Whether you’ve been at the mall since sunrise or are participating in Buy Nothing Day, today is the day we shake off our tofurky hangovers and begin the march towards the holidays.

Last week, I noticed a blog post by local citizen journalist Steve Garfield in which he notes that he’s added some charities to his Amazon Universal Wish List.  No, Amazon hasn’t started selling charities, but this “universal” wish list thing allows you add pretty much anything to your Amazon wish list, even stuff they don’t sell.  In fact, you can even add your favorite Firstgving fundraising pages to your wish list, so friends and family can get the hint and do some good in your name, rather than cluttering up your home with ugly sweaters, deadly fruitcakes and embarrassing USB-powered devices.

Another example of skipping consumer-based holiday gifting in favor of do-gooding holiday giving comes from Utah AIDS Foundation, which encourages you to make a difference with as little as $10 to provide a client with simple personal care needs for a month.

If that’s not enough inspiration, also see Stargate Atlantis actor David Hewlett’s fundraising page set up by fan Paula Rosenberg.  This page is gathering donations for Doctors Without Borders in lieu of holiday gifts, and has raised a tidy sum already.

Whatever you decide to do regarding holiday gift-giving,  Team Firstgiving wishes you a warm start to the chilly holiday season.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 28th, 2008 at 10:56 am and is filed under Fundraising Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.