Charitable Gifting This Holiday Season

Key Concepts

• Junk Gift Giving: The practice of giving gifts that are not needed or desired by the recipient.
• Charitable Gifting: Donating to a charity in lieu of a traditional gift.
• Recipient Choice: Allowing the gift recipient to select the charity that receives the donation.
• Impactful Giving: Directing funds to causes that genuinely need support.
• TisBest and Donor's Choose: Organizations that facilitate charitable gifting.

Holiday Gifting Suggestion: Charitable Giving

The speaker proposes a holiday gifting strategy to combat "junk gift giving," which involves giving items that recipients don't need or struggling to find suitable presents. This approach aims to improve the holiday season for the giver, recipients, and others.

The Problem with Traditional Gifting

Approximately 25 years ago, the speaker became disillusioned with the prevalence of unnecessary gift-giving. A striking statistic highlighted the scale of this issue: the amount of money spent on candy as holiday gifts exceeds the combined annual budgets of the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, and the American Heart Association. This underscores the inefficiency and lack of impact in much of traditional holiday spending.

The Proposed Solution: Charitable Gift of Choice

The speaker's recommended alternative is to give a gift that allows the recipient to choose their favorite charity. The funds are then directed to that chosen charity, provided the recipient is charitable and approves of this approach. This method ensures that money goes to "really good causes" and provides a gift that recipients genuinely value.

Benefits of Charitable Gifting

• Recipient Value: Recipients appreciate the autonomy to direct funds to causes they care about.
• Positive Impact: Funds are channeled to individuals or causes in need, making a tangible difference.
• Giver Satisfaction: The act of facilitating impactful giving provides a sense of fulfillment to the giver.

Recommended Organizations for Charitable Gifting

The speaker specifically recommends two organizations that facilitate this type of charitable gifting:

1. TisBest: This organization allows the giver to specify the recipient and the donation amount. TisBest then sends the recipient a catalog of thousands of charitable options from which they can select their preferred cause.
2. Donor's Choose: Similar to TisBest, Donor's Choose enables the giver to designate a recipient and the monetary value of the gift. The recipient then receives a selection of projects or charities to support.

Call to Action

The speaker encourages listeners to "give it a shot," expressing confidence that "everybody's going to benefit from" this approach to holiday gifting.

Synthesis/Conclusion

The core takeaway is a powerful argument for shifting holiday gifting from material possessions to impactful charitable donations. By empowering recipients to choose their preferred charities through platforms like TisBest and Donor's Choose, individuals can move beyond the cycle of "junk gift giving" and contribute meaningfully to causes that require support, thereby enhancing the holiday spirit for all involved.