What donations would be good for holiday presents?

Heifer is a great org. Try donations to causes that are local to you. I always donate to local non-profits. Pick a cause dear to you and do an internet search.

Books, clothing, food, toys, money.

My suggestion would be to a woman’s shelter. At this time of year gifts may be very short for the kids who come to these places. When women leave abusive relationships they take very little with them, including, many times, the gifts under the tree. I have had the painful and joyful experience of bringing gifts to shelters on Christmas day for many years. A cash donation can be very helpful, but so can making a visit to a Target store and loading a cart with gifts and dropping off at the shelter. They generally do the wrapping. Best bet: Find a shelter and call them and see what they need. Check out this link to see what these places are like: http://www.sojournertruthhouse.org/ This is one of the best run shelters I know of.

Edit: I apologize for using the term “Woman’s Shelter” Even though the majority of people there are women, these organization help anyone who suffers family violence, including men.

I give to Heifer every year too. I think they are a wonderful organization. Along the lines of a local contriubtion, I have heard that all the food pantries are in high demand and running low on food right now, so a donation to one of them would be an excellent choice at this time.

My girlfriend gave everyone in my family donations to heifer last year for christmas.

It’s a great organization

Asking others to donate in your name in lieu of giving you gifts is a fine idea.

My extended family discussed this several years ago and decided not to do it. They argued that choosing others’ charities for them and donating in their name is not always a welcome gesture. Even though I’d been the one to suggest it, I had to respect the fact that my brother (for one) said it wouldn’t feel much like a present if he just got a card saying money had been sent to some charity I picked.

Before you all jump on my brother, he said it would be fine not to send presents at all and fine to go ahead and donate to the charity of your choice. Just don’t confuse the two, he said, and try to make your donations do double duty as an unwanted gift to relatives, as if you were simply advertising your donation.

Animal organizations are great for people with pets. My Fav is: http://www.guidedogs.com/site/PageServer?pagename=help_donate

I am a big fan of kiva.

I have to agree with Jeruba. Telling your kith and kin to make a donation in your name to an organization of your choice is one thing. Saying you decided not to shop, and are giving to an organization in their name is another. What if you choose to donate to heifers.com, and they really have a passion for guidedogs.com?

Perhaps as people move into adulthood, they owe to those around them to have a cause they believe in, and to advertise the fact? Or perhaps we should all drop better gift suggestions to those around us? My sister mentioned point blank several years ago that she is trying to save up enough money to have Home Depot remodel her kitchen. For her, the donation of choice is her kitchen renovation donation in the form of a Home Depot gift certificate. A donation to a charity would not be either a good—or appreciated—gift.

http://www.bestfriends.org/
Another wonderful gift for animal lovers! You can give a one year membership for $25-

I want to second SuperMouse’s suggestion of Kiva.org.

Warm clothes for the homeless. A buddy of mine and a whole group of us used to collect coats, hats and gloves and then drive to downtown and drive around handing out these items directly to the people living on the street at Xmas time!! Anything you can donate to a worthy cause really does help people in need.