Posted on November 17, 2008 - by Frank

Stuff iPods! Give a Goat!

Christmas is looming up fast and with it, the usual pressures of gift giving amongst people who already have everything they need. So once again you’re going to be wracking your brains about what to give your loved ones and chances are, you’re going to spend more than you can afford. Welcome to the ghost of Christmas consumerism.

As the world faces a financial crunch, many of us are probably hoping for a different way to approach Christmas – a way to escape the annual drudge of searching out the perfect gifts, purchasing them and giving them with the hope that the receiver will be genuinely happy with the thing we’ve given them. Sure, I can understand why many people enjoy this – if that’s you then this article may not be for you, but if you’re not that person and if you really want to escape what could possibly feel like a Christmas trap for you then let’s take a look at a possible alternative.

I’m not big on Christmas gifts. I’m not big on giving or receiving them and I’m certainly not big on the pressure that often goes along with the Christmas tradition of gifts. What I am big on is knowing that my life has made a difference somehow in the lives of those who don’t have the freedoms I enjoy or the comfort I often take for granted. Now this can be achieved in the area of gifts.

A vast number of NGO’s have now started gift catalogues that directly relate to the needs of the communities they work in or the issues that they champion. They are extremely practical gifts that directly meet needs in places that truly need what we can give.

The concept is simple, you browse a catalogue with anything ranging from seeds, books for children, educational tools relating to HIV/AIDS, right through to the funds needed to provide small banks offering microenterprise schemes to local co-operatives. You then choose your gift and who will “receive” it out of your friends and family – the people you would normally buy gifts for. They will then receive a card detailing the gift that was purchased on their behalf or you will receive the card that you can pass on to them when everybody does the traditional Christmas gift giving. The funds are then used to purchase the very thing you gave towards in the communities where they are needed.

By engaging this alternative you get to kill five birds with one stone:

1) You’ve given a friend or family member a gift without once again giving them some more stuff they don’t need.

2) You’ve provided something that truly is needed by some people somewhere else in the world.

3) You get that super good feeling that we all know we get when we make a truly positive difference.

4) It’s educational. It’s amazing what you can learn along the way and if you have children, if you engage them in the process it can be a wonderful learning opportunity for them. In our home we use the cards we receive as Christmas decorations so that as our little girl gets older, we can use them to teach her about the world.

5) I know this sounds weird, but it’s ridiculously fun and stress free going through the process, especially if you’re purchasing toilets.

Such catalogues are often offered for corporations wanting to purchase gifts for various reasons and they are offered by some organizations as gift registries for weddings etc.

If you haven’t done it before and you would like to give this alternative a go, here’s a catalogue you can use that will serve the limits of any well thought out Christmas budget, enjoy and let us know how you get on:

TEAR Fund – Gift for Life

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2. Kiwis See Past Politics and Give to Gaza Appeal
3. Rediscovering Boxing Day
4. Christmas Sucks
5. Start a Revolution – Trade Your iPod!