The Perfect Last Minute Gift

I've had a running list going of Christmas gifts I needed/wanted to buy this year and was lucky to have gotten almost everything taken care of by the beginning of this week. Kids were done. Family was done. Paul was bought for. Teachers were taken care of and stockings were ready to be stuffed. But as I drove home Wednesday afternoon, I was trying to think of something small but meaningful that I could get or do for my co-workers.

We haven't really made it a habit to exchange gifts amongst the 5 of us, but we often do little goodies or something cute for each other. I didn't want to walk away without something for each of them but I had an idea.

I got home and I told Paul what my idea was and asked him to help me figure it out. My original thought was to make a donation to a charity in each of their honor...but I couldn't decide which organization I would choose. I debated choosing 4 different ones or just one organization, but I couldn't decide which one(s). I thought "Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could make a donation, in each person's honor, but THEY got to choose what charity would benefit?" Paul agreed it was a nice idea and if we couldn't find something like it online, we'd surely develop the idea ourselves because it sounded perfect!

Well, visions of a new brain child washed away as we happily found several websites that allowed me to do just that! I was really excited about this idea and getting to honor each of my friends in a special way but still allowing THEM to choose an organization that was meaningful to them and feel like they were also giving a gift this season.

I thought I'd share what I found as its a great last minute gift AND you can make a difference in the lives of others. Can you give a more perfect gift?

One site I found and the one I decided to use was JustGive. I chose this site because it allowed you to choose from any registered non-profit organization. "JustGive's database contains nearly 1.8 million charities. The JustGive Guide includes 1,000 charities that have met stringent public requirements. The charities are grouped into19 categories to make your search easier and faster." I loved that this allowed my friends to choose a local charity if they wanted to or a larger organization. It also allowed me to print beautiful cards from my computer or I could have e-mailed them to a recipient. The cards included instructions on how to use their gift along with how much money their GiveNow card was for.

Another site we found was Charity Choice. This site had a smaller list of organizations to choose from but with over 250 charities, you could still easily find something meaningful for just about anyone. Charity Choice said they "select charities based largely upon their recognition as highly rated, major charities by respected publications, as well as their being sought out by donors for their well-known accomplishments towards their charitable mission." Some of their charities include Autism Speaks, Special Olympics, Susan G. Komen and Toys for Tots.

I was so happy to be able to gift such a special gift to my friends and know that we could both make a difference this Christmas season and I wanted to share these sites with you in case you need a last minute gift or want to do something special for someone, too!