Intangible Gifts (a.k.a. Charitable Donations)

You've got office coworkers to buy for and you don't know what to get them.  Or maybe you're just tired of buying people stuff you know they don't need, but you've got to get them something.  There are tons of things on the interwebs about giving donations to charities in lieu of tangible Christmas gifts.  So how do you tactfully tell someone that's what you did?  I searched the internet, and couldn't come up with anything.  *If you've found a site/blog let me know!  I thought it was weird - everyone telling you to make a charitable donation instead of giving a gift, but no one would tell me how to tell my recipient they weren't actually getting a gift.  So I had to take matters into my own hands. 

With a little creativity, and some time, I was able to come up with some little "poems" to include in a Christmas card for the recipient.  I wanted the somewhat impersonal aspect of a charitable donation to feel like it was actually meant for them.  With the hundreds upon hundreds of charities out there, it's easy to find one to represent everyone!  One of my coworkers is a huge dog lover, so a local animal shelter was a no-brainer for her.  My boss coaches baseball for all his kids (and basketball), so I knew something sports themed would work perfectly for him.   My other coworker was a bit more difficult, but as you can tell from her poem, just a little outside-the-box thinking made hers personalized as well.

I added a little strip of paper with an explanation of the
work the charity does....



It doesn't have to be fancy, you can just write it on the
top of a Christmas card....



"It's Christmas time once again, we all struggle with what to send.
So with some premeditation, I've made a charitable donation.
Since you long to visit Machu Picchu, I thought an alpaca in Peru
would make a great gift for you."



As I'm sure you've gathered I'm not going to win any awards with this, but I think it got the idea across.  I hope this helps get your creative juices flowing when it comes time to write your own cards.  I'll let you know how my coworkers react :)

intangible (adjective)

1. not tangible; incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch, as incorporeal or immaterial things; impalpable.

2. not definite or clear to the mind: intangible arguments.
3. (of an asset) existing only in connection with something else, as the goodwill of a business.

(noun)

4. something intangible, especially an intangible asset: Intangibles are hard to value.