Looking for Stocking Stuffers? Give Charity Gift Cards

Retailers aren’t the only ones selling gift cards this holiday season. With more than half of all consumers saying they plan to buy gift cards this year, charities have joined the $26.3 billion dollar game, reported The New York Times.

“This is a movement that has exploded in the last year,” said Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator. “It seems to be something that has caught on nationally,” he added. “People are realizing that giving somebody another sweater is not as good as giving them the opportunity to give to a charity they support.”

Most gift cards sold by retailers are used to buy clothing, toys, electronic devices and the like. But groups offering charity gift cards say their offerings are not that different. “Philanthropy and commercial products are converging with each other,” said Daniel B. Goodman, president of Charitygiftcertificates.org. “We’re offering a charity gift card as basically a commercial product.”

Two new gift cards that allow gift recipients to choose where the money will go arrived on the market in November. Network for Good introduced the Good Card and TisBest Philanthropy began selling its TisBest Charity Gift Card.