cardsthatgive.org

A Successful Season

2012-01-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

Community Kitchens of Birmingham
2011 Tribute Card

What a great season. More than 90,000 visitors and many orders -- from corporations, small businesses, individuals -- supporting responsible, effective charities. Thank you! Now, as usual, no new cards will appear on the site for a few months while we prepare for holiday 2012.

I'm working on a few ideas for the coming year, including a section featuring organizations that offer birthday, thank-you, and all-occasion greetings. We'll also include a selection of new non-profits.

Please check in with us in July. Have a good spring, and thanks again.

Anne

Oregon Food Bank
2011 Tribute Card

New Year's Cards

2011-12-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

CardsDirect

Cards with New Year's greetings are good for those who are a little behind schedule as well as those who want to avoid the religious-or-secular greeting decision. Here is a sampling of charities that offer them.

City Harvest

City Harvest (a New York City food rescue organization) has created a pear card that reads, "Wishing You Peace and Abundance in the New Year."

Veterans Moving Forward

Veterans Moving Forward, which provides service dogs to military veterans, sells four New Year's card designs.

Sparkling New Year by Masha D'yans
Museum of Modern Art

"Sparkling New Year," by Masha D'yans, is from New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Tiny Prints / Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Tiny Prints / Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

If you buy Tiny Prints photo cards through this link, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta will receive 15-20% of the order price. (Take 10% off your order with code CHOA12.)

CardsDirect

If you send New Year's cards from CardsDirect, you can choose to have 20% of the card price donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, For the Troops, Autism Speaks, or the National Multiple Sclerosis Society South Florida Chapter. Just be sure to begin your order with the organizations' specific links (the ones used in the previous sentence) to make sure that the charities will benefit.

Anne

Photo Holiday Cards

2011-12-10T19:11:00.000-08:00

Evergreen Wishes
American Cancer Society

There's still time to order holiday cards that include your photos. Here are some of the nonprofits that invite you to include an image with your card order:

National Arbor Day Foundation
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
American Cancer Society
Courage Center (a Minneapolis-based rehabilitation center)

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
UNICEF USA

National Wildlife Federation

Quite Content
National Wildlife Federation

The following organizations don't sell cards with your photo on the front, but you may insert your photos inside the card:

Miami Children’s Hospital
MADD Canada
Seattle Children's Hospital

CardsDirect

Finally, CardsDirect produces photo cards, and offers cards that benefit:

National Multiple Sclerosis Society, South Florida Chapter
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
For the Troops
Autism Speaks

Anne

New Cards from CASA of New Hampshire

2011-12-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

Holiday Path, Pittsfield, NH by Bob Legg
CASA of New Hampshire

Volunteers at CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of New Hampshire help abused and neglected children by serving as their advocates in the state court system. Thanks to donations by
15 New Hampshire artists, CASA recently introduced a series of beautiful new holiday cards.

Cardinal by Emily Heidler
CASA of New Hampshire

The cards can be personalized with custom greetings, signatures, logos, and photos, or can be ordered blank.

Forty percent of the purchase price will go directly to CASA of New Hampshire to help it work towards its goal: "a world in which all children are safe, nurtured and living in permanent homes."

Anne

Central Park Conservancy

2011-11-25T16:58:00.000-08:00

A surprise Halloween snowstorm devastated New York's Central Park; the combination of heavy snow, leafy limbs, and high winds sent hundreds of trees crashing to the ground. The
Central Park Conservancy's restoration efforts -- including removal of more than 1,000 trees -- will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You can support the Conservancy's work by sending their holiday cards this year. They have several new designs: I can't decide which I like best: this image of the Bethesda Fountain in the snow:

Bethesda Fountain
Central Park Conservancy

or this view of the Mall:

The Mall
Central Park Conservancy

Both cards are available blank or with a "Celebrate The Beauty Of The Holidays" message.

Anne

Paperworks Studio

2011-11-13T23:54:00.000-08:00

At Michigan's Paperworks Studio, artisans with special needs use blue jeans, coffee, rose petals, vintage wool, and other materials to create soft, smooth handmade paper. The Studio's workers then transform the paper into greeting cards, which can be personalized with high-quality printing or embossing.

Falling Flakes
Paperworks Studio

They offer several holiday designs. I especially like Falling Flakes, which shines with blue, silver, or gold metallic accents on pewter or red paper.

Snowing Rose Petals
Paperworks Studio

Crushed flowers give Snowing Rose Petals a special flecked texture. The back of each card describes Paperworks Studio's mission.

The Studio is based in Traverse City, Michigan and is a nonprofit program of Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan. You can see a two-minute video about the program here.

Anne

Veterans Day

2011-11-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

Homes for Our Troops

Veterans Day is a good time to highlight the charities on our site that support men and women who serve in the military: Homes for Our Troops, Puppies Behind Bars, and For the Troops.

Homes for Our Troops gives specially adapted homes to severely injured veterans at no cost to the military families. Its holiday cards are sold in packs of ten; each card represents a $10 donation. ($20 single cards are also available.) Charity Navigator has awarded Homes for Our Troops its highest 4-star rating. To see its cards, click here.

For the Troops
(sender's name to be inserted in box on card)

If you're looking for standard (non-tribute) holiday cards, one option is For the Troops, an all-volunteer non-profit organization that sends care packages filled with basic necessities, along with letters of appreciation, to front line troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Card orders must go through this link in order for For the Troops to receive 20% of your order price. (You can order any cards on the CardsDirect site, not just the designs on the For the Troops page that appears when you click the link.)

Puppies Behind Bars

Puppies Behind Bars trains inmates to raise puppies to become service dogs for the disabled, guide dogs for the blind, and explosive detection canines for law enforcement. Through its Dog Tags program, PBB donates fully trained service dogs to wounded soldiers coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Its cards are here.

Anne

Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee

2011-11-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Newhall Street by David Lenz
Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee

Are you looking for holiday cards for your Wisconsin-based business? The Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, a wonderful organization that has been feeding the hungry since 1974, is offering three new designs this year and will imprint a custom greeting and return envelopes for a small fee.

Local artists donated the card art and local sponsors underwrote the production costs, so the entire cost of the cards goes directly to feeding needy families.

Winter Tree by Nick Wroblewski
Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee

One of the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee's many effective programs is its 150-acre historic work farm, which yields 300,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables -- as well as fish and honey -- each year. The Task Force delivers this produce free of charge to the hungry.

My mother grew up in Waukesha, just west of Milwaukee, so I have special affection for this charity.

Anne

New Charity - MADD Canada

2011-10-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Pine
MADD Canada

In Canada, drunk or drug-impaired drivers kill an average of four people a day, many of them children. These drivers also injure approximately 200 people a day. By buying holiday cards from MADD Canada, one of the newest non-profits on our site, you can help MADD make Canada's roads safer.

Sleigh
MADD Canada

MADD Canada offers packs of pre-printed holiday cards as well as personalization and photo imprinting. 20% of the purchase price supports MADD's work.

Anne

Faces of Siberia - New Cards for 2011

2011-10-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

Faces of Siberia is a terrific small charity that helps orphanages in the city of Ekaterinburg and the surrounding Sverdlovsk region of Russia. Proceeds from their holiday cards -- made from the children's paintings -- fund birthday celebrations, as well as educational field trips and adventure outings.

Balsam Jewel by Ali Rayvkov
Faces of Siberia

The children at the Martirosyan Institute for Visually Impaired Children have created several new designs this year, including Balsam Jewel (above), by Ali Rayvkov, age eight.

Imprinting is not offered, but your local copy shop or printer can easily personalize the cards for you or your business.

Anne

Survival International

2011-09-23T12:40:00.000-07:00

Survival International helps tribal peoples around the world "defend their lives, protect their lands, and determine their own futures." Its holiday cards include wonderful images of Siberia and Canada by veteran Arctic photographers Bryan and Cherry Alexander.

Winter Train, Yamal, Siberia by Bryan & Cherry Alexander
Survival International

Since its founding in 1969 in response to violence against tribes in the Brazilian Amazon, Survival has "persuaded governments to recognize tribal land ownership, forced companies to abandon harmful projects on tribal land, and helped draw the eyes of the world to the issues tribal people face."

Home at Dusk, Nunavut, Canada by Bryan & Cherry Alexander
Survival International

The cards say "Season's Greetings" in English and Spanish; 70% of the card price supports Survival's work.

Ice Spray, Siberia by Bryan & Cherry Alexander
Survival International

Anne

Washington National Cathedral

2011-09-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

The 5.8 magnitude earthquake on August 23rd significantly damaged Washington's National Cathedral. Decorative stonework fell and other parts of the building cracked; repairs are estimated to cost millions of dollars.

Bethlehem Madonna & Child

Buying the Cathedral's Christmas cards will help support the restoration effort. These two cards are images of windows in the Cathedral.


Gloria in Excelsis Angels

The Cathedral of course also welcomes donations to help restore the building.

Anne

The Morgan Library & Museum

2011-09-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Adoration of the Magi by Jean Poyer
from the Hours of Henry VII
The Morgan Library & Museum

As you'd expect, New York City's Morgan Library & Museum's holiday cards include sumptuous images from classic books, botanical prints, and illuminated manuscripts.

Winterberry (French, 18th c.)
The Morgan Library & Museum

I think this Winterberry image is beautiful. (I'd like it even better on slightly heavier stock, and with a holiday message (it's blank), but, well, life isn't perfect. You could take it to a printer to have your message added inside.)

Anne

Maine's Pine Tree Society Cards Available Now

2011-09-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

Village Scene by Consuelo Eames Hanks
Pine Tree Society

The Pine Tree Society, which helps Maine children and adults with disabilities, has posted its new holiday cards. Among the Society's many great programs is Pine Tree Camp, which allows 700 campers to enjoy kayaking, swimming, fishing, boating, and many other traditional Maine summer activities in a barrier-free environment.

Photo by Debra Bell

Holiday card sales are an important source of income for the Society, so please take a look at the two new designs that local artists have created.

Anne

Sledding with Friends by Maude Olsen
Pine Tree Society

Courage Center and Museum of Modern Art cards up now

2011-08-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Pop-Up Village Star by Robert Sabuda
Museum of Modern Art

Just added: new cards from the Courage Center (a Minneapolis-based rehabilitation and resource center for people with disabilities) and New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Morning Frost by Bruce Miller
Courage Center

Anne

Pre-Season Card Sales

2011-08-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Picasso Dove
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

If you're organized enough to be thinking about holiday cards now, some non-profits are rewarding your excellent planning skills with sales.

National Wildlife Federation - save $7 on each box until August 31st.
Courage Center - 20% off until September 30th.

Museum of Modern Art - up to 65% off last year's designs.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - buy one, get 60% off the second box.

I'll let you know about other offers as I run across them.

Anne

Colorful Gathering Photo Card
National Wildlife Federation

Time to Begin

2011-08-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

Folk Angel by Emily
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

If you're planning a major holiday mailing, now is a great time to get started. The National Wildlife Federation, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other charities already have new cards up, and more will be coming soon.

Snow Landing by Gerry Ellis
National Wildlife Federation

And don't forget some of the groups such as Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and Puppies Behind Bars. A large order can make a big impact on a smaller organization.

Anne

New Holiday Cards in July

2011-01-09T11:28:00.000-08:00

As always, we will begin posting new holiday cards in July. Forgotten Harvest; the National Wildlife Federation; and the American Cancer Society, New England Division are among the nonprofits that introduce their holiday cards in July.

Peas on Earth
Forgotten Harvest

Forgotten Harvest's popular Peas on Earth card will be available, as well as new designs.

Other organizations offering new cards in July include the National Arbor Day Foundation and VSA Washington DC.

Anne

Happy New Year

2010-12-29T19:48:00.000-08:00

Winter in the Park by Karin Leff

Citymeals-on-Wheels

As always, CardsThatGive.org will post a selection of new cards in July. Please visit our site again then. We will include some interesting new non-profits and introduce other new features to help you choose holiday greetings for your family or your business.

Holiday Tribute Card
Children's Hospital Boston

Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of people who chose to buy their holiday cards from non-profit organizations this year. Your generosity has helped medical research, needy children, the environment, the arts, homeless animals, and countless other good causes.

Happy New Year!

Anne

New Holiday Card Sales

2010-12-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

Trio of Ornaments by John McDonald
Museum of Modern Art

New holiday card sales: the Museum of Modern Art (50-75% off); the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (50% off); the Museum of New Mexico Foundation (35% off), and the Museum of International Folk Art (35-48% off).

Sleigh Ride Home by Lora Verner
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Anne

Metropolitan Museum of Art Cards on Sale

2010-12-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

Skyline from Central Park by Adolf Dehn
Metropolitan Museum of Art

All Metropolitan Museum of Art holiday cards are now 50% off. Stock up for next year?

Madonna and Child by Fra Angelico
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Anne

New eCards from Love 146

2010-12-17T18:56:00.000-08:00

Season of Miracles eCard

Love146 offers handmade holiday cards and holiday eCards to help support its work to end child sex slavery and exploitation. Its programs throughout the world include prevention services, aftercare programs, research, and advocacy in support of abolition.

Chains Shall Break eCard

Each eCard represents a $25 donation to Love146.

One of Love 146's aftercare programs is the Round Home, a residential facility in the Philippines that provides holistic care for survivors of child sexual exploitation and trafficking.

For each $20 donation, Love146 will send ten holiday cards, each hand-drawn by the one of the girls in the Round Home. The income that the girls receive from the card project helps support themselves and their families.

Survivors making cards at the Round Home.

Anne

eCards That Support Music Education

2010-12-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

For each of these free animated holiday eCards you send, Fidelity Investments' FutureStage program will donate $1 to buy new musical instruments for public schools across the country.

The cards feature works performed by the Boston Pops, Houston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

FutureStage is a community arts education program of Fidelity Investments that helps "prepare and inspire underserved middle and high school students for future stages in life through in-school arts."

As CardsThatGive.org only includes 501(c)3 nonprofits, we can't add FutureStage to our eCard section. But it's a good cause anyway.

Anne

Kipepeo Cards, Kenya

2010-12-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

Based in Kenya's largest slum, Kipepeo Designs is a remarkable project that is transforming the lives of the women who work there. The women create handmade card stock from shredded paper that they collect from offices around Nairobi, then use their artistic talents to design handsome greeting cards.

Their cards may include beads, cow bone ornaments, paint, and decorative wire designs. For some designs a sprinkle of glitter is added during the paper-making.

Because of the income and training Kipepeo provides, the women who work there are able to support their families.

Making paper at Kipepeo
(Tribes & Nations, Australia)

In the U.S., the cards are sold at Karibu Kenya, a fair trade shop in San Francisco.

Anne

Tribute Cards as Holiday Gifts

2010-12-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Feeding America

Holiday tribute cards are gifts that reflect the true spirit of the season. Your tribute donation can help fund tree-plantings, programs for cancer patients, textbooks for a school in Africa, care for shelter animals, supplies for food pantries, and more.

Feeding America and Half the Sky are among the organizations on our site that offer tribute cards.

Please visit our holiday tribute card section.

Half the Sky

Anne

America's VetDogs

2010-12-04T23:00:00.000-08:00

We like cards that support our troops. Sales of America's VetDogs' holiday card help provide assistance dogs and training to disabled veterans and active servicemembers.

64% of the card price goes to help provide guide dogs for veterans who are blind, service dogs for those with disabilities other than blindness, physical therapy dogs to work with amputees in military and VA hospitals, and combat stress relief dogs to be deployed overseas with combat stress control teams.

VetDogs' services are free to veterans, the military, and active duty personnel.

Anne

Prostate Cancer Foundation

2010-12-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

Sending holiday cards from the Prostate Cancer Foundation helps fund research to find better treatments and a cure. Jean Fogelberg, wife of the late singer Dan Fogelberg, created their two designs this year. PCF also sells matching postage stamps.

All card orders are sent the next business day. Use the code "2010holiday" at checkout to receive free shipping.

Prostate cancer affects one in six men, and PCF is "the leading philanthropic organization funding and accelerating prostate cancer research globally."

Anne

Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS

2010-12-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

Snowflakes by Dana Mardaga
Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS

On World AIDS Day, please consider purchasing holiday cards from Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.

Since 1988 the American theater community (including classical, opera, jazz, and dance performing arts communities) has contributed more than $195 million via BC/EFA for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States.

Earlier this year BC/EFA also contributed $100,000 to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF in the name of the Broadway community to assist in the Haitian relief efforts.

Holiday tribute cards ($15) are available too.

Wishing and Hoping (1930's)
Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS

Anne

spcaLA

2010-11-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

spcaLA has two holiday card designs this year, and offers free shipping if you spend more than $25. (Enter code 1257873329 at checkout.)

Card sales help fund the shelter's programs and services, including cruelty investigation, a disaster response team, humane education, and a variety of shelter services.

I love their monthly Paws to Read program, where children practice reading to therapy dogs in a relaxed setting at a local library. The dogs are appreciative and interested, and completely unfazed by occasional mispronounced words.

Anne

Faces of Siberia

2010-11-27T09:48:00.000-08:00

Faces of Siberia helps improve the lives of children in orphanages in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. Sales of their holiday cards and gift tags fund winter camps, educational workshops and field trips, and birthday celebrations.

Their Orphan Card Shop also includes cards featuring images of of the Ekaterinburg region that were donated by Russian photographer Aleksej Slepukhin.

Check Faces of Siberia's Facebook page for their recent activities.

Anne

American Red Cross

2010-11-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

The American Red Cross is offering two vintage card images this year. A Junior Red Cross member painted the skier in the 1940s to hang in a military hospital.

The Lighting the Way image by Anna Milo Upjohn is a Junior Red Cross fundraising poster from 1923.

The American Red Cross's work includes helping in emergencies and disasters here and abroad, providing services to military families, aiding the needy, supplying blood and blood products, and teaching people about health and safety.

Anne

New Tribute Cards: North Texas Food Bank

2010-11-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

The North Texas Food Bank's pantries distribute food to more than 50,000 families each month and on-site meal programs serve 435,000 meals and snacks. Its $6 tribute cards feature a swirl of snowflakes made of plates, spoons, and forks.

One of the NTFB's programs is Food 4 Kids. Children identified by school personnel as being at risk of hunger receive approximately four pounds of food in their backpacks each Friday. On Monday, children return the empty backpacks and they are refilled for the next Friday. In the 2009-2010 school year, the NTFB provided 278,252 backpacks.

The card cost goes down to $4.50 each if you buy 50.

Anne

New Charity: Amani Children's Home, Tanzania

2010-11-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

The Amani Children's Home provides meals, education, counseling, and medical care for street children and AIDS orphans at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. For every $12 pack of cards sold, Amani receives $9.36.

Proceeds from card sales pay for school fees, textbooks, and school lunches. A four-minute video about Amani is here.

Anne

New Tribute Cards: Feed More

2010-11-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

Feed More's $5 tribute cards benefit the Central Virginia Food Bank and Meals on Wheels Serving Central Virginia.

The Central Virginia Food Bank distributes more than 12 million pounds of donated food and grocery products each year to children, families, and frail adults in need throughout Central Virginia.

Last year, Meals on Wheels Serving Central Virginia delivered more than 300,000 meals, customized to a variety of health needs, to the homes of eligible people living on their own.

Anne

New Tribute Card: Children's Hospital Boston

2010-11-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

We just added the Children's Hospital Boston's tribute cards. Each card represents a donation of at least $5 and reads, “In the spirit of the holiday season [your name] has made a gift in your honor to Children’s Hospital Boston.”

The hospital will send the cards for you if you like.

Anne

New Holiday Tribute Card: Lambi Fund of Haiti

2010-11-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Our newest holiday tribute card is from the Lambi Fund of Haiti. Founded jointly in 1994 by Haitians and U.S. residents, Lambi has earned 4 stars from Charity Navigator for its efficient use of funds.

After making a contribution, such as $10 for seeds or $25 for fishing nets, donors are invited to download and print a donation certificate or one of the holiday cards above.

Anne

New Half the Sky Card

2010-11-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

Jumping for Joy by Hu Yong Yi
Half the Sky International

Half the Sky provides love and hope for children living in Chinese orphanages. Its new card celebrates 2011, the Year of the Rabbit.

Half the Sky's programs include:

Baby Sisters Infant Nurture Program — Employing, training, and supervising local women to work as full-time nannies, providing orphaned babies the stimulation, bonding, and affection that are essential to a healthy start.

Little Sisters Preschool Program — Training teachers from the local community in HTS's innovative curriculum, designed to give young children the self-confidence, basic skills, and love of learning that will help them succeed in primary school.

Big Sisters Program — Encouraging and inspiring older children by giving them individualized learning opportunities, according to their own interests, talents, and aspirations.

Family Village Program — Providing permanent, loving families for children whose medical and developmental challenges preclude them from entering government adoption programs.

China Care Program — Providing specialized 24-hour medical treatment and nurturing after-care for medically fragile orphaned infants.

The cards cost $25 for 12 and contain a greeting in English and Chinese.

Anne

Emancipation Network's Handmade Cards

2010-11-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Emancipation Network has just received a new shipment of handmade cards from Nepal; the cards are crafted of soft handmade paper with accents of skeleton leaves and a sequin or two.

They come in a set of eight for $12, with three designs in the set: a gold star, a red crown, and a green tree.

The Emancipation Network fights human trafficking and modern day slavery around the world. Made by Survivors, the nonprofit's handicrafts program, provides an economic alternative to slavery and exploitation for women and youth at high risk for being trafficked.

Anne

New Charity: Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA

2010-10-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

We welcome another new nonprofit to our site: Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA. They offer seven cards designed by patients, as well as a polar bear image by wildlife photographer Howard Ruby and a Barbie design created by Mattel.

Polar Bears by Howard Ruby
Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA

Candy Canes by Kaitlin Tsu, age 14
Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA

Proceeds from card sales benefit the Child Life/Child Development Program, whose specialists "work with young patients at bedside to assist creative expression and ease fear and anxiety during lengthy hospitalizations."

The cards cost $20 per box; $11 of that amount is tax deductible.

Anne

New Tribute Card - Utah Food Bank

2010-10-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Utah Food Bank distributed 31 million pounds of food to the hungry last year. You can support the Food Bank by sending its holiday tribute cards.

The Food Bank's programs include providing hundreds of thousands of hot meals for needy children in after-school programs, as well as boxes of emergency food supplies for homebound seniors. One in ten Utah residents -- and one in eight Utah children -- lives in poverty.

Each card represents a $10 donation; the Food Bank will mail the cards for you if you like.

Anne

New Holiday Tribute Card: Child Advocacy Center

2010-10-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

Holiday Tribute Card
Child Advocacy Center

Our newest holiday tribute card benefits the Child Advocacy Center for abused children in Mobile, Alabama.

The Center provides a wide range of free services in one central location to more than 3,500 sexually and/or severely physically abused children and their non-offending family members, as well as educational and training programs in child abuse awareness and prevention.

Cards are $10 each if you order five or more.

Anne

New Charity: For the Troops

2010-10-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

Patriotic Snowflakes
For the Troops

Our newest charity: For the Troops, a nonprofit that sends care packages to front line troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2006 they have shipped more than 20,000 boxes of basic necessities.

The boxes include items such as snacks, DVDs, CDs, batteries, personal care items, and magazines, as well as letters of appreciation from children and adults.

Leaves and Berries
For the Troops

If you begin your CardsDirect card order on this CardsDirect page, 20% of the card price will go to For the Troops.

The back of the card contains the CardsDirect and For the Troops logos and states, "20% of the sale of this card supports 'For the Troops' to send 'We Care' packages to our front line troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Please visit www.FortheTroops.org for information."

Anne

Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center

2010-10-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

Holly Bird by Naylea Jacobo, age 9
Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center

Each year, art teachers around Durham, North Carolina challenge their students to create the perfect holiday card for Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center. This year, card sponsors chose four designs from the hundreds submitted; the winning designs are available now.

Because sponsors underwrite card production costs, the entire card price goes to support pediatric programs at the hospital. Since the holiday card project began 30 years ago, the cards have raised more than $1.4 million for children at Duke.

Winter Town by Kimberly Barbosa, age 10
Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center

Anne

Hadley School for the Blind

2010-10-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

Snowman by Kay Moffitt
Hadley School for the Blind

The Hadley School for the Blind's holiday card says "Wishing you peace, happiness and the spirit of the season" in braille and print, and the delicate snowman image is embossed so the visually impaired can appreciate it.

Card purchases help Hadley provide long-distance education to more than 10,000 blind and visually impaired students each year.

Anne

Puppies Behind Bars

2010-10-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

Holiday Card Version 11
Puppies Behind Bars

Puppies Behind Bars trains inmates to raise puppies to become service dogs for the disabled and explosive detection canines for law enforcement.

Their two-year-old Dog Tags program provides psychiatric service dogs to help war veterans who are battling post-traumatic stress disorder. The dogs obey 87 different commands, and can rouse a soldier from a flashback, dial 911 on a phone, and sense an impending panic attack. By next month they will have paired 34 dogs with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

They offer 13 card designs; it's a great cause.

Anne

Holiday Card Version 12
Puppies Behind Bars

Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger

2010-10-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Boston Lights by Mark Hunt
Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger

Project Bread's new cards are up. This nonprofit funds more than 400 food pantries, soup kitchens, and food banks throughout Massachusetts. It also runs the only statewide hunger hotline, offers school breakfast programs, and provides meals for children in summer when school is out.

The back of each card says, "Project Bread's mission is to alleviate, prevent, and ultimately end hunger in Massachusetts. Proceeds from Project Bread holiday cards help feed hungry children and families in our neighborhoods and hometowns."

Anne

Quiet Harbor by Bob Monahan
Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger

New York Public Library Cards

2010-10-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Lion (1950's) by Robert Quackenbush
New York Public Library

The New York Public Library has chosen a wonderful 1950's image for its new holiday card -- a woodcut by artist/author Robert Quackenbush of Fortitude, one of the library's marble lions, with its traditional holiday wreath amid a gentle snowfall.

A package of twelve cards costs $11.95. The library doesn't offer imprinting, but most printers and copy shops can personalize cards.

Anne

back of card

New Charity - Citymeals-on-Wheels

2010-10-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Another new addition to CardsThatGive: Citymeals-on-Wheels. Citymeals provides 2.1 million meals each year, and each of their cards represents a donation of a holiday meal delivered to a homebound elderly New Yorker.

Winter in the Park by Karin Leff
Citymeals-on-Wheels

Citymeals is one of the largest meals on wheels programs in the U.S. It serves more than 17,000 needy seniors each year and coordinates thousands of volunteers to deliver the meals and visit with the frail recipients.

Five Citymeals cards cost $32; imprinting is available for orders of 100 or more. Six holiday card designs are available, or you can choose a vellum insert to use with your own cards.

Holiday tribute cards (cards representing small donations) are especially popular with businesses. To see more of these greetings, please visit our Tribute Card section.

Anne

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

2010-09-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Garland Tree by Brenda Walton
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Is there such a thing as an artisanal holiday card? If so, every year the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art offers a good selection -- some letterpress, some hand-silkscreened, some great designs, some interesting recycled papers.

SF MoMA doesn't actually produce them, so they don't have the museum name on the back, but all purchases help support the museum's exhibitions, educational programs and artistic conservation efforts.

Anne

Joy and Peace Dove by Misha Zadeh
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

New Charity - The Step Centre, Jamaica

2010-09-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

On the Road to Bethlehem by Rebecca Cressey, age 10
The Step Centre

Our first nonprofit in Jamaica! The Step Centre is a wonderful school in Kingston that provides education for children with multiple disabilities. They are now housed in a church hall; a local architect has designed a new building for them that will allow them to accept more children and they are currently raising funds for this project.

You can view their holiday cards on their website; three new designs -- created by local arists and by the schoolchildren -- are on the way. The Step Centre also offers personalization.

Anne

Glorious by Ann Ventura
The Step Centre

Roswell Park Cancer Institute Cards

2010-09-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

Peace Dove by Jacob, Lynn, & Shelby
Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Menorah by Lilly
Roswell Park Cancer Institute

The Roswell Park Cancer Institute's 2010 Paint Box Project holiday cards appeared this week. Patients and their families created the card designs; imprinting and photo cards are also available.

The hand-silkscreened Great Arrow cards are particularly nice -- the ink has a velvety texture and rich color.

Proceeds from card sales benefit cancer research and patient care programs at Roswell Park, which is based in Buffalo, New York.

Anne

New Charity - Venice Family Clinic

2010-09-20T08:30:00.000-07:00

Polyvitro Chandelier by Dale Chihuly
Venice Family Clinic

Founded in 1970 in a borrowed dental office, the Venice Family Clinic -- the newest addition to our site -- is now the largest free clinic in the U.S. Charity Navigator has awarded it four stars for its financial management.

The Clinic provides a wide variety of health services to more than 24,400 low-income patients (including more than 6,000 children), who make over 103,000 visits annually. Prescription medicines are provided at no charge. Sixteen percent of the Clinic's patients are homeless.

The Clinic offers dozens of artist-designed greeting cards to help support its work.

Anne

Art Institute of Chicago Sale

2010-09-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

If you're interested in any of the Art Institute of Chicago cards, they (and everything else on the Art Institute site) are 15% off for a week, until September 19th. Use the code TP34 during checkout.

They have some cards designed by School of the Art Institute graduates that you won't find anywhere else. Eia Radosavljevic's "Frost" just feels cold to me.

Anne

National Wildlife Federation Northern Lights Card

2010-09-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

I like this National Wildlife Federation card, featuring a spectacular photo by Daniel J. Cox. I have never seen the northern lights but hope to someday. (Not many aurora borealis sightings in Texas.)

Anne

National Wildlife Federation

More Cards - Children's Memorial Hospital

2010-09-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

More non-profits have now posted their 2010 cards: Dana-Farber Cancer Center, The Pine Tree Society, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago has some appealing new children's designs this year. I like Mr. Snowball (by Darius, age 8).

And Joy (Avivah, age 7) is happy and bold and a little different.

Anne

Holiday Cards Starting to Appear

2010-08-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation

Suddenly, hundreds of new holiday cards have appeared online. Within the past week or two, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the National Wildlife Federation, the Cleveland Sight Center, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, UNICEF, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Courage Center have posted their 2010 holiday cards.

More non-profits are scheduled to introduce their new designs next week. We're currently updating our gallery to include some of the new cards. Please check in again soon.

Anne

What's Happening

2010-07-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

We've been checking in with nonprofits featured on the site, getting details about cards for the upcoming season. Lots of new designs on the way, and some changes: Hallmark isn't offering its Charity Collection this year, and the Freer Museum won't be selling holiday cards, for example.

We'll be adding at least two new organizations, and will launch the gallery section this week. It will include new cards as they become available, such as this one from the National Wildlife Federation.

Anne

Welcome to the 2010 Season

2010-06-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's June, so it's time to start preparing CardsThatGive.org
for the 2010 holiday season. We'll be posting new cards as soon as they're available. The Arbor Day Foundation has added new designs, for example.

We have already had requests from people seeking cards
benefiting organizations dealing with the oil spill; others are looking for cards that help our troops. Please check back soon.

Anne

End of the Season

2010-01-13T07:06:00.000-08:00

This was a busy season, with thousands of card purchases benefiting non-profits around the world. Thanks for buying cards that help good organizations. A great new selection of holiday cards will begin appearing in the gallery this summer; please visit again then.

In the meantime, we'll be working on ways to improve

CardsThatGive.org, including expanding the eCard and Tribute Card sections and adding new charities. I think you'll like the changes. See you soon.

Anne

New Year Sales

2010-01-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

Time to pick up some discounted cards for next year. Cards from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Museum of Modern Art, Children's Memorial Hospital Chicago, Michigan Humane Society, and the Special Olympics, among other nonprofits, are on sale now.

Next week we'll remove all the cards in the gallery; new designs will start appearing in June.

Happy New Year!

Anne

Museum of Modern Art Cards on Sale

2009-12-17T19:44:00.000-08:00

All of the Museum of Modern Art's holiday cards are now 50% off. The Museum's New Year's card is sold out, but dozens of other designs are still available to send now or put aside for next year.

MoMA's store is especially known for its intricate pop-ups by Robert Sabuda and other talented young designers.

The cards don't have the Museum's name on them, by the way.

Anne

Suggestions for Nonprofits That Are Considering Producing Holiday Cards

2009-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

The end of the 2009 holiday card season inspired me to come up with 11 Suggestions for Nonprofits That Are Considering Producing Holiday Cards. See if you agree with these.

1. Use good quality paper stock. Some cards (not on CardsThatGive.org) are printed on what feels like thick copy paper. 80# is the minimum. 100# is even better.

2. Put your cards on line early. Some large businesses place their orders in the late summer. Traffic is heavy in September. If your cards appear later than this, you have missed customers.

3. Essential: include your nonprofit's name and website address on the card, as well as a brief description, if the charity's purpose is not clear from the name alone. The card should also mention that the purchase of the card benefited the charity. Many buyers look for this.

4. Another important one, I think: keep greetings simple and dignified. Whimsical greetings with exclamation points, dreamy or emotional messages, puns, and other quirky sentiments can deter some buyers.

5. Make your cards easy to find on your website, and easy to order. If you ask buyers to download and print out a PDF, or call or email an individual who is not always available, you will lose sales.

6. Don't put the date on the card, even in small print on the back. You can sell -- and people can send -- cards for several seasons if they're undated.

7. Print the card greeting in a clean, easy to read, classic font. Simple is best.

8. The back of the card may contain facts about the charity, sponsor logos, acknowledgements, and other details. To reduce clutter, consider printing the information in the same font style, size, and color, with logos as small as possible.

9. Choose children's art carefully. Many organizations use these images for holiday cards; they can be charming, but the art must be well done and pleasing. Bonus points for images that are a little different. Lots of snowmen out there.

10. Choose a card image that suggests the holiday spirit. A vase of spring flowers, a monkey, and a summer boating scene are images that have appeared on nonprofit holiday cards this year. Holiday images usually sell better.

11. If you hope to appeal to buyers from across the country, consider whether you want to feature images of local skyscrapers, stadiums, and other icons, beloved though they may be.

Let me know if you disagree, or if you have more suggestions to add to the list.

Anne

First Day of Hanukkah

2009-12-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

On the first day of Hanukkah, my true love sent to me... an eCard! Here are a few nonprofits that have created Hanukkah eGreetings:

Chabad.org (animated and still)

Hillel - The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life (still)

The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines (some still, some animated)

The Jewish Museum (still)

The Jewish National Fund - Australia (still)

Hanukkah ends on December 19th. Please let me know if you know of more nonprofit Hanukkah eCards.

Anne

Sale Cards

2009-12-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

You have plenty of time! I just ordered our cards yesterday. And cards are starting to go on sale. All Shutterfly "Support a Cause" cards are 20% off, for example.

Shutterfly prints cards for the Special Olympics, the American Lung Association, the World Wildlife Fund, LiveStrong, and Heifer International.

The price for 101 cards is now $120.19 (instead of $150.49), which includes personalization and insertion of several photos, if you want to do that. (Smaller quantities are available.)

I'll let you know about future sales.

Anne

Postcards

2009-12-01T08:12:00.000-08:00

Why aren't there more holiday postcards? Not just flat cards in an envelope. Cards that you can stick a stamp on and drop in the mail. Less paper. 28 cents instead of 44. You could print a photo or a great image on one side and a message on the other.

I can only find one nonprofit that offers these: The Pine Tree Society, which helps disabled children and adults in Maine.

Don't you think it would be excellent to have more holiday postcards?

Anne

Tribute Card Section is Up

2009-11-28T23:31:00.000-08:00

We used to get a pecan pie every year as a business gift from someone my husband worked with. That was okay, but we'd eat it and then we'd feel bad about it. Our new Tribute Card section should have been around back then! A donation in our honor to send a child to school or fight cancer or plant some trees would have made us feel great.

This section is new, and we'll keep adding non-profits to it. But please scroll down the list and see if you can think of someone who might appreciate a donation instead of a fruitcake.

Anne

New Tribute Card Section

2009-11-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

I'm excited about our upcoming Holiday Tribute Card section. Tribute cards represent a donation to a charity -- typically $5-$25 per card -- in the recipient's honor. They are generous and much-appreciated gestures that can provide remarkable benefits to non-profits.

I'm gathering information about a great selection of these cards, and hope to put them on the site within a day or two.

Some of the Tribute Cards will come from organizations already on the site; others will be from charities that are new to us.

If you know of a wonderful charity that offers a holiday tribute card, please let me know.

Anne

Central Park Conservancy

2009-11-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

In August, a fierce storm devastated New York City's Central Park. Within minutes, 70-mile-an-hour winds destroyed more than 500 beautiful trees and damaged hundreds more. With cleanup and restoration costs estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's a good time to support the Central Park Conservancy by sending their holiday cards.

The tranquil, snow-frosted scenes are lovely reminders of what a treasure Central Park is.

Anne

2009-10-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Last year, Chicago Friends of the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, a small group of Chicago residents with personal connections to ovarian cancer, decided to create holiday cards to benefit OCRF. Brian Munck, whose mother was very ill, offered to donate the materials, packaging, and printing services to produce the holiday cards through his company, Graphic Suisse, Inc.

Jill Gray, another OCRF supporter, asked Chicago-based graphic designer Marian Williams to be a part of the project. Marian generously donated her time to create four festive card designs.

Income from the cards will help fund ovarian cancer research. Although Brian's mother died as the cards were being delivered, he hopes that funds from the cards will help make a difference in other women's lives.

Because of Brian Munck's and Marian Williams' donated goods and services, the entire price of the cards goes directly to OCRF's research programs.

Anne

Wildflower Seed Card from New York Public Library

2009-10-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a great card from the New York Public Library shop. Wildflower seeds are embedded in the (recycled) paper. After the holidays, your friends or clients can plant the card and soon - if all goes according to plan - Baby Blue-Eyes, Chinese Houses, and other wildflowers will appear.

The cards are $3.75 each, but how many cards come with Catchfly seeds? And they help the New York Public Library.

The card also comes in shooting snowflake and red bird designs.

Anne

New Jonathan Adler Card for God's Love We Deliver

2009-10-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Designer Jonathan Adler has created a vivid, happy card for God's Love We Deliver.

GLWD prepares and delivers nutritious, high-quality meals to men, women, and children in the New York City area who -- because they are living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and other life-altering illnesses -- are unable to provide or prepare meals for themselves.

The cards cost $17 a set, $12.75 of which goes directly to provide meals to those who need them.

Anne

Humble Hearts School for the Deaf, Nairobi

2009-10-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Humble Hearts School for the Deaf in Nairobi, Kenya, educates students who are orphans or from poor families that cannot afford the costs of special education. The children learned how to make block prints in early 2007, and since then they have created sweet, simple holiday cards each year.

A new residential cottage at the school will open soon, but students still lack beds, tables, and additional furnishings for the building. Card purchases will help furnish the new space.

A set of ten cards costs $13, of which $9.75 goes directly to Humble Hearts.

Anne

Redlands Christian Migrant Association

2009-09-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

No, it’s not a typo. Redlands Christian Migrant Association receives 680% of the price of its holiday cards to help children of migrant farm workers in Florida.

For every $15 set of cards, RCMA receives $6.45 after production costs. State and federal sources then match that $6.45 sixteen to one. So a $15 card purchase results in $103.20 for RCMA.

The largest non-profit child-care provider in Florida, RCMA provides quality child care and early education for nearly 8,000 children of migrant farm workers and rural, low-income families throughout the state. More than 2,000 children are on waiting lists.

Anne

New eCards Section

2009-09-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

We’ll be adding more eCards to our site in the coming weeks. Visitors have been asking for virtual cards, but at first it seemed that including them might draw supporters away from the traditional cards that provide more income to non-profits.

I suspect, though, that the two distinct types of cards might appeal to different audiences. And while the free eCards don’t create immediate income, they spread information and awareness, which is valuable, too.

We’ll keep in touch with the non-profits and see what happens.

Anne

Perkins School for the Blind

2009-09-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Our newest non-profit is the Perkins School for the Blind, which was founded in 1829 and was the nation’s first school for the visually impaired.

Perkins students created the three card designs by cutting textured fabrics into holiday shapes. The cards also include the artists' comments about their designs. Here are 12-year-old Rose Ellen Moynihan’s thoughts about the snowflakes she created: “Snowflakes are frosty covered rain. They are quiet, different, and very pretty.”

Eight-five percent of the card price is used to support Perkins' educational programs.

Anne

100% Recycled Cards

2009-09-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

A new feature: an icon that marks the cards printed on 100% recycled stock. I hadn't expected that only five of the more than 100 charities on our site would receive this icon: Project Bread - The Walk for Hunger, Marine Mammal Center, Farm Sanctuary, Wilderness Committee, and National Arbor Day Foundation. We'll watch for others.

Other cards on the site are partially recycled. Heal the Bay, for example, uses paper that is "50% recycled, 30% post-consumer waste, elemental chlorine free, and manufactured with 100% renewable energy offsets."

A few non-profits use stock that, while not recycled, has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This means that the paper comes from managed forests with criteria for tree replanting, habitat preservation, elimination of illegal logging, and other practices. Chicago Lights and the Courage Center, for example, use FSC-certified stock.

Still other organizations include a few recycled cards among their card offerings.

So the 100% recycled icon doesn't cover all environmentally-friendly options, but we hope you find it helpful.

Anne

Friends of Boston's Homeless

2009-08-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

In October we'll be adding cards by Friends of Boston's Homeless, one of the largest providers of homeless services in New England. Their cards feature whimsical drawings by Robert Guillemin, known in Boston as Sidewalk Sam. My favorite is Frog Pond (at left). FOBH receives 85% of the card price for its programs.

Anne

New Non-Profits and Designs Coming

2009-08-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks you will see some new non-profits on the site – we hope to add the Perkins School for the Blind and the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (one of whose cards is shown above), for example.

We’ll also be adding new cards from current charities, such as a new hand-painted Egyptian papyrus card from Ten Thousand Villages.

Please keep checking back for new offerings.
Anne

Pine Tree Society, Maine

2009-08-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

Each summer, Maine's Pine Tree Society invites artists from all over the state to submit designs for their holiday cards. Site visitors submit comments about the artists' work, and the Society selects two images in July. We're happy to include the Pine Tree Society, which helps children and adults with disabilities, as our newest non-profit. Want to see which images they picked? You can view -- and order -- them here.

Anne

Cards for Rosh Hashanah

2009-08-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

We have a new Rosh Hashanah section; please take a look if you plan to send greetings to commemorate the Jewish New Year. This year, the holiday begins at sundown on September 18th. We hope to add more non-profits to this section as we find them.

Anne

New E-Card Section

2009-07-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

In response to many requests, next month we’ll add an e-card section to CardsThatGive. Do you send e-cards? Do you appreciate receiving them? Here are my thoughts:

Pro:
- inexpensive and easy to send
- environmentally friendly
- can inform recipients about an organization or issue
- can be beautiful, entertaining, ingenious

Con:
- some recipients don’t open them (too busy, wary of viruses)
- can be less personal, with more fleeting impact than a card
- usually no financial benefit to the charity involved (some require a donation, but most are free)

Please watch for our new section, coming soon.
Anne

It's July, but 2009 Cards are Coming

2009-07-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

A steamy July weekend in Houston is a perfect time to start thinking about holiday cards. Over the next few weeks CardsThatGive will start adding 2009 cards to our gallery.

A few organizations -- National Arbor Day Foundation, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chicago Lights, Marwen -- have already posted some images of their new offerings, and more charities will follow soon. This makes sense, actually, as many businesses begin preparing for their large holiday mailings in the summer. I think that non-profits whose cards aren't available till late in the fall could be missing some important customers.

Anne