The $10 gifts that really show you care

$10 — does it sound like a little or a lot?

When it comes to gifts, $10 might buy a box of biscuits or chocolates, a bottle of wine, a pair of socks, a mug. Nothing too fancy — just something to say “I care about you”.

At Christmas, it could buy a secret Santa or a couple of stocking fillers — something sweet, something plastic or something to get a blush or a laugh.

Could it give an experience to remember … pure joy … the chance to make a positive difference?

Yes, it could.

The Good Registry is all about making $10 go away — for gift givers, gift recipients, and for our communities and the planet.

We’ve created two ways to avoid unwanted, unnecessary and unexciting gifts, and to give donations to Good causes instead: with charitable registries and charitable gift cards.

We’ve been asking some of our partner charities what difference a $10 gift could make for them this Christmas. Their examples have touched us deeply — and we hope they’ll warm your hearts too.

We are utterly convinced, if you really want to show you care, a donation is absolutely the best gift money can buy — whether it’s $10, $100, or $1000.

A quick stat: If we replaced just one $10 gift for every New Zealander, that would be 4.7 million fewer unwanted, unnecessary and unexciting things in the world, and $47 million for Good!!

The difference $10 can make

From charities providing community support through to charities looking out for kids or protecting our environment, we’ve compiled a list of how $10 or more can make a positive impact. Giving the gift of giving has never felt so good!

Starting with a charity that supports the older members of our community, here is what Age Concern New Zealand can do with $10:

• Fund a phone call to someone who is feeling lonely, or
• Provide a ten-week exercise course for falls prevention, or
• Send out ten newsletters to help people connect to activities, news and research.

Switching gears to Brake, The Road Safety Charity, who are working to prevent road deaths and injuries. They also support those who have been affected by road accidents, and with $10 they can:

• Provide two families with a support book for children who have been bereaved in a road crash, or
• Provide a set of support resources for adults and children to a family bereaved in a road crash.

Moving onto crisis calls, the Auckland Sexual Abuse Help Foundation support women and children to heal from the effects of sexual abuse. A $10 gift to them can:

• Pay for the petrol needed to respond to a crisis call from a sexual abuse victim day or night.

Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Aotearoa are eliminating the stigma around mental illnesses experienced by mums, dads and families as a result of pregnancy, childbirth or early parenthood, and supporting new parents and whanau through anxiety and depression. Donating $10 to them can:

• Can provide vital information and resources to parents and whanau affected by perinatal anxiety and depression so they can get support and recover more quickly.

Onto a colourful note, Rainbow Youth are empowering, advocating and providing life-saving support for young LGBTQIA+ Kiwis. With $10 they can:

• Send out one resource pack that helps to educate communities and professionals about gender, sexuality, and supporting LGBTI+ youth.

Flipping over to supporting some of our youngest New Zealanders, Variety: The Children’s Charity are providing the basic material needs to the disadvantaged children. With $10 they can:

• Purchase a pair of thermal socks for a disadvantaged Kiwi kid in a cold house that is too expensive to heat in the winter months, or
• Give a pair of disadvantaged siblings a wool beanie each to keep them warm on their way to school during the colder months.

The Neonatal Trust are providing support to families going through the stressful and anxious journey of caring for their premature child. With $10 they can:

• Provide a support pack to a family in need containing a small gift to acknowledge the arrival of their baby (such as knitted booties and a hat) and a copy of “what to expect — when it wasn’t what you expected,” which is a handy everything-you-need-to-know booklet to help the family get through this trying time.

Going across the world to Latin America, NPH New Zealand are transforming lives by providing therapeutic treatment, resources and services to thousands of vulnerable children across nine countries. $10 towards this cause can:

• Give one week’s treatment for a child with HIV at their children’s home in Honduras, or
• Give breakfast and lunch for one week to a child at their daycare centre for vulnerable children in El Salvador, or
• Give two months of art therapy classes for a child at their children’s home in Mexico.

Back in New Zealand, the Common Unity Project Aotearoa are strengthening the Lower Hutt community from the inside out through a variety of community-led projects that create a long-term positive change. $10 towards them can:

• Provide three meals to a child in a partnering school in Lower Hutt.

Planting the seed of sustainable food growth, we move onto another good charity partner who are educating and inspiring primary school children to get their hands dirty and learn how to grow, harvest, prepare and share fresh, seasonal food. With $10 Garden to Table can:

• Fund a child to access the Garden to Table programme in their school or community.

Speaking of food, Kaibosh Food Rescue rescues quality surplus food from local businesses in the Wellington region and redistributes it to community groups supporting vulnerable people. With $10 they can:

• Provide 15 meals worth of ingredients to charities and community groups such as Compassion Soup Kitchen, Bellyful New Zealand (also partner charities of The Good Registry!), or Naenae Clubhouse.

On the topic of rescuing things and reducing waste, Sustainable Coastlines is helping to protect our natural environment and educate others to look after the land we love. With $10 they can:

• Collect 30L of litter from the coastlines of Aotearoa, or
• Plant one native tree in a riparian restoration area.

As you can see $10 alone does so much for so many charities, but there are also charities where every $10 counts, but isn’t enough to get a job done. Here are a couple examples of what bigger donations through The Good Registry can do:

• Lifeline Aotearoa — $25 covers the cost for a call to the free helpline
• SPCA — $30 vaccinates a rabbit and $50 microchips a dog
• Inspiring Stories — $50 funds a fortnight of development for a young change maker going through the Future Leaders programme
• Skylight Trust — $120 covers the cost of a counselling session through the Flashlight Fund which is available to people who cannot access funding for counselling or have a limited counselling budget
• ADC Microfinance — $200 funds a microloan to help a budding entrepreneur start a business and forge their way out of poverty.

Donating to these incredible charities can do so much good, even if it is just $10.

So what would you rather do with your spending power this Christmas?

About The Good Registry

The Good Registry is a social giving platform where anyone from small kids to big corporates can give the gift of giving with charitable donations instead of unwanted gifts - whether it's $10 or $10,000! 

The Good Registry isn’t anti-gifts — we’re just helping to make giving more simple, sustainable and kind.

We have created two simple ways to give and receive the gift of giving through our website:

• Create your own Good Registry for a special event and ask friends to donate to a charity you choose, instead of buying gifts.
• Give Good Gift Cards instead of traditional gifts, to avoid unwanted gifts, reduce waste, and enable others to make donations to charities they care about.

You can hear from people and businesses who have used Good Registries and Good Gift Cards to give more simply and sustainably, and to help causes they care about, on our inspirational Giving Wall.