The Give List
71 ways to give without opening your wallet.
What are you going to do? Take a moment to vote for your favorite ideas.
No money?
- Find a local domestic abuse shelter and donate clothes and toys. | by @gurnage; View Tweet
- Have too many skymiles? Donate to injured solders' families so they can visit them. | by @gurnage; View Tweet
- Have season tickets? Give a few away to local Youth org. | by @webb; View Tweet
- Donate clothes | by @vanessamason; View Tweet
- In Boston, please consider asking people to give food to the pantry at Boston Medical College instead of gifts. | by @joewaters; View Tweet
- When people ask what you want for Christmas, ask them to give canned goods to a food pantry. | by @stoweboyd; View Tweet
- Record a session telling stories with your parents or grandparents and gave it to all of your siblings (inspired by StoryCorps). | by @sharonschneider; View Tweet
- Donate credit card points. | by @kivilm; View Tweet
- Train nonprofits about marketing for free. | by @kivilm; View Tweet
- Ring bell for Salvation Army. | by @kivilm; View Tweet
- Search and Give this season with Windows Live Online Search. | @HilaryP; View Tweet
- Send a free holiday card to a hero | by @wharman; View Tweet
- Write a post on your blog in honor of someone you love or a cause that matters to you. dedicate it. | by @StaceyMonk; View Tweet
- Volunteer your time as a fundraiser, designer, accountant, web developer, board member, mentor, pie baker to a social entrepreneur. | by @StaceyMonk; View Tweet
- Donate blood. | by @wharman; View Tweet
- If you crochet or knit and have extra yarn sitting around, make winter scarves or gloves and donate to an nonprofit working with at-risk populations. | by @PeepsHelpPeeps; View Tweet
- Search for websites of local nonprofits and find one that moves your heart to action. | by @togetherwf; View Tweet
- Write to people that you know in the non-profit world and let them know how much you appreciate their work. | by @GrantsChampion; View Tweet
- Visit, sit and listen to an elderly neighbor. We rarely take the time to learn from our elders and listening is a gift. | by @GrantsChampion; View Tweet
- Write a blog post about a cause or charity that you are passionate about. Be sure to include a link to the cause or charity. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Record a video about what a cause or charity means to you and publish on YouTube, etc. with links to cause or charity site. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Promote a cause or charity by capturing related photos and publishing on Flickr, etc. with links to cause or charity site. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Donate your nonprofit books to a nonprofit management organization's library. | by @kanter; View Tweet
- Add a community service project to your conference or event. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Add a walkathon or other charity fundraiser to your next conference or event. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Add a blood drive to your conference or other event. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Add a clothing drive to your conference or other event. | by @rogercarr; View Tweet
- Do you live where it snows? Need a holiday gift for an elderly neighbor? Present them with a pledge to shovel their walk. | by @pecksniffiana; View Tweet
- If you do give cash, get the schwag too and give it as a gift to someone else. | by @kanter; View Tweet
- Donate your really really out of date equipment to a computer recycler like Free Geek. | by @kanter; View Tweet
- Clean out your bookshelf and donate books to the library. | by @kanter; View Tweet
- Send a free, downloadable holiday card to a hero | by @OzarksRedCross; View Tweet
- Animal shelters need old blankets and comforters. Shelters are being overwhelmed because people are losing their homes. | by @cybersibesk; View Tweet
- Offer to make up Pre-Addressed, Stamped Envelopes/Cards for people with disabilities for them to send out for the holidays. | by @ALSofGNY; View Tweet
- Clear out all those hotel toiletries and donating to a shelter. | by @HSNetwork; View Tweet
- Children's hospitals always need toys this time of year. Don't wait till the last minute - it takes time to sort, distribute. | by @ChildrensHealth; View Tweet
- Tell your favorite nonprofits about Grant Gopher. It's a FREE database of available grants! No more subscription fees! | by @grantgopher; View Tweet
- Help kids who are in the hospital instead of at home. | by @mmiller20910; View Tweet
- Ask for free books to give away on your blog. | by @kanter; View Tweet
- Develop a website for a nonprofit or cause. | by @peterscampbell; View Tweet
- Donate stuff to the Goodwill. | by @peterscampbell; View Tweet
- A consultant? Donate a certain number of pro-bono hours in '09 for arts/civil rights organizations. | by @alexsteed; View Tweet
- Make a personal pro bono commitment for 2009 to Food First to learn more about hunger and DO something. | by @rachelannyes; View Tweet
- Conserve resources helps to reduce your carbon footprint and, combined, can help lead to energy independence. | by The Philanthropic Family; View Post
- Visit Buy It Like You Mean It and rate how good you think companies are doing based on reviews that are published on the website. | by Clay; View Comment
- Find out more about and participate in Big Sunday which began in 1998 with the simple idea of playing matchmaker between community nonprofits and volunteers who were eager to find more ways to give back. | by Gayle Bagelman; View Comment
- Change your will or insurance policy to benefit your favorite charity. | by Lorri Greif; View Comment
- If you are an accountant, do someone's taxes. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- If you are an accountant, volunteer at a tax clinic. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- If you are an accountant, ask a local charity if they need a treasurer. If they don't need one, ask if they know an organization that does. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- If you are an account and don't have time to be a treasurer for an organization, help a charity set up or improve their accounting system. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- Coach a Junior Achievement team and teach some kids about business. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- Hire a temporary student from the AIESEC business student exchange at the time of year when you really need help, so that a local student can get international business experience. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- Teach someone how to balance their bankbook. | by Energized Accounting; View Post
- Send holiday cards to the spouses and children of men and women in the military. | by Youth Serve America; View Post
- Ask your teach if you can help cleanup their classroom before winter break. | by Youth Serve America; View Post
- Volunteer with your local arts organization -- as a docent, to help with administrative tasks or to support events. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Call a friend and tell them about your favorite concert or piece of art. Word of mouth is the best way to spread the mission of an organization. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Write a letter to the editor of the opinion section of your local paper to tell them about the importance of the arts in your community. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Have a listening party in your home. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Write or call your congressperson to thank them for the increase in the NEA budget for this year, and to encourage them to continue supporting the arts. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- If you are a musician or an artist, teach a lesson to a child for free. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Send CDs of your favorite music to the troops overseas. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Someone you know probably loves the arts, but is unable to drive. Offer them a ride to his/her favorite concert or museum and see how much joy that brings! | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Serve on a city level or neighborhoods arts council to help direct funds to arts organizations in need. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Call your favorite arts organization and offer to distribute brochures to a local coffee shop or bookstore. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- If you are a café/restaurant/bar owner, create a signature dish or drink and name it in honor of your favorite organization. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Create a wish list of your favorite arts organizations, and ask people to make donations in your name rather than buying you presents for the holidays. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Attorneys can call California Lawyers for the Arts and offer his or her services. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- Audition, comment on or follow the YouTube Symphony Orchestra project. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
- If your favorite arts organization has a blog, a facebook page, or some other form of social networking – leave a comment, post on their wall, or just send them an email telling them what you love about that organization. | by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; View Post
What are you going to do? Take a moment to vote for your favorite ideas.
Some Money?
- Shop at www.iGive.com and donate | by dannieg4 and carlgladstone
- Kiva - Loans that change lives | by swrocha; and neddotcom
- Free employee giving campaign page on Givvy (free forever, not a trial) | by JohnTreadway
- Before donating to your college this year, give to the neediest first. Bostonians see Globe Santa http://globesanta.org | by JohnTreadway