The Nonprofit Leadership Center’s Nonprofit Holiday Gift Guide highlights gifts for everyone on your list, with some or all of the proceeds benefiting nonprofits. Gifts in this 2024 guide were curated by the Nonprofit Leadership Center’s nonprofit community through a submission process in November.
As you celebrate the holidays this season, thank you for supporting nonprofits that strengthen our communities.
For the Cook: Handmade Wooden Cutting Boards
UTEC is a nonprofit that helps young people overcome the challenges of poverty, gang involvement, and unemployment. Through its Madd Love Market, young adults with histories of incarceration and gang involvement gain paid work experience and essential life skills by creating products such as beautiful cutting boards.
From small and large cutting boards to baguette boards and everything in between, these versatile, high-quality pieces are both practical and decorative for any kitchen. Perfect for everyday chopping needs and as a cheese board, pizza board, bread tray, or elegant serving board.
Cost: $30-100
For the Little Ones: Tavi the Elephant
For the little ones on your list, consider the multi-sensory plush elephant, Tavi, from Hukama, that helps children reduce anxiety and fear.
Weighing in at just more than 4 pounds, Tavi is cute, cuddly and super soft and has a special ear pocket just for listening to its owner. If a child has any worries or anxieties on their mind, they can jot it down and tuck it into Tavi’s ear pocket to hold onto. Tavi has big ears and is a good listener.
Tavi also has a warming weighted belly, stiff hook and loop closure, textured ear flaps and tassel tail that kids can fidget with to help them relax. Once the weight packet is removed, Tavi can be machine washed on a gentle cycle and hung up to dry.
Hukama is a nonprofit that creates tools to help individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities manage sensory challenges, anxiety and trauma, while enhancing positive service experiences for the autism community.
Cost: $85
(Get free shipping with code WELCOMETAVI at checkout.)
For the Animal Lover: Canine Candles
For the dog lovers in your life, consider these small batch, hand poured candles made by Add Your Light Studio that help Cage to Couch rescue animals in need.
Each candle is created with a proprietary blend of coconut and soy waxes, lead-free cotton wicks, and premium perfume-grade fragrance oils infused with essential oils. Candles are vegan, cruelty-free, and phthalate and paraben free, for an eco-friendly, non-toxic clean burn.
Cage to Couch is a nonprofit that provides medical care and loving homes to rescued laboratory research survivors and other animals that have suffered neglect and abandonment and cruelty and abuse.
Cost: $23
For the Animal Lover: Adopt an Animal
For the person on your list who loves animals, consider adopting an animal on their behalf from the Florida Aquarium.
The Florida Aquarium, a nonprofit located in Tampa, provides a home and world-class care to a large variety of animals. When you adopt an animal, your support will fund restaurant-quality food, preventative and diagnostic veterinary care, water quality, habitat maintenance, enrichment and more!
Cost: $35-175
Choose your adoption level and an animal to support.
For the Teachers: Seventh Avenue Apothecary Candles
Seventh Avenue Apothecary has crafted exclusive, locally made candles for A Kid’s Place to spread joy for children in foster care. These candles were created with input from foster children and volunteers. A Kid’s Place offers four unique scents, including two new additions, “Midnight Sky” (Apple Cider + Marshmallow + Charred Wood) and “Star” (Sea Lavender + Red Grapefruit + Coconut + Sweet Tea).
Cost: The collection offers various candle sizes, gifts and baskets, with prices ranging from $10 to $60.
For the Coworker or Gift Exchange: Items Handmade by Refugees
The Refugee Artisan Initiative (RAI) offers unique, handcrafted items that support its mission to empower refugee and immigrant women. Gifts from their shop include eco-friendly products like upcycled bags, kitchen accessories, holiday ornaments and jewelry, each made sustainably by RAI artisans. These purchases help fund training and employment opportunities for artisans, fostering economic stability for their families.
For the Person Who Needs a Reminder That They’re Awesome: You Matter Merch
“You Matter” T-shirts and hoodies are the perfect way to spread confidence and support while benefitting young people in need of mentoring. Each purchase benefits The SPARK Initiative, a nonprofit that develops and delivers evidence-based leadership and mentoring programs that promote mental health, wellness, and resiliency in youth, sex trafficking survivors, and incarcerated men and women.
Cost: $22-48
For the Outdoor Enthusiast: Personalized Paver
For the friend or family member who loves to be outdoors, enjoys walking, running or biking, and is passionate about the Tampa Bay community, you can set their legacy in stone with a personalized paver along the Tampa Riverwalk.
The Tampa Riverwalk is a 2.6-mile path that runs along the Hillsborough River in Tampa. Locals and visitors alike can walk, jog, or bike down the Riverwalk, passing and visiting many of the city’s most popular attractions, restaurants and bars along the way.
Friends of the Riverwalk is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with the city to develop, activate and promote Tampa’s downtown waterfront.
Purchasing and personalizing a granite paver not only honors a friend or loved one but also supports special events, family-oriented activities and beautification along the Riverwalk.
Each square paver is 12 inches by 12 inches and can be engraved with up to four lines of text, with 18 characters (including spaces) per line. You may also select a location for the paver.
Estimated cost: $125-$175 each