Charitable groups vying for gift dollars

Still, U.S. consumers plan to spend an average of $816.69 on holiday-related shopping this year, up 3.7 percent from last year, according to research from the National Retail Federation.

Although some people would rather receive “stuff” for the holidays, Laurie Dusenberry, 37, of Eagle, Colo., said when she receives a donation as a gift it is a breath of fresh air during the excess of the holidays. “I think it’s totally good,” she said. “I mean, do we really need more stuff?”

Pamela Lennox of New York's Long Island, makes it an annual tradition to give extended family members and friends cards that indicate she bought livestock in their name for Heifer International. At first, people were taken aback by the donations in lieu of gifts, but over the years they’ve come to appreciate them, she said.

“A lot of the people to whom I give these gifts don’t need more stuff,” said Lennox, who is 60. She said the gifts produce less waste and allow her to spend more time with friends and family and less time running from store to store and to the post office. “I do things that are a more meaningful way to celebrate Christmas,” she said.

More charities hope to appeal to people like Lennox.

Last month, OxFam America introduced its “OxFam Unwrapped” online catalog that looks much like a traditional e-commerce Web site with “merchandise” categorized by price, by hobby (the  can of worms for the gardener in your life) and by gift ideas (a $50 crocodile, the money for which goes to help raise the reptiles in areas where populations are depleted.)

Last year, the World Wildlife Fund launched a holiday catalog that lets people “adopt” an animal (such as a zebra, or a three-toed sloth for between $25 and $100). People who buy such gifts receive a photo of their animal and an adoption certificate.

Last month, the charity also came out with a new “Extraordinary Gift Catalog” modeled after the over-the-top gifts in the annual Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog.

While Neiman’s catalog sells outrageous gifts like a $1.4 million personal submarines and $1 million 305-carat diamond necklaces, the World Wildlife Fund lets people spend $500,000 to help save the 600,000-square-mile Bikin River basin in Mongolia, which is threatened by dams, pollution and trade in endangered wildlife.

People who want more traditional gifts (but ones that benefit charity) can also shop at a number of other online nonprofit stores, including these:

• A Greater Gift sells gift baskets, toys, chocolates and jewelry that benefit artisans in developing countries.
• The World Wildlife Fund will send pajama pants, bags and earrings to thank donors as well as send table runners and art made by indigenous people.
• Ten Thousand Villages sells fair trade pillows, jewelry, vases, wall art which are made by people around the world.
• The Amber Chand Collection, started by a refugee of Uganda, sells jewelry, candles and purses made by women in war-torn countries like Rwanda and Afghanistan.
• Unicef sells purses, jewelry, flowers and other items made by brands like Gucci, Hallmark Flowers, Harry & David, Ikea, Tiffany, Pier 1 Imports and Cartier, the proceeds of which benefit the charity.

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