Quick Tips!

10 Holiday Shopping Switches that Help Charity

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Today's post comes from Nicole Bouchard Boles - Hope you will enjoy the post and give back in your own special way!

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As the holidays approach, Nicole Bouchard Boles, author of How to Be an Everyday Philanthropist, offers gift ideas that give back. What’s really unique about all these stylish philanthropic finds is that 100% of the purchase price (less taxes and all related expenses) goes directly to benefit various causes. It’s the perfect way to give something special and something back this Christmas!


  1. Greeting cardsHoliday Reindeer Greeting Cards $15 for a box of 25. 100% of proceeds will benefit Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.
  2. Holiday Treats – For Giving Souls Hot Chocolate Trio $14.95. The Hunger Site will donate 25 cups of food to the hungry for each trio purchased.
  3. Stocking Stuffers – UNICEF Jungle Soft Toys $9 - 100% of sale proceeds benefit the work of UNICEF
  4. Gifts for Kids – J.K. Rowling’s newest book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, $9.35. Net proceeds will go to the Children’s High Level Group, which helps children in Eastern Europe.
  5. Gifts for Her JUICY Couture Canvas Tote. $55.00 100% of profits after all related expenses benefit St. Jude Children’s Hospital Research.
  6. Gifts for Him – Tommy Hilfiger Limited Edition Necktie $24.50. 100 % of the proceeds are donated to Dress for Success Worldwide.
  7. Secret Santa GiftsNoodle and Boo Believe Honey Soap Bar $12. All Proceeds go to the Raise Your Hand Campaign which is building a water purification system in Heeraraa, Ethiopia.
  8. Gifts for the Family PetDog T-Shirt $26.00. 100% of proceeds go to Love Without Boundaries – A charity that helps the orphaned children in China.
  9. Employee GiftsGift of Hope: Night Before Christmas Mug Set. $12.99. Every penny of profit from your Gift of Hope purchase goes directly to diabetes research.
  10. Wrapping and packaging – Reusable Holiday Felt Bags Starting at $3. 100% goes to Benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.


Nicole Bouchard Boles is the author of How to be an Everyday Philanthropist (Workman, 2009), with more than 300 ideas for low-cost, everyday ways to make a difference. www.nicolebouchardboles.com

Stay tuned for an interview with Nicole Bouchard Boles, coming next week!
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Have you finished your Holiday shopping?  Have you thought about helping others while you shop?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

RAISING MALAWI IS A SHAM. MADONNA IS A FAKE HUMANITARIAN. SHE IS NOT EVEN THE PRIMARY DONOR FOR HER OWN RAISING MALAWI FOUNDATION. THERE HAVE ALREADY BEEN TWO DISCLAIMERS WHICH LIMIT MADONNA'S TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO A VERY LOW SIX FIGURES. LESS THAN 1/10 OF ONE PERCENT OF HER OWN MULTI-HUNDRED-MILLION DOLLAR FORTUNE. SHE IS JUST ANOTHER FALSE HERO PROMOTING HER OWN IMAGE AND HER OWN BUSINESS AGENDA THROUGH HER RAISING MALAWI FOUNDATION.

POTENTIAL DONORS: NON-PROFITS ARE NOT REQUIRED BY LAW TO BE EFFICIENT OR EFFECTIVE. ULTERIOR MOTIVES ARE VERY COMMON WITH CELEBRITY FOUNDATIONS. I SUGGEST THAT YOU CALL THE OFFICE OF RAISING MALAWI (888-72-DONOR) AND REQUEST THE ITEMIZED PROGRESS/EFFICIENCY REPORTS FOR THE YEARS '06' THROUGH '09'. THEY WILL EITHER MAKE A FALSE PROMISE AND NEVER FOLLOW THROUGH OR FLAT-OUT REFUSE. ITS A COVER-UP. THE RAISING MALAWI FOUNDATION HAS BEEN INEFFICIENT FROM DAY ONE. THEY HAVE BEEN MISREPRESENTING THEIR EFFORTS AND SQUANDERING DONOR FUNDS ON UNNECESSARY CRAP LIKE PRIVATE JET RIDES, SUPER HIGH END LUXURY ACCOMODATIONS, AND PR CAMPAIGNS FOR MADONNA. Don't believe it? Then make the call. I suggest that you secure those itemized progress/efficiency 'dollar in dollar out' stats from '06' to '09' before you donate one more penny. and don't let the phrase "shop now" fool you. Its a trick. Artist proceeds are donated from one piece of jewelry and one piece only (shown on the homepage). The rest of that merchandise is for profit. Even the over-priced 'I am because we are.' DVD. It was not produced for 'awareness' or the benefit of Malawi. Otherwise it would be sold to the masses at cost (A tiny little fraction of the retail price.). It also wouldn't be so laiden with images of Madonna. Don't fall for the PR/marketing tricks. Don't fall for the 'Madonna match' either. Its another trick. There have already been two disclaimers which limit Madonna's total contributions to just six figures. Less than 1/10 of one percent of her own multi-hundred-million dollar fortune. Meanwhile, she has been pleading with her fans worldwide for more donations without even telling them how much has been donated so far after three full years of fundraising.

We live in a shady world of trickery, corruption, and Earth shattering greed and hypocrisy. Even 'Good Will' has become Big Business. A cheap excuse to promote your own commercial 'humanitarian' image and travel the world (mostly poor but beautiful) on donor/tax payer dime. Actually charging your exclusive private jet rides and luxury hotel/resort stays to your own 'foundation'. Big celebrity/big business 'foundations' (PR firms) are notorious for this kind of waste.

Raising Malawi has been in operation for over three years now. They started taking donations from day one in '06' but waited over two years to fill out a simple 'non-profit' register form. To date, they still have not accounted for their total contributions worldwide or produced a single itemized progress/efficiency report for their donors to consider. The 'impact' page on the RaisingMalawi.org website only states the collective works of over 20 seperate 'partner foundations'. Each of which have their own sources of funding. No indication is made how much of that 'progress' was actually funded by 'Raising Malawi'. They also never accounted for the 3.7 million they claim to have raised along with Gucci from a single event held in early '08' (The opening of the Gucci flagship store.). This is not how legitimate charities operate. I challenge the Raising Malawi (Raising Madonna) team to get their act together, get efficient, focus less on Madonna, more on Malawi, give their donors full credit, and earn a decent rating from any independent charity watchdog like CharityWatch.org.

FrugalNYC said...

@Anonymous

You make a good point. It's always wise to check out the charity you are working to help out and make sure they are who they say they are.

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