Does Dad live far away? No worries – send an ecard or send a gift card through Facebook using our Charity Gift Card application. Its easy, fast and meaningful.

Ever wonder about the origin of Fathers Day? Find out here

Have a very happy Father’s Day.

For Memorial Day a viral post has been circulating on Facebook to reminds us what the holiday is all about. I thought I’d share it here and encourage you to take it to the next step.

What is Memorial Day?? For some, it is simply 3 days off work. For others, it’s a lot of savings at stores nationwide. But for most of US, it’s a day to remember our fallen troops that have fought in battles WORLDWIDE. If you post this, it’s because you know someone who serves, who was lost in battle, or you just understand that freedom is not free!!! Please repost to honor our military.

Share a charity ecard with a friend or host this weekend. Send it through Facebook and suggest a charity listed in our Military Category. Make it a  more meaningful weekend. Customize it all with your own special photos. A thoughtful way to remember our heroes.

Have a meaningful weekend!

A new resource for Event Professionals and Non-profit organizations.

CharityChoice is pleased to be a partner of this Virtual Event Series.

The Sacred Earth — CharityChoice Earth Day Campaign
— CharityChoice Gift Cards announced an online charity campaign and public voting website with a Facebook APP for Earth Day 2011. The question of who has primary responsibility for protecting the Planet Earth is put to public vote. Voicing of opinions also includes comments and the offering of your own suggestions.

When it comes to charitable endeavors it’s never to early to set a great example for our kids and the earlier we start the better.  I came across a recent article in the Denver Post by Bruce DeBoskey where he gives several reasons and some local Denver projects to get your kids started.

Involving your children — young or grown — in your philanthropy is one of the best ways to pass on your values about community, giving back and helping others. Kids learn not only by example but also by actively participating in their family’s giving plan

Read more in the Denver Post

At CharityChoice we believe it’s very important to give kids the opportunity to get involved in charitable giving at an early age. We’ve learned that many charity gift card users and recipients have involved their children in making their charity selections and in doing so they found that it to be a great learning experience.  Recipients love the idea:  “What a fabulous idea!  Thank you so much for your generosity.  I am going to have my children help me choose an organization to donate to—they will love it.”

Here are 5 great ways to get kids involved utilizing CharityChoice tools:

1. Celebrate with good deeds – Give out Charity Gift Cards as Birthday, Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah favors –  you can create custom ecards with your image of choice and print them out
2. Give a Charity Gift Card to a child for a birthday or special occasion and then spend time selecting 3 charities to benefit together. Bonus – kids get your full attention and a meaningful project = Fun
3. Set up a Charity Gift Registry for your child’s birthday in our Birthday Party Center You can use our online wizard to create your own personalized web page and list your favorite charities
4. Partner with a favorite local charity and encourage others to give charity gifts for special occasions
5. Get creative -We’ve got many different types of programs and tools to encourage charitable giving – check out our web site and tell us how you and your kids might use Charity Gifts to actively learn about charitable giving.

By giving or  including a CharityChoice gift card or ecard in every gift you give you not only give a meaningful gift but you also give someone the gift of pure happiness. According to several studies giving back is an important aspect of an individuals happiness quotient. Studies indicate that giving to charity   “activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating a “warm glow” effect. Imagine multiplying that affect. When you give a CharityChoice gift card or ecard you get that happiness feeling and the recipient of the card does as well.

A recent holiday article posted on Greater Good demonstrated “5 Ways Giving Is Good for You”. The highlights are below, but for details on these interesting and inspiring factors check out the Greater Good article.

1. Giving makes us feel happy
2. Giving is good for our health
3. Giving promotes cooperation and social connection
4. Giving evokes gratitude
5. Giving is contagious

A great resolution for 2011 that creates happiness all around.  You can start spreading happiness with charity gift cards if you have any questions as to how just ask us. Wishing you and yours a very Happy and happiness filled New Year!

• Go straight to the CharityChoice website and purchase ecards right now. You can choose from an array of designs representing some of the charity categories or simply use our holiday design.
• Log on to Facebook and send ecards directly to your friends on Facebook with our new Giving Buddy Facebook application. Starting at just $2
• Now you can get ecards directly from you Smartphone as well via WildCard

Send your ecard electronically or print it out.

Digital gift giving with meaning, and simple. A great way to give back and get your shopping done.

From all of us at CharityChoice we wish you and your families a wonderful and meaningful holiday!

Basically, you connect to your Facebook account to deliver a CharityChoice GivingBuddy donation gift good for over 500 causes

CharityChoice Gift Cards now has it’s own causes Facebook app for giving charity donation gifts to friends via Facebook. Simply connect to your Facebook through our platform and create a personalized charitable GivingBuddy ecard that can be posted directly on your friend’s Wall, showing a message and ecard graphic. Denominations start at $2, so you can send to your entire holiday list of family and friends. CharityChoice also provides a system to post on Twitter and other social networks.

GivingBuddy cards allow the gift giver to pre-select a charity to receive a portion of their donation, leaving their Buddy with the opportunity to pick another two causes. You can now select from over 500 major national and local charities for the funds to benefit. Causes include those for children, environment, health, military, animals, disaster relief and more. The purchase is 100% tax-deductible and this is certainly the most meaningful gift most would receive this year.

E-card selections include a Christmas tree, other cheerful holiday graphics, birthday, environmental and all-occasion card designs. The graphic design will appear on the friend’s Wall when posted.

In a recent Press Release Daniel Goodman, President of Charity Choice said the following:

“We think people will be thrilled to do charitable gift-giving this holiday season in a more social way with our GivingBuddy delivered via Facebook. Charities can register and take advantage of this popular channel for funding that is so needed in these difficult times.

“We are pleased to offer this option now for season’s greetings. Let’s use these technological tools for a higher purpose, to elevate our gift-giving with gifts that help others, when more people are in need than ever.”

Charity gifts for the holidays are meaningful, easy, fun, environmentally friendly and support tons of causes. The fact that you can now share them through your social networks we hope gives everyone one more reason to add them to the holiday shopping  list.

This new ecard allows you to share a CharityChoice GivingBuddy charity gift card with your family and friends on their Facebook Wall.

Also, use for Twitter DM and any social networking.

This week CharityChoice along with other well-known organizations were mentioned in Jolie O’Dell’s post, “For the Person Who Has Everything, Go Online to Give the Gift of Charity”.  So true, for the person that has everything and even those that don’t the opportunity to give to others is a meaningful opportunity and feels good all around, all year round. You also won’t find a  charity gift card re-gifted to you next year or shoved into the back of the closet. Not to mention all CharityChoice gift card funds are hard at work even when they have not yet be redeemed, and they don’t expire.

Besides articles Mashable also runs a “Peoples Choice” awards program and we’d really like your nomination. Although we are not looking for glory we are definitely looking to raise awareness for our program and the many charities they help support.

CharityChoice  is operated by Special Kids Fund a children’s charity alliance, providing for special needs and at-risk youth. Like so many non-profits raising awareness for a cause as well as funds are a major focus. CharityChoice is doing just that as the pioneers of innovative internet fundraising programs.  But, it’s not just about our programs the picture is bigger than that. If you consider how many times you give a gift or want to show appreciation or promote your brand that is exactly how many opportunities you have to make an impact and donate to charity. When the excitement of the holidays fades charities will still need funds and that’s what we are about, encouraging giving back on a regular basis by making a very small change in our year round gift giving habits.

We already have so many wonderful brand ambassadors, but it’s only just the beginning and without people encouraging other people you cannot maintain an ultimate awareness momentum. There is less than one day left but please take a minute to click the picture above and nominate CharityChoice as “A Must Follow Non-Profit”. It’s one way you can help us raise funds and awareness for your favorite non-profits.

A Big Thank you to all our  wonderful Meaningful Gift Ambassadors! We hope many others continue to join us and help encourage gifts for good.

Join us on the web and help us spread the word, start today and you just never know where tomorrow will lead us.