Charity goats are 'this year's must-have present' says Guardian

Howard Lake | 23 December 2004 | News

• Tagged with:
• Giving/Philanthropy
• Research and statistics
• Trading

The Guardian today gives front page coverage to Oxfam Unwrapped’s goat, which it says is “this year’s must-have present’ for Christmas.

The goat is one of the items on sale in Oxfam Unwrapped, the charity’s ‘alternative’ gift catalogue, launched a few months ago. Supporters can buy a friend or family member a practical gift such as a goat which then gets delivered to a family in a developing country. The present’s original ‘recipient’ gets a thank-you card from Oxfam and, presumably, a warm feeling.

The Guardian reports that Oxfam has sold over 30,000 goat gifts this year. Other charities who have set up similar catalogues have also enjoyed success: Cafod, for example, has sold 13,000 of the £25 goats. Overall the charity has raised nearly £800,000 from its Christmas gifts this year.

In its leader today, The Guardian welcomes this more traditional approach to giving at Christmas, although it does note that the other top-selling gift this year is the less selfless Apple iPod. “While the gift of an iPod allows its wearers to solipsistically cut themselves off, the gift of a goat to Africa is the precise opposite: its entire utility lies in giving something to the rest of the world: less of the Christmas “bah, humbug,” more of the “baa”.

• Google promotes online donations to Asian floods disaster appeals (29 December 2004)
  
• Amazon.com publishes Asian floods appeal on front page (30 December 2004)
  
• BT steps in to help DEC handle online donations (30 December 2004)
  

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.