Gift Ideas for friends in Nonprofits and Public Service

Hey, welcome back! What gift do you get the person who is always helping everyone else? The person who's out there trying to make a difference, in trying to change the world, and who rarely sits down to do anything nice for themselves? I have so many ideas! For those of you new to my channel my name is Amber Melanie Smith, and I make videos to help aspiring changemakers with tips and strategies to help you change the world while living a life of impact and purpose. In this video I want to switch

it up a little bit and talk about some of the amazing gift ideas out there for folks who are out there making a difference -- so we're talking nonprofit professional, social entrepreneurs, activists, volunteers, you know -- the general do-gooders in your life -- 10% of the nation is employed in the nonprofit world, and a good quarter to a third of the US population is volunteering each year -- so if you have ended up here on my channel and are on this video, chances are you are either one of th

ese changemakers who might like to receive one of these gifts, or you know one. I know the types of gifts that I would like to receive as someone working in these areas, but I didn't want to just count on my own opinions and expertise so I asked others in the nonprofit world in the social entrepreneurship world other activists other volunteers what are some types of things they would love to receive as gifts so in this video I will share some of those things on their wish lists and a couple of m

y own ideas too I hope you find this video helpful especially around the holiday season and don't forget if you like this video and if you like the content on my channel please subscribe show me some support and share with your friends and don't forget to also ring that Bell so you can get alerts when I post my next video I make weekly videos here on this channel like I said all about social impact leadership service nonprofits change-making and more okay so let's get right into it to start out

a couple of tips when you are thinking about gifts for those friends of yours who are just doing so much good in the world so tip number one is to think about who your friend is as a whole person these folks are not just their cause and they are not just changemakers though that may be how people around them see them there is more to them and a gift should honor their whole being so what are some of their other hobbies and things that they like do they have pets do they have other special talent

s the second tip when thinking about gift-giving is to think about what might help them relax or indulge or even be more productive in their change making so I broke in the gift ideas into two sections the first is things and the second section is services or experiences quick disclaimer I am not in any way sponsored by any of the companies who create the items that I'm about to talk about these were ideas cultivated from other nonprofit professionals and change makers though I must say I do hap

pen to love many of these ideas and myself the first gift idea is kind of a crossover between an experience and a thing and that is music-related gift cards or music or theater tickets I know this is something I personally would love the nonprofit leader who suggested this for her own wishlist said these are the types of things that we love you don't always and all John so help them indulge the second idea is gift cards to their favorite coffee shops they're going to go there anyway so why not m

ake it easier on them the third idea is some kind of fancy notebook or journal and a nice pen I talked about in another video how journaling has helped me really stay focused and vent and get all my ideas out as someone in the change making space so I definitely like this idea myself there's just something about a clean fresh empty journal that just is so soothing and relaxing the fourth idea is surprisingly not actually also coffee related and that is Yeti coffee mug for all of the coffee or so

me other comparable brand v gift idea is books these can be for pleasure or learning they can be about a social issue that the person you are getting a gift for cares about or just for pleasure the fact is that trying to move the needle on some really big issues in the world is a lot of work takes a lot of patience and can be very emotionally exhausting so anything that you can do to help a person working in this space find allegories of others who have been doing this work also in have found ho

pe and success through their work or even just something that they can latch on to when they need to relax would be so so nice another awesome gift idea suggested by a fellow non-profit executive director actually is some kind of customized briefcase or tote or other bag to carry all their stuff in non-profit professionals activist volunteers that person you know who's always helping everyone else they are always on the go so having a receptacle for all their things to keep themselves organized

is a really thoughtful gift especially if it's personalized in some way for them the seventh idea is to never underestimate the power of a simple handwritten note of appreciation sometimes just hearing thank you or hearing that your efforts are making a difference is the greatest gift of all and the best part is it costs you barely anything okay so the next set of ideas is for services or other types of experiences so the first idea on the services or experiences list is something that I saw men

tioned four or five times when I asked folks other nonprofit leaders and activists what they would really love to have as a gift and that is spa services or massages and I have to say I would really second to this these are things that can be a little bit pricey on a non-profit professionals limited budget but it is so so nice to be able to relax and indulge and again one of those things that you don't always get for yourself you don't always do for yourself so when you can give the gift of rela

xation to someone else it can go a long way the next idea on the services list gets a huge thumbs up for me and that is cleaning services the non-profit professional who mentioned this idea told this amazing story about how her husband and her were planning for him to have major surgery and he was concerned that she wouldn't have as much help at home so he got her some cleaning services certificates as a gift before he went to surgery how sweet is that especially in the nonprofit space if you're

working those long hours those overtime hours especially in winter months when the clients you're serving may need extra time and attention from you that takes you away from home things like chores and taking care of the household can really fall by the wayside so what a great way to help someone lift a burden off of their shoulders I highly recommend this as a gift the third gift idea is some kind of retreat or vacation package this is obviously one of the more expensive options but will make

a huge impact on the person that you care about whose gift wish list you're trying to fulfill so this is an opportunity for these folks your friends to disconnect to go relax to clear their mind and of course this enables them to come back stronger than ever to do more good when they return another idea recommended by a fellow nonprofit professional is a meal cooking or meal delivery service this one person mentioned how she got hellofresh for a couple weeks and it was such an amazing gift there

are a lot of options out there that you can try if this is a gift that you're considering getting someone but again kind of goes along the lines of just lifting a burden off of their shoulders giving them a break from other responsibilities when they are working so hard to help others and the final idea is if you can grant this magical wish a day off those are all the ideas I've got I'd love to hear some of yours please share those in the comments below whether you are in this space yourself a

non-profit professional activist volunteer just someone who just cares a lot about other people and I'm sure that's everyone out there you you deserve a break you give so much love to everyone else in the world I hope that you get some of your wish list items fulfilled this or future holiday seasons again I hope you liked this video please give it a thumbs up if you did and ring that bell to get alerts about my future videos I release videos at least once a week here on YouTube on all things soc

ial impact leadership nonprofits volunteering service and more and if you're on Facebook don't forget to check out my group change the world or bust where I and other change makers are talking about issues in the world how we can all be a part of the solution and make a difference in the world and just do good the link for that is also in the description below thank you guys so much for watching and I hope to see you next time