# The greatest gift of all?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2000/12/15/greatest-gift-all/
- Published: 2000-12-15T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Instead of giving Christmas gifts just to your friends and loved ones, why not
give a gift to people that would really make a difference? **

At [GreatGifts](http://www.great-gifts.org) you can buy and send school desks, low-
tech equipment and clean water well equipment to schools, hospitals and communities
in the developing world.

The idea is not new of course. Heifer International pioneered it online two years
ago, as UK Fundraising reported in November 1998.

## Advertisement

Nevertheless, the idea of charities encouraging supporters to make a gift to them
instead of a Christmas, wedding or birthday gift is still largely untried. The humour
and aptness of shopping list offers such as that from Heifer International could
be applied to many other charities’ funding needs.

 * **[For every virtual gift, there is a season](https://fundraising.co.uk/2007/11/04/every-virtual-gift-there-season/)**(
   4 November 2007)
 * **[Save the Children announces Christmas Jumper Day campaign](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/11/29/save-children-announces-christmas-jumper-day-campaign/)**(
   29 November 2012)
 * **[Charities pitch gifts to last minute Christmas shoppers](https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/12/24/charities-pitch-gifts-last-minute-christmas-shoppers/)**(
   24 December 2013)