Last week we had two great visits from our friends at NIKE. We’ve been helping them cultivate a network of projects around the world using sport to make things better in their communities - from a women’s football association in Rwanda to basketball for youth in one of Nairobi’s toughest slums. NIKE’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) employees have been particularly supportive of these projects, and now NIKE is giving all of those employees an opportunity to support them even more. This week, all of NIKE’s EMEA employees can donate $15 to any of these projects, just by plugging in their employee numbers as gift certificate codes. I’m thrilled that NIKE has chosen to give this gift to NIKE employees for the holidays, and the projects will benefit tremendously.

We’re seeing a huge amount of interest in our new gift cards as corporate gifts - whether for employees, partners, or customers. I don’t want to ruin the surprise by revealing who’s buying what and for whom, but we’re rapidly going through our stock of biodegradable cards and have already ordered more to keep up with the demand.

At a previous job, I remember getting a call from a business partner who had just received a holiday gift from me. They’d been taking bets on what exactly the gift was, and they wanted me to settle things. I believe the objects they received were meant to be a pencil and sticky note holder, and I was happy that they’d brought some entertainment to the office, but I’m sure those gifts went right in the landfill after the betting was over.

Thanks to NIKE and all of the other GlobalGiving partners who are giving a meaningful holiday gift this year!

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Today, The New York Times published an interesting article about the popularity of philanthropic gift cards this holiday season. 

Key quote : “People are realizing that giving somebody another sweater is not as good as giving them the opportunity to give to a charity they support.”

Here’s our response:

And the best part is, there are no additional processing fees.

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From earth to earth (I’ll explain), the idea of GlobalGiving’s new gift card is quite compelling – especially considering recent gift card criticisms from marketer, Seth Godin, and the magazine, Consumer Reports. Essentially, the cards are perceived as “convenient and popular, but…often loaded with fees, expiration dates, and other hassles.”

This, we know. And it was something we kept at the front of our minds as we planned the creation of GlobalGiving Gift Cards, a fun extension of our year-old Gift Certificate program.

Fun extension, you say?

Indeed, I do. The cards are corn-based plastic – as opposed to real plastic – that will biodegrade when exposed to nature’s elements.

No, the card will not decompose in your back pocket or purse, but it may after a few months in a fish tank (if you do this, email us pictures of your results and we’ll post them here on the GlobalGoodness blog. WARNING: do this only after redeeming the card).

So, what about “earth to earth?” Think about this card’s true physical lifecycle: it comes from a plant that grew up from the ground, is traded between hands of compassionate people, and returns to the earth, both directly and indirectly (especially through projects like this). Now that’s something worth giving.

*Johanna and Duane prepare the gift cards for shipping

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