Charitable Giving Gains Popularity as a Unique Gifting Option
Only a few days left until Christmas and you don’t have a good gift idea? Why not give a donation instead of unnecessary things? It’s a quick and easy way to give a meaningful gift – and support important projects at the same time. If you want to gift something to just spend time together then introduce your friends or partner to the latest BetLabel.
How the Donation Gift Works
The idea behind a donation gift is very simple: you donate a certain amount to an organization of your choice in advance in the name of the person receiving the gift. You then present the recipient with a kind of “donation receipt” as a gift for the respective occasion. Many organizations offer personalized greeting cards or donation certificates that you can print out and give to the recipient.
Our tip: To make the person receiving the gift as happy as possible, it makes sense to select the aid organization or project to which the donation should go. Ask yourself: What is particularly close to the heart of the person you want to give the gift to? What are they committed to? For climate or animal protection, for justice, equality or the fight against poverty? You should choose the organization or the donation cause that you are purchasing as a gift accordingly.
To help you in your search, here is a selection of charitable organizations and projects that we think are worth recommending – and where you can get meaningful donation gifts.
Give a Goat as a Gift with Oxfam
Goats, chickens & co.: donation gifts at Oxfam Unpacked. OxfamUnverpackt is the “donation store” of the development aid organization Oxfam. For example, you can “give away” a goat, chickens, honeybees, a latrine, a classroom or drinking water by donating a certain amount of money to Oxfam. Such donation gifts are available from 9 euros.
Oxfam then uses the money for projects which (in the case of the goat gift) include, for example, the purchase and care of a goat. With every donation gift you will find examples of Oxfam’s work around the world, which will give you an idea of what your money is used for.
Your donation will benefit people in developing countries; the recipient here in Germany will receive a pretty greetings card matching the donation and a fridge magnet as a symbolic thank you. The idea of the “donation store” worked so well for Oxfam that it has since been adopted by most other aid organizations. Oxfam Germany bears the DZI and Donations Council seals of approval.
A Care Package as a Donation Gift
The organization Care – after which the famous care packages are named – also offers gift donations starting at 5 euros. The established emergency aid organization is active in 100 countries and today places particular emphasis on supporting disadvantaged women and girls.
In the Care “donation store” you can purchase a symbolic gift: for example, school meals, a pair of chickens or medical protective equipment. Care uses the money where it is most urgently needed (which makes it possible to use the funds particularly efficiently). The recipient receives an individual certificate. Care bears the seal of the German Donations Council.
Give the Gift of Medical Aid Without Orders
Doctors without Borders e.V.
A donation certificate from Doctors Without Borders can save lives. And it’s very simple: you choose the occasion (Christmas, birthday, wedding, etc.), an amount (from 5 euros) and enter the name of the person receiving the gift; Doctors Without Borders will in turn send you a donation certificate: as a PDF to print out yourself or by post to you or the recipient(s).
The aid organization will use your donation where it is most urgently needed. A donation of 25 euros, for example, can already help to provide a malnourished child with special food for four weeks. Doctors Without Borders bears the reliable DZI donation seal.
Give away a Piece of Nature as a Donation
Your gift donation to NABU can protect bats, for example.
“Can there be a better gift than unspoiled nature?” asks the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) – and rightly so. The nature conservation organization is therefore offering “a piece of nature” as a gift: You can choose whether you want to donate to a specific project (in 2024 it will be bats or snow leopards, among others) or for more general use in areas such as marine or bird conservation – depending on what suits the person receiving the gift best. You can donate from 15 euros.
NABU will send you a certificate with a suitable motif by post or e-mail, on which the donation project is presented. All you have to do is enter the name of the person receiving the gift on the certificate. Printing out the certificate yourself is particularly practical for last-minute gifts.