know about items they're selling. Pick something up for friends, family or even as a workplace Yankee swap gift!

Project Hope
The Many Flavors of Cooking with Project Hope

The over 100 recipes in this cookbook have been gathered from the kitchens of our extended family and from Project Hope’s Women of Strength, busy moms who serve tasty meals to their families on shoe-string budgets as they work with Project Hope to move up and out of poverty.

Rosie’s Place
Women’s Craft Collaborative

When you purchase any product from the Women’s Craft Cooperative, ranging from bookmarks to earrings, your money goes directly to programs for poor and homeless women at Rosie's Place

Roots & Shoots
BeadforLife Program

Photo: Bead for life bracelet By purchasing a hand-crafted bracelet or necklace made with paper beads by women in Uganda, you will be helping to promote economic development in Uganda, providing these women with a stable income and enabling them to carry on their unique trade.
To order from the BeadforLife program, contact the Roots & Shoots New England office at 617.439.9090 or nerootsshoots@janegoodall.org.

Teen Empowerment
Moving Beyond Icebreakers: An Innovative Approach to Group Facilitation, Learning, and Action

Moving Beyond Icebreakers is a practical guide to group facilitation and an invaluable resource for community building in a variety of settings.

South Africa Partners
Masifunde Sonke Children’s Books Project

For each book sold, a second book is donated in the purchaser's name to an under-resourced South African rural or township school library.

One strategy is to make a charitable donation in the name of the gift recipient. Easing the way to connect with local nonprofit organizations, Gift It Up organizes an annual alternative gift fair and website that lists specific programs in need of support. Changing the Present offers similar donation opportunities world-wide.

Painting by a student of Artists for Humanity For those who need a more tangible gift, purchase items from nonprofit organizations directly. South Africa Partners provides one book for a South African child each time one purchases a children’s book through Masifunde Sonke, Let Us Read Together. Artists for Humanity has a wonderful online store featuring the paintings, postcards, T-shirts, bags and other items produced by youth in its programs. Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute, offers delicious coffee and chocolate products, sustainably produced to support of indigenous communities.

One World also provides an excellent list of nonprofits offering interesting products and publications. Co-op America’s National Green Pages™ lists nearly 3,000 businesses that have made firm commitments to sustainable, socially just principles, including the support of sweatshop-free labor, organic farms, fair trade and cruelty-free products.

The Cultural Survival Bazaar hosts fair-trade events around New England that give indigenous artists from around the world the chance to sell their work directly. They also expose 30,000 Americans each year to indigenous food, music and culture, and give visitors a chance to talk with indigenous artists.

Other gifts represent the interests of nonprofit organizations. For example, Dancing Deer’s Sweet Home Project offers delicious baked items with proceeds supporting nonprofit One Family in its efforts to reduce family homelessness. Every purchase made with the Boston Community Change card at the 150+ participating businesses supports not only our local economy, but also a nonprofit organization of my choice. Alternatively GoodSearch, via its GoodShop program, alerts its business affiliates to donate a portion of my sale to a nonprofit of my choice.

While this year’s gifting does present a special set of challenges, it also creates a special opportunity to be even more thoughtful in choosing gifts that support our values and our broader community.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season,

Jackie.

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