Turn Unwanted Holiday Gifts Into Funds for Charity

Shift My Gift is a new social venture that turns the money your loved ones would have spent on you in conventional gifts into donations for nonprofits. Photo: Shift My Gift

Sometimes making your own holiday wish list is more difficult than shopping for friends and family.

Whether you’re trying to cut down on household clutter or truly feel like you have it all, a new social venture, Shift My Gift, can help you raise funds for your favorite causes this holiday season, instead of acquiring gifts you don’t want or need.

Shift My Gift turns the money your loved ones would have spent on you in conventional gifts into donations for nonprofits that are in dire need of funds, due to the recession and government budget cuts. The website works similar to a gift registry: You sign up, list your event and, instead of selecting products, choose from over 1.2 million charities to which your friends and family can donate in your honor.

Then you can let your loved ones know about your Shift My Gift registry through email, Facebook or Twitter.

Shift My Gift not only helps the environment by raising money for nonprofit organizations – many of which are focused on sustainability – but also by eliminating the environmental impacts of manufacturing and transporting physical gifts.

Your friends and family also benefit from this new kind of gift-giving, avoiding the hassle of holiday shopping and receiving a tax deduction for their donation. While each “gifter” is charged $1.49 to cover the company’s operations, Shift My Gift says that this nominal fee is easily made up by the gift’s tax deduction, as well as the money the gift-giver would have spent buying a traditional gift: gas to drive to the store, shipping fees and wrapping paper.

READ: 8 Well-rated Charities to Kick Start Your Holiday Giving