And Speaking of Giving with Somewhat Ulterior Motives...

Well, okay, actually the ulterior motive here is also giving, but of a different sort. I'm talking about charitable giving as a form of gift-giving for family and friends. This can take the form of making a donation in honor of a loved one or of shopping for a loved one at a store or on a website that then gives at least some portion of what you spend to charity. There may be other forms that giving for the sake of, well, giving can also take, and you can be sure that if there are, someone responding to Britt Bravo's current Net2ThinkTank question will blog about it!

One place where those wanting to support museums can shop is Shop for Museums. (That is, if they don't want to shop at a museum gift store, which is another great way to support a museum and buy fantastic presents for everyone on your list!) For a broader range of nonprofit options, you can try eBay's Missionfish, Freepledge, or iGive. You can support free trade and support the charity Social Action for Association and Development when you shop from the free trade clothing store, Tam and Rob.

If you are more interested in giving donations in honor of your loved ones, you can try Global Giving or Give Meaning to support grassroots projects around the world, or Changing the Present, a site specifically set up for giving philanthropic gifts, such as an adopted tiger, or school clothing for a young girl in Africa. The site even has specific gift recommendations according to how much you want to spend or what family member you are "buying" for.

Philanthropy 2173 blogger Lucy Bernholz also has ideas about gifts of giving.