While you’re doing last minute shopping, or thinking of gift ideas for a birthday, anniversary, or graduation, consider these ideas connected to replyforall’s eight causes.

Find a cure for cancer. This year, Obama requested more than $6 billion in cancer research, with a “multiyear” plan to double its funding.  That means if you supported Obama in the last election, you’re supporting this cause already!  Luckily, there are many opportunities to support cancer research during the holidays, like sending cards from young artists.  The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation sells cards for the holiday season, the proceeds directly benefiting pediatric cancer research.  The best part?  Young patients design the cards (their info is on the back), lending a hand to future patients suffering from cancer.  Turns out they’re super cute, too.

Stop global AIDS. In 2007, the estimated number of people in the US living with HIV/AIDS was 557,902 people, including 4,891 children.  In the world, that number jumps to 33.4 million according to 2008 estimates, with 2.1 million children worldwide suffering from HIV/AIDS.  Ending global AIDS starts at home, and it starts with you.  This year, we think the best way to support this cause is to get tested and encourage others to do so.  For a list of HIV test centers in the US, you can search here by location.  Of course, you can also support nonprofits that provide HIV testing and treatment with everything from postage stamps to t-shirts to coffee mugs.  That can make a great gift.  And not just for the one who gets the coffee mug.

Defend animal rights. So this idea is one of my personal favorites because it involves loved ones and food.  One of the best ways to defend animal rights during the holidays is to commit to what I like to call “guilt-free” eating.  Making the effort to cook a vegan meal– even if it’s just one time– gives you the opportunity to make conscious decisions about where your food comes from and what activities you support (like animal cruelty) when buy and eat that food.  There are some awesome ideas for vegan cooking at Fat-free Vegan Kitchen, including cookies, cakes, and green bean casserole.  So heat up that oven, invite over your closest friends, and have a guilt-free holiday party!  Other ideas on how to support animal rights can be found at ASPCA’s site.

Protect children’s rights. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, with profits estimated by the UN around $7 billion a year.  This holiday, make sure none of your money goes to support this slave trade by checking out the list of goods made with slave labor, released by the US Department of Labor.  You can also find more information and petitions to sign around this topic at Change.org, including the “8 ways to shed light on human trafficking this Hanukkah.”

Fight global warming.  There are plenty of ways to “go green” this Christmas, but I think the best way is to find alternatives to gift-giving altogether.  Considering the waste of producing products, from the carbon emissions it takes to run the factories to the trash that ends up in our landfills, it seems the best way to fight global warming is to take a serious look at why we think we need more stuff.  But, if foregoing gifts puts a damper on your holiday, you can still be earth-friendly by making gifts by hand, buying from organic and carbon neutral companies, and wrapping them in recycled newspaper.  Also, check out National Geographic’s list on how to have a green Christmas.

Provide clean water. replyforall’s nonprofit sponsor, Engineers Without Borders, has teamed up with Google, Inc. to give your holiday donation an extra punch.  Double the punch, actually.  From now until January 15, 2010, your donation to Engineers Without Borders will be matched by Google, doubling your investment in clean water!  Your donation can fund sustainable engineering projects (one of over 350 currently in place) done by EWB in conjunction with local communities and NGOs.

End world poverty. There are plenty of ways to end world poverty this holiday season, and in the spirit of giving gifts, the best way to do so is making sure your gifts provide living wages to those who make them.  You can find fair-trade gift ideas at the TransFair USA blog, and donating to micro-finance nonprofits provides funding necessary for potential business owners around the world to start up their companies.  While micro-financing has recently turned scam-like for commercial profiteers like large banks, you can still provide loans by giving to nonprofits like Kiva, which has a repayment rate of over 98% and works with multiple credit unions in the area.  And once your loan has been repaid, you can loan it out again, or take the money back.

Support education. Our nonprofit partner, DonorsChoose.org, gives donations to specific classrooms with specific needs.  Just as the name suggests, the donor chooses which project to support– for the holidays, you can give the DonorsChoose.org GivingCard, which allows the recipient to pick their favorite project.  Or, if you have a good idea of what that recipient loves, you can give for them– musical instruments in honor of your guitar-playing dad, sporting equipment for your basketball-loving best friend.  Best part comes when your honoree hears back from the classroom!

We hope these can give you some last-minute ideas for the holidays, or something to come back to when a special someone’s birthday rolls around.  If you have other ideas on how to support a cause, leave a comment for others to read with the cause in the subject line.  As always, you can give to your favorite cause by adding the replyforall signature to your emails.  Free to you, but generating donations every time you hit SEND.

Fight the Good Fight,

Johanna Hudgens

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	A year of schooling for the mother reduces child mortality by about 10%.
	By using this email signature, Johanna and DonorsChoose.org provided an hour’s worth of school resources for 338 students.