Good Gifting - Philanthropy For Frugal Times

We all know what re-gifting is -- passing on a gift that was given to you. Think of all those unwrapped secret Santa presents, sweaters that don't fit, baby gear, and fruitcakes. "Good gifting" is the feel good equivalent of re-gifting. It involves giving a philanthropic gift in someone else's name or giving them the choice of a charitable donation instead of giving them more "stuff."

This idea has been around for awhile. Hints of it appeared last year around this time, but the new hipness of frugality may be the catalyst this kind of behavior needs. Consider The Dalio Family Foundation's promotion of "Redefine Christmas." As the site notes:

Give others donations to their favorite charities

Redefine Christmas is neither commercial venture, nor money-maker. It's simply a charitable idea, shared by many, that our holiday gift giving could be more meaningful and do more good. In addition to the gifts we enjoy shopping for and giving, we're often compelled to give gifts that aren't so meaningful. Imagine if we replaced those gifts by giving others donations to their favorite charities. And we just request that others do the same for us.

It's easy too. Check out

"Consider that the amount of money spent on candy alone during the holiday season is greater than the annual budgets of the American Cancer Society, The American Heart Association and Habitat for Humanity combined."

As everyone seems to be watching pennies this holiday season it follows that we might see a swing away from giving "stuff" to giving something more meaningful.We've already got radio series devoted to frugal tricks for the holidays, websites devoted to making frugal chic (Frugalista is a 2008 word of the year!), and consumer columns that are now focusing on giving in non-consumer oriented ways. Here's a Good Gift gift guide from OneWorld

The Good Gifting phenomenon takes embedded giving (queen of the 2007 buzzword list) another step down the road to a total remix of commerce and philanthropy. As the president of one charitable gift card supplier noted last year, ""Philanthropy and commercial products are converging with each other...We're offering a charity gift card as basically a commercial product."

Of course, economic fear is driving a good part of the attention to both of these concepts, but those who care about these ideas are to be commended for being ready when the tide turned in their direction. Retail sales numbers for this coming Black Friday and Cyber Monday will reveal much about the general consumer mood, but I'm willing to bet that Good Gifting (which I also considered tagging as frugal philanthropy) will definitely be the buzz for this giving season. Is there a Black Friday/Cyber Monday equivalent for Good Gifting? If one emerges, we'll note it here on the 2009 Buzzword list!

For those of you keeping score, here's the 2008 Buzzword list so far:
1) Mobile Giving,
2) Labs,
3) Outsourced Program Advising,
4) Design,
5) Micro -,
6) Good gifting and
7) Charitable gift cards.

Buzzwords 2008.8, 9 and 10 coming soon.....

Comments

[Lucy Bernholz - Huffpost Blogger]

Marketplace picked up on charity gift cards - story ran on Friday http://marketplace.org/. My interview airs Tuesday - will discuss other related buzzwords

[Frugalista]

Thanks for the link!

[GiftGuru]

Another way to be frugal during the holiday times is to create a gift giving budget and stick close to it during your shopping. I found this guide on gifts.com that is really helpful:
http://www.gifts.com/christmas/budget

[tras]

I agree, "Charitable Gift Cards" are definitely on the move. After raising more than $350,000 for charity in just two months last year, Seattle-based non-profit TisBest Philanthropy has re-launched its website with new features and options for the holidays, including uploading mailing lists and the ability to customize cards with your own images, company logos, etc. It is easy to use and the most comprehensive charity gift card site of its kind.

Charity gift cards offer a unique alternative for giving- they give back to those in need, they’re environmentally friendly and ultimately provide more meaning for both the purchaser and the recipient. For more info on giving charity gift cards visit http://www.tisbest.org!

[Lucy Bernholz - Huffpost Blogger]

Hey there
No one said being a buzzword is about being frivolous - just check out embedded giving for example! Some of the buzzwords are real trends, that portend meaningful change in the field. Others are fluff. Readers/us­ers/thinke­rs/trend watchers decide. Here's a little bit more on the "making of buzzwords" -
http://philanthropy.blogspot.com/2008/05/buzzwords-decoded.html
Mobile giving - real trend or frivolous fad - either way, it is definitely getting buzz in 2008@

[stephenjoos]

Mobile Giving is more than a buzzword, it is a new form of giving that has taken years to come to fruition and is the brainchild of mGive and The Mobile Giving Foundation. Never before has there been such a direct connection to a vast pool of supporters. mGiving allows people to give whenever they feel moved and make a impact.

I am with mGive, the company powering mobile giving campaigns for organizations such as UNICEF, The United Way, Feed The Children, St. Jude, Children's Miracle Network and many more. More information on Mobile Donations can be found at http://www.mGive.com or shoot us an email support [at] mgive. com