Clutter-free Gift Ideas

A great way to make things easier for you and more manageable for the recipients is to buy clutter-free gifts. Here are some great ways to give charitably, creatively, or just plain easily:

Consider sponsoring a child in need in a third world country. You can help provide a child with clean water, nutritious food, clothing, shelter, and education through World Vision or Children International. These are wonderful programs, and a sponsorship from you might be the perfect gift for someone who loves to help others.

Donate livestock to a family in need through the Heifer Project. With your donation, the Heifer Project can provide a goat that can supply a family with milk every day. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt. Families use goat manure to fertilize gardens. And because goats often have two or three kids a year, Heifer partners can start small dairies that pay for food, health care and education. Who wouldn’t get a kick out of knowing a goat had been donated to a needy family in their name? Other catalog items include seedlings, rabbits, a heifer, or even an entire “ark” of animals, depending on how much you’d like to donate. World Vision has a similar program.

When you sponsor an animal at Maymont Park through their “Adopt a Living Thing” program, you simply assume the approximate annual cost for caring for the specific animal you choose. Animals "up for adoption" range from the small American toad to the mighty black bear. A trip to the park to see “their” animal would make this gift extra special to a child!

You can also sponsor an animal through the Best Friends Animal Society, the largest no-kill sanctuary in the country for abandoned, abused, and neglected companion animals. With a $25 sponsorship, your gift recipient receives a personalized e-greeting, a link to a biography of the sponsor animal(s), a sub-scription to Best Friends magazine, and more Support your local library with a donation of books, videos, or CDs. Let your children share the joy of giving by having them choose the books to be donated, or even pay for a book with their own money. Or contact the library to see if they have a “wish list” of items they’d love to have as part of their collection.

Because our time is so valuable nowadays, it’s truly a wonderful gift when you volunteer your time to a worthy cause. Consider volunteering at the local animal rescue shelter, library, community center, church, hospital, or wherever there’s a need that’s close to your heart.

Consider giving the gift of your talents. If you’re computer-savvy, give an older person lessons on how to use the internet. If you love to cook, make a meal for a busy friend once a month, complete with dessert. Offer to clean the house of an elderly neighbor who has trouble keeping up with the household.

A night out on the town might be greatly appreciated by a couple with children. How about movie tickets or tickets to the symphony or a play? You can make this gift really special by volunteering to baby-sit, or paying the couple’s usual babysitter as part of the gift.

Display your creativity with a “coupon book” that includes coupons for babysitting, dinner out to a favorite restaurant, or a day at the spa. Depending on their age, children can give parents coupons for doing extra chores, watching the younger kids so Mom can have some time to herself, or making a meal once a week. Just remember that the coupons given do constitute a commitment!

Gift cards from stores are easy and convenient, but if you go this route, be sure it will be meaningful to the recipient, and not too general. Consider including a token gift that reflects the origin of the gift card ~ something that won’t end up as clutter. For example, give an avid reader a gift card from a bookstore with a beautiful bookmark, a box of bookplates, or a specific book they’ve been wanting. A coffee drinker might like a gift card from a gourmet coffee shop they may not have visited before, with a sample of one of their most popular coffees, or a bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans.

If you know of someone who is frustrated by clutter in their home, consider a gift certificate from Organized for Life. Do you have a friend who complains regularly that she needs to get organized and doesn’t know where to begin? Or a family member whose number one New Years resolution for years has been “getting organized”? My organizing gift certificates are available for any number of hours, and can be personalized with your name and the name of the recipient. Give a gift of true, lasting value to someone you love.

Copyright 2007 by Cara Kinning, ORGANIZED FOR LIFE

Please contact me for reprint permission.

Organized for Life      www.organizedforlifeonline.com     (804) 330-0997