meaningful and sustainable gift giving ideas

​Engage Globally’s Holiday Gift Giving Ideas
 
Are you looking for a way to celebrate this holiday season with meaningful gifts? Are you hoping to shop a little less, save a little more, and to focus on time with loved ones? To help we are sharing a few of our favorite sustainable and impactful gift giving opportunities below!
 
Gifts that make a difference

• Giving Tuesday – Help others by donating to a nonprofit organization in honor of your loved one on this annual day of giving, November 28, 2023.
  • If you are looking for an impactful opportunity, please consider contributing to our organization, Engage Globally, to transform lives through education, job training, women’s empowerment, and environmental conservation.
• Global Giving – supporting over 6,000 mostly small organizations, Global Giving offers holiday gift cards and matching funding on Giving Tuesday. At Engage Globally, we would love to have your help earning matching funding!
• Spend time together volunteering at a local organization or creating something an organization can use like photos or crocheted blankets.

 
Help conserve the environment with your gifts

• One of our favorite gifts is the Annual National Parks Pass, which comes with great educational information about U.S. Parks. If you already have national park passes, consider a state or local park pass.
• Give a gift card to a local, native plant nursery – this helps a small business and is a great way to look forward to planting your spring pollinator garden!
• Try ‘pre-loved’ gifts – secondhand stores, yard sales, and online resale sites are all great ways to select a personal and meaningful gift for a loved one. You can save money, reduce environmental impacts, and have fun exploring these treasures. This year, we’re excited to try Thred-Up and their big holiday sale of online secondhand clothes.
• Give upcycled clothing or jewelry from 4-Ocean which funds removal of plastic waste from the oceans.
• Need a gift for a child? Try World Wildlife Fund symbolic species adoption which comes with a stuffed animal and educational packet. Or give Ranger Rick Magazine, with six options for different ages and monthly digital delivery.

 
Gift time together – Gifts that share time and experiences can be especially meaningful and helpful to local arts, culture, and small businesses. Great opportunities include: 

• Provide a short getaway trip to the beach, mountains, or park
• Museum or culture center membership
• Tickets to a sporting event, play, or show
• Local restaurant gift certificate
• Gift certificate to a local artist or artist collective shop
• Gift card to a local photographer for a photo shoot
• Schedule a training at a local pottery, glass, or art studio
• Share a cooking class
• Need a gift for a child? Spend time at the skateboard center, trampoline park, skating rink, or other local park.

 
Family and workplace giving

• Gift exchanges, gift drawings, and Secret Santa can reduce pressure and costs, and increase the fun! 
  • Encourage participants to buy their gift(s) ‘pre-loved’
  • Make your own gift or give something made by a local artist
  • Set a price cap
• Shared gift-giving and combining resources gives your loved one something they really want and brings people together. Add a note or home-made card to make the gift even more meaningful.

 
Giving gifts to your neighbors?

• Try a cookie exchange or cookie and hot chocolate crawl and visit each other’s homes for snacks or desert.
  • Invite the neighborhood dogs and add some dog cookies too.
  • Take photos and share them on community social sites or at annual meetings.
• Gift your time and skills by making your gift, preparing a meal, or providing an “I would love to repair or do X” card.  

 
We would love to get your comments below if you’ve used any of these ideas and to hear your meaningful gift giving suggestions!