10 ways of giving back this Christmas

TALKING about giving, former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Sir Winston Churchill, said: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” There isn’t a better time to give than during the holiday season of Christmas and the run up to the New Year.

Worldwide charitable giving increases during the festival season, and Christmas is no different. People give during Christmas because they are inspired to donate, or because the causes touch them, or they feel that they can make a difference. All three can be a reason to donate too. No matter how big or small, your donation can make a real difference.

A survey by Give recently revealed that 90% of the respondents plan to donate more to various charitable causes post-pandemic, and there are few occasions as important as Christmas to do that. The concept of Christmas presents is great, but there are other ways to make a gift to show you care.

Here are 10 different ways you can give back this Christmas:

1. Volunteer your time with an NGO

Many charities across the country need helping hands during the holiday season. It could be at a children’s charity, a home for the disabled or the elderly, or even a charity working overtime to see that nobody goes hungry this Christmas. Every town and city has charities you can volunteer with by donating your valuable time.

Your skills and interests could be of great help to a charitable organisation. Just reach to one and find out. And for you, it’s your own version of a Christmas gift that will be meaningful and memorable.

2. Gift a fun-filled time to children in orphanages

For children living in orphanages and shelter homes, this Christmas may be just another day in their lives. But you can bring festive cheer and happiness to their lives. Catalyst for Social Action (CSA), a non-profit looking after the welfare of over 3,500 kids in institutional care across India, is planning to make this fun-filled Christmas for these kids.

You can donate as little as ₹1,000 and sponsor gifts and a special meal for each child. You can be Santa Claus for these kids – donate here.

3. Buy charity Christmas cards

For ages, one of the most popular ways of supporting a good cause during the festive season is by buying and sending charity Christmas cards. Buying a set from a store near you or online as Christmas gifts is a great way to help those in need. Sending Christmas cards is a beautiful way to connect with your loved ones and brighten their day while helping a charity.

You can also purchase e-greeting cards from various charity websites and send them to your friends and relatives. When you buy physical cards from a charity or a website, a portion of the purchase goes to a charity, but purchasing an e-card directly from a charity institution means that 100% of your donation will go to that charity.

4. Host an online fundraiser

You can raise funds for a charity or a medical emergency on a crowdsourcing platform like Give. You can help nonprofits located in the remotest corners in the country and widen their donor base by hosting a fundraiser. You can also raise funds for an individual you know who is desperate for funds for a medical emergency.

Through Give.do, you can spread the word about the cause or nonprofit you are supporting and rope in more donations from your friends and relatives. The power of word-of-mouth publicity is the strength of peer-to-peer fundraising.

5. Feed people who work during the holidays

While many of us revel in going on holidays, meeting friends and relatives during the Christmas season, some people continue to work during this time. These include the police, gig workers, emergency responders, healthcare workers, retail workers, etc. They hardly have any time to spend with their loved ones.

You can bring some festive cheer into their lives by organising food for them at their workplace. This Christmas gift idea would be appreciated for a long time to come. A little gesture like this can go a long way in showing that you care for them.

6. Pledge to give as you earn

This Christmas, you can pledge to donate for a longer period of time through the concept of ‘payroll giving.’ You can sign up for a charity from the verified list of nonprofits on Give and give directly.

You may take this decision during Christmas or as a New Year resolution as one way of giving, it is also a very efficient way of getting tax relief. You could also check if your employer is offering a payroll giving scheme and if that is the case, you can donate from your salary and gain income tax relief.

Currently, thousands of people are part of payroll giving supporting causes on education, health, nutrition, women, children and others. 

7. Buy Christmas gifts from socially responsible companies

During the season, various companies pledge to donate to charitable causes. It could be in the form of sponsoring meals to the needy or donating to a social initiative.

Several companies and e-commerce organisations prominently display their charity giving on their websites. When you buy gifts online, you can check for such companies and buy from them.

8. Spend time with elderly neighbours

We all feel lonely at some point in our lives. But loneliness can have a significant impact on the lives of the elderly and their well-being. There are several elderly people whose children are settled in various parts of the country or abroad. They may feel lonely during festive occasions like Christmas. You can make it a point to visit the elderly in your neighbourhood with a gift or simply spend some time with them.

9. Shop local, it is one form of charity

Shopping online or in malls is the in-thing. The festive season is one of the busiest times for commercial establishments. But going local and helping the traditional family stores and others in the neighbourhood is one way of showing that you care for their well-being.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made life difficult for many small business owners, and they have also been at the receiving end thanks to increase in online retailing. You can buy Christmas gifts locally and silently show your support this festive season.

10. Donate blood

Worldwide, the festive season sees a dip in blood stocks, according to the Red Cross. But for the last two years, Red Cross says that it is experiencing the “worst blood shortage in over a decade.” This has been mainly because of the pandemic.

Hospitals have been forced to postpone surgeries and blood and organ transplants due to a shortage of blood. This Christmas, you can donate blood at the nearest blood bank and help those in desperate need of it.

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Give’s mission is to “make giving bigger and better.” Give is the most trusted donation platform in India for fundraisers and crowdfunding campaigns. Through our technology solutions, we enable individuals and organisations to fundraise and donate to a cause, charity or NGO with trust and convenience. Give’s community of 2.7M+ individual donors and 300+ organisations supports 3,000+ verified nonprofits with 80G deduction and serves 15M+ people across India. Find a fundraiser today!