It’s Thanksgiving and families everywhere are gathered on couches, huddled around the Black Friday ads, planning their shopping strategy for the biggest shopping day of the year.
Last year a record 92 million people shopped on Black Friday, with each person spending an average of $407.23 for a total of $57.4 billion spent in one day alone.
But have you considered this truth?
What if we used our Christmas gift money to purchase gifts that make a difference in the world?
Tuesday, December 2nd is “Fair Trade Tuesday,” an ethical shopping movement in response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday to feature fair trade, ethical, and eco-friendly brands.
Instead of shopping with only the best price in mind, what if we used our purchase power to make choices that empowered others around the world…
– other mothers, fathers, children, orphans, and business owners –
…people just like you and me but with less access to basic needs like clean water, a consistent food supply, a stable government, and fair wages.
This year while attending the Allume conference I was introduced to an incredible group of organizations dedicated to partnering with artisans in impoverished communities to make a difference in their lives. These organizations provide a market for the artisans’ products, creating situations for sustainable income, developing strong community, affirming dignity, and sharing hope.
I’m excited to introduce you to some of these incredible organizations!
In addition to featuring several organizations I’ve connected with directly, you’ll also find a list of organizations below that you can feel confident about purchasing through to ensure your gifts this Christmas not only make your family and friends feel loved and appreciated, but that improve the lives of others around the world.
Ultimate Guide to Christmas Gifts that Make a Difference
The Root Collective
Mission:
The Root Collective partners with small-scale artisan businesses in marginalized communities in Guatemala, Kenya, and Peru to promote change through dignified jobs.
Read more about the artisans behind the beautiful products. Otto, the shoemaker, is my favorite story! He’s a former gang member employing other former gang members to teach them business skills and create opportunities for a better future.
Featured products:
ballet flats, handwoven scarves, tote bags, and unique beaded necklaces
Three Avocados Coffee
Mission:
Three Avocados is a non-profit organization founded as a creative solution to ending the global water crisis and educating children, starting with Uganda.
100% of net proceeds provide clean water in Uganda and education in Nicaragua. They aim to provide coffee lovers with a product that enables them to make a 100% socially responsible choice when purchasing coffee.
Featured Products:
Nicaraguan and Ugandan coffee, tumblers, coffee mugs, shirts
*Whole bean coffee for $11.99 a bag!
Ornaments 4 Orphans
Mission:
Ornaments4Orphans’ mission is to empower indigenous artisans through fair trade practices, invest in the holistic care of orphaned children through partners, and provide customers with an opportunity to purchase beautiful, handmade items that bless others.
Featured Products:
ornaments, nativity scenes, jewelry, stocking stuffers, and bowls
ViBella Jewelry
Mission:
At the heart of our mission, Vi Bella impacts the lives of at-risk women in Haiti, Mexico, and the United States by providing them jobs which pay good wages in safe, encouraging work environments.
Vi Bella artisans “up-cycle” discarded plastic and glass bottles, metal bottle caps and paper, transforming them into unique, handmade jewelry that is truly a work of art. They then invest all of the profits back into the artisans’ communities, which brings the transformation full circle.
Featured Products:
“up-cycled” necklaces, earrings, gift items, messenger bags, and youth jewelry
Nozomi Project: Beauty from Brokenness
Mission:
Nozomi, which means ‘hope’ in Japanese, is a social enterprise bringing sustainable income, community, dignity and hope to the women in Ishinomaki, Japan and the surrounding region by training women to craft unique jewelry products. One third of these women are single mothers and grandmothers; most of these women lost their livelihood, a family member and/or their home when the tsunami crashed their world in 2011.
Nozomi women are creating one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry featuring broken pieces of pottery left in the wake of the tsunami. Each product line has been named by a Nozomi woman in honor of a loved one in her life. As broken shards are being transformed into beautiful treasures, so too lives are being filled with renewed dignity and hope.
Featured Products:
necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, framed pendants, and accessories
Work of Worth International
Mission:
- WoW imports and sells fair trade merchandise crafted by entrepreneurs in the developing world in order to promote the long-term success of these businesses. Meet some of the talented entrepreneurs.
- WoW is creating and implementing a “Work of Worth” certification process. Going beyond “fair trade,” a Work of Worth certification or approval would indicate that a product is manufactured by a company that aligns with WoW’s ethos of non-discrimination, paying a fair wage and modeling respectful treatment of their workers.
You can find out more about Kristi Griem, the current COO, and the Work of Worth story on this podcast of The God-Centered Mom.
Featured Products:
bath and spa products, totes, bags, leather and paper products, scarves
Eternal Threads
Mission:
Eternal Threads is dedicated to improving the lives of women and children most at risk of extreme poverty, trafficking and other forms of exploitation by providing sustainable livelihoods through income generating projects.
Featured Products:
bags, clothing, home decor, jewelry, toys
Even More Organizations With Gifts That Make A Difference:
Amani Africa
Amani ya Juu (“peace from above” in Swahili) is a sewing and training program for marginalized women in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Liberia. They offer a wide selection of fair trade handmade African handbags, home & kitchen décor, jewelry, and children’s items that are made out of local African materials.
Amazima Ministries
Handmade Ugandan necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and children’s jewelry. Organization founded by Katie Davis, author of Kisses From Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption.
Better Life Bags
Design your own hand-crafted bag created by women who otherwise would be unable to work.
The LuLu Tree
Creating a market products made by mothers in the slum of Katwe, Uganda. Art, baby items, clothing, footwear, jewelry, and more.
New Life Threads
Helping women and children in Rwanda move to a place of thriving, bringing dignity, life, love and hope to vulnerable women and families in developing countries. Bags, purses, tablecloths, and table runners
Sak Saum
Battling human trafficking through a ministry dedicated to the rescue, restoration, transformation and rehabilitation of vulnerable and exploited women and men in Cambodia. Providing cross-body bags, accessories, totes, and jewelry.
Trades of Hope
Jewelry, scarves, stationary, handbags, decor and more crafted by artisans in 10 countries (including the USA) working to break the cycle of poverty.
This post contains affiliate links {full disclosure}. If you click through an affiliate link to make a purchase, we receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra charge to you. For organizations that use this model, this is part of their marketing strategy to get the word out about their products. Proceeds help pay for this site and support our recently adopted Compassion International child, Eva, from Columbia.
What other fair trade organizations providing a market for artisans in marginalized communities are you familiar with? I’d love for you to share in the comments!
Want to save this list to refer to later? Pin the image below to Pinterest! Use the social sharing buttons below to make it quick and easy! I’ll be adding to this list as I find even more great organizations in the coming weeks.
What a wonderful resource! I’ll be sharing this all over cyberspace :). Thank you for putting it together.
Thanks Anita. I’m so glad it was helpful to you and thank you for sharing. These are wonderful organizations!
Thanks Anita! 🙂
This is a wonderful resource. Thank you for sharing it.
Such a helpful resource. I’m going to check a lot of these out.
Wow, I absolutely love this. Looking forward to sharing it.
So glad it was helpful Amanda and thanks for sharing!
Thank you for compiling such a complete list. I have heard of most, but added a few to my reference as well. This is something I’ll be sharing with my clan as well. Thank you!
Oh fun, so glad I was able to introduce you to a few new organizations. All of them are great!
Thanks for your research and for this great list, LeeAnn! And thanks for featuring the Nozomi Project. We have shared your list on our Nozomi Project website, as well as our Facebook page.
We also wanted to share with you our sister organization, Megumi Project. They are bringing hope to the town next to ours, Onagawa, by employing local women who are also tsunami survivors. Together they are making beautiful scarves and gifts out of repurposed kimonos. Please check out their awesome gifts: https://www.megumiproject.net
Thanks so much for sharing Sue and I’m looking forward to checking out the Megumi Project!
This is a very complete list and I agree with your husband that you have a gift for research. 🙂 I love all the organizations you chose and I am working on buying many gifts this year that will also help give back. Great to see you pop up over at The Weekend Brew. Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!
This topic is so important. Thank you for showing some alternatives to the shopping craze. And I think it is awesome that you´re giving back so actively!
Empowering others around the world is especially important right now. Pick an organization or mission close to your heart. Thanks for the list.
I love doing my Christmas shopping through these kinds of organisation’s, although postage costs to Australia often makes it not possible financially. I have bought things from Oxfam and often give gifts from Compassion or World Vision.