Monday, January 12, 2009

Giving that Doesn't Hurt

Did you know that 10% of gift cards are never used? Did you know that billions of dollars in gift cards each year go unspent? I didn't either until I attended a gathering last night with the founders of giftcardgiver.com, an organization that collects unused gift cards with small balances on them and lumps them together to donate goods to people in need. 

When I first heard about this concept, I was shocked both by its simplicity and its profundity. If you are like me, you always end up with a .45 balance on that Walmart gift card you got for Christmas or a $3 balance on the Best Buy card you got for your birthday. What most of us do, and the corporate giants realize this, is either forget about the card, throw it away or buy something we don't need that ends up costing us money! 

No more.

Now there is a great and charitable alternative, a way to give that doesn't even hurt. Take a minute to support this awesome organization. You can host a gift card giver party, buy one of their organic cotton t-shirt or simply spread the word. Check out this video which shows what one church did with giftcardgiver.com. 

Check out giftcardgiver.com and let me know if there are any other creative sites like this floating around that others need to know about. 

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