So maybe you missed the doorbuster promotions, your family already has a Wii, or the emphasis on the material just doesn’t make your heart go pitter-pat. What then, come the holidays?
    
As the gift-giving days loom ever closer, a slew of organizations are touting non-traditional gifts, from adopting a lemur to jumping out of an airplane.
    
According to gift-giving company Excitations, 41 percent of consumers don’t even remember that amazing holiday gift you gave them last year. But maybe funding a Mexico City soccer league, cataract surgery in Ghana, or helping conservation efforts in Angola might not be so easily forgotten.
 
At the World Wildlife Fund, you can adopt a proboscis monkey, red-footed booby or Galapagos Island tortoise (and get a cute furry stuffed-animal equivalent). At Utah’s Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, you’ll be sure to find a wet-nosed dog, cat, bunny or even goat who needs to be sponsored (our personal feline favorites are the rotund Buddy Boy and the fanged Scooter). 
    
At http://www.changingthepresent.org, gift-givers can choose their favorite cause, from human rights to disaster relief and landmines. Choices include giving money to fund a cellphone for an African farmer, funding brain cancer research, paying for a child’s cleft palate surgery or helping homeless American veterans. 
    
Looking for something more hedonistic? Http://www.excitations.com offers the opportunity to drive a Formula 2000 race car, attend the NFL Player of the Year dinner, take a falconry excursion, or master the art of mixing through a cocktail master class for two.

Gift cards even exist in the realm of charity. At http://www.charitygiftcertificates.org gift recipients can choose their favorite charity in spending their gift from you. 

Happy Shopping! (and don’t forget the lemurs)

Photo from World Wildlife Fund Web Site.