Daniel Emoru of Uganda milks the cow purchased for him by World Vision gift donors. (Nigel Marsh/World Vision)

Overheard at the dinner table: Dad: "Let's buy a goat for a farmer in Africa this year instead of exchanging Christmas presents." Daughter: "How about some chickens instead? That way, I can still get a Sony Cyber-shot digital camera."

Toronto resident Ellen Reid is giving symbolic acres of land as gifts to 20 people in her life this holiday season because she says her family and friends already have everything they need.

Her donation, made to an environmental group in the name of those on her gift list, is designed to create safe havens for vulnerable species in Canada.

Reid knows vast areas of wilderness are needed to preserve wildlife habitats, but she says buying symbolic parcels of "ecologically significant" land is a small step in the right direction. The contributions are to help the Nature Conservancy of Canada, a non-profit organization, in its quest to acquire real land to protect biodiversity. She bought each acre for $35.

"I don't need anything and neither do any of the people I give to at Christmas," says Reid, 57. "This is a way of giving that is meaningful."

Socially responsible gifts are growing in popularity in Canada as people turn to charities and aid groups for what are sometimes called gifts that give twice.

A young girl in Mali, in western Africa, cuddles a newly donated baby goat. (David Ward/World Vision)

These include gifts that lay eggs, produce milk and provide shade and grow fruit in developing countries, particularly for families in need.

Among the things that Canadians can purchase on behalf of a friend or loved one are two hens and a rooster, a goat, a dairy cow and 10 fruit trees.

They can also, in the form of a gift, lend a small amount of money to a budding entrepreneur, adopt an endangered animal or buy carbon offsets. In the case of offsets, the money goes to projects, including some in the developing world, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In making these types of donations, the giver gets a good feeling while the receiver usually is sent a certificate and details about the project that is being supported. But there are more than just good feelings at stake.

Big bucks

In a very short period, gifts designed to make a difference in the world have become big business.

World Vision Canada, for example, raised more than $15 million last year by selling gifts to nearly 76,000 Canadians through its catalogue. That amount represented a 50 per cent increase over the amount raised the previous year. World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization, with its Canadian headquarters based in Mississauga, Ont.

Its Canadian president Dave Toycen says charitable gift-giving is growing because thousands of Canadians have decided their homes are overflowing with consumer goods while millions of people in developing nations are in desperate need of everyday items.

He says the combination of abundance, extreme need and global awareness has led to a desire to donate. "We are amazed by the response."

Gifts that squawk or help the planet

• For gifts that eat grass on hillsides or multiply, have a look at World Vision Canada. Everything from two mosquito nets for $30 to a beekeeping hive for $100 to 30 concrete home for orphans for $204,000 is available.
• Also check out Oxfam Unwrapped. Its offerings include a chicken for $15, a donkey for $120 and a goat for $58; other "gifts that save and protect lives" include a bicycle for $105 and a hygiene kit for $22.
• If you are interested in adopting an endangered animal, World Wildlife Fund Canada makes it simple, with 10 species available. It costs $40 to adopt and the gift recipient receives a plush toy, a reusable gift bag, an adoption certificate and a report on the work that the donation is supporting. Available species include polar bears, tigers, pandas, arctic foxes, snow leopards and sea turtles.
• Canadians who wish to buy a symbolic chunk of ecologically sensitive land can turn to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
• Anyone wishing to buy a gift certificate to fund a loan to an entrepreneur in the developing world can check out Kiva. The San Francisco-based organization enables others to become micro-bankers to developing world entrepreneurs through "loans that change lives." Its website lists businesses in need with a photo of the entrepreneur, the location, activity, loan request, repayment terms, loan use, amount loaned so far and amount needed.
• Gifts for the environmentally conscious include buying what are known as carbon offsets. Buying carbon offsets on behalf of someone else means investing in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One source is the Offsetters Climate Neutral Society. It is a non-profit organization established by two professors now at the University of B.C. They created it in part to help people understand the magnitude of greenhouse gas emissions associated with specific activities. Through the website, gift givers can select an offset amount and a design from an array of backgrounds. Each tonne of carbon offsets costs $20. The gift comes with a certificate.

This generosity surfaces in particular over the holidays and he says that many aid groups and other non-governmental organizations have made it simple to give through websites and other forms of online advertising.

"We offer them a range," he says. From "small things like two hens and a rooster to large things like drilling a well."

The polling firm Ipsos Reid, which surveyed 1,429 Canadians on behalf of World Vision Canada, found that 77 per cent of those surveyed said they didn't need anything this year, while only 36 per cent felt there was something in particular they wanted.

A full 84 per cent said they would prefer to have a gift given on their behalf to help someone else instead of receiving a sweater or a pair of socks. The survey results were released in November.

Toycen says all of the gifts that can be bought through the World Vision catalogue are connected to areas where the organization has funded projects. The results are tracked and donors can call a service line in the new year, after the money has been distributed, to find out general information about their gifts.

For example, goats that Canadians bought last year for families in the Kolda region of southern Senegal enabled those families to keep their children at home instead of sending them to the city to earn money. (On its website, World Vision says 82.5 per cent of these gifts go directly into programs; 11.1 per cent goes to fundraising; 5.4 per cent to administration and one per cent is retained for future use.)

"We've taken a specific approach to things that people can visualize. It's very practical, it's focused, it's easy to do, and when you have done it, there's a feeling of closure," he says.

Hectares of habitat

The idea of an online catalogue for socially responsible gifts seems to be spreading to other charitable organizations, perhaps because it is effective.

Last year, the Nature Conservancy of Canada raised $300,000 through its Homes for the Holidays program, which has been running for 17 years and is mostly aimed at preserving land in southern Canada where wildlife habitats are most vulnerable. The amount represents the purchase of over 1,800 symbolic hectares of habitat. About 13 per cent of any donation goes to fundraising and administrative costs, according to the most recent financial information on the group's website.

Sylvie Charland, communications officer for the Nature Conservancy in Toronto, says people who receive symbolic acres of land cannot actually visit the land they have received as gifts but they can be provided with a general idea of which area they are helping to save.

"We try to save larger tracts of land, rather than small parcels, because that is way that wildlife moves," she says.

After identifying land it considers significant, the organization tries to acquire the land itself. It buys it directly or tries to obtain it as a donation. It will also enter into an agreement with a landowner to ensure the land is protected from future development.

Reid says she would rather buy symbolic acres of land as gifts than donate to cancer research in the name of a family member.

"Why? Because giving to cancer research, I think, would not make a difference in the rates of the disease. One of the reasons we have so much cancer is we have poisoned our nest. We need to clean up the environment," she says. "This is a gift that helps."