Not too long ago my wife asked me what I thought of giving to nonprofits this year in lieu of giving and/or sending Christmas presents. We could cut our holiday spending and at the same time support nonprofits that would be feeling the pinch in this year when end-of-year giving would no doubt be down.
I liked the idea because, first, it can be very expensive and stressful to buy and send a few dozen or more presents to family spread around the country. Second, she was right: Nonprofits are most likely seeing some sort of a decline in their annual appeal and membership renewals. Why not help nonprofit organizations and save money at the same time?
What my wife saw in my response to her proposition was an unusual acquiescence on my part. I loved the idea and thought, additionally, that we could buy memberships to nonprofits as gifts. After all, it was six or so years ago when a family friend gifted us a membership to Citizens for Smart Growth where I am now an active board member. On top of that, we could in essence shop locally by virtue of supporting local nonprofits.
Last week, my wife sent out a mass e-mail to family stating our decision to make contributions—albeit small—to nonprofits in the form of donations and gift memberships. While we have not heard back from everyone yet, the feedback so far has been tremendous. In fact, everyone we have heard from has been very willing to forgo giving traditional presents themselves, thereby increasing the benefit to nonprofits around the country.
Perhaps our small gifts of nonprofit membership will serve as starting points. And, it's just one more way to shop locally this holiday season.
Nick Price
Ketchum
