7 Feel-Good Holiday Gifts for the Do-Gooders in Your Life

Original content comes to us from Organic Authority http://ift.tt/1YY4STV

Avoid the mall and instead choose meaningful holiday gifts for everyone on your list this season. From helping a good cause, shopping local, or supporting handmade artisans, there are many alternative gift giving choices you can feel good about gifting, and that your giftees will appreciate too. Use your dollars to make your holiday gifts make a difference.

A suggestion: If you do decide to gift to a charity this season, do make sure to visit, Charity Navigator and Charity Watch. You can check and see where you can have the most impact.

7 Alternative Holiday Gifts for Do-Gooders

Give the gift of food. Support a local farmer and give your giftees the gift of locally-grown food by buying a CSA subscription. While a full share might be outside your price range, many small farms offer half-shares or other small options like a bread, cheese, or honey share. Find a local farm near you at Local Harvest.
Give the gift of microfunding. Make a donation in the name of your giftee to Kiva, the microlending nonprofit whose mission is to connect lenders and entrepreneurs to help alleviate poverty and strengthen communities. Leveraging the power of the Internet, Kiva connects individuals who have the ability to lend with those in need to support and create entrepreneurial opportunities around the world.
Give the gift of knowledge. Support your local bookseller this holiday season and keep money in your community instead of sending it off to those mega online retailers. You can find local bookshops near you at Indie Bound for all your holiday gifts.
Give the gift of animal husbandry. Heifer International aims to empower communities and bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with long histories of poverty. You can buy your giftees a goat, heifer, or water buffalo by proxy and help support real families and communities in need.
Give the gift of the title Laird or Lady! Highland Titles is a not-for-profit with the goal of supporting land preservation in Scotland. Who on your list wouldn’t love to support land preservation and also be called a “Lady” or “Laird”?
Give the gift of handmade. Consider making homemade holiday gifts for your family and friends. Candied nuts, infused oils, and homemade soaps are pretty much universally appreciated. Making your own gifts can be a much better choice for the environment, plus it shows you really care.
Give the gift of stamping out childhood hunger. Consider making a donation to Feeding America, the national network of food banks in the U.S., and help make sure everyone has enough to eat this season.