Ethical Christmas shopping SAM ADAMS
A goat is not just for Christmas
It began with a cow and the realisation that in the privileged West, people don’t always want yet another pair of socks or bar of soap in their stocking. Now the alternative virtual gift market is booming. But will you really be giving a hen or yak?
ince the time when the charity Send a Cow – formed by a group of Devon farmers – first offered shoppers the chance to buy livestock for African villagers more than a decade ago, the market for buying ethical presents online has grown into a multi million-pound industry offering a startling variety of choice, from buying a bag of manure for an African farmer to paying for a safe place to sleep for a homeless child in Britain.
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Shoppers simply log on to a charity’s web- site, click on the gift that catches their eye, type in their payment details and sit back while a greeting card is sent to their chosen friend or relative in whose name the gift is sent. What happens to the virtual goat, or whatever the gift may be, on its journey to the intended beneficiary, is in the case of some charities rather more complicated. Rick Lay, coordinator of Oxfam’s
“Unwrapped” range, says buyers of virtual gifts are attracted by their “added value” – as they benefit from both a “virtual” recipient in the UK and a “real” community abroad – and by the fact they are less likely to be binned by Boxing Day along with the usual pile of unwanted Christmas gifts.
“Who wants to be bought a pair of socks or a sweater when you can help a community by paying for a new toilet?” he said. “A lot of people in Britain already have most of the things they need materially and receive gifts they either don’t need or don’t want.” Oxfam has benefited from the virtual gifts
market more than most, making £60 million from selling around three million since 2004, including more than 250,000 goats – its best-
A Perfect Gift
seller. The charity, which makes just under 5 per cent of its annual income from virtual gifts, currently offers 56 options, from “build- ing a bog [toilet]” for a community in the developing world to paying for the training of a village vet.
Shoppers can buy a bag of fertiliser for £5, “feed a family” for just £7, “teach a teacher” for £27, train a farmer for £50 or even buy a cow for £80. Those with a little more spare cash can construct a library complete with books and trained staff for £429 or even pay £1,700 for the charity to “build a classroom” for poor communities in countries such as the Philippines. As Mr Lay says, Oxfam gives shoppers the
opportunity to buy “anything from a bag of poo to paying for children’s education. We have many people who either buy, or are bought, alternative gifts every year. One woman – a goat farmer herself – has received so many virtual goats that she’s now got a vir- tual flock of eight. These kinds of gifts have an added value because people like receiving presents, but it’s also nice to think someone in the developing world is benefiting at the same time.” This comment was echoed by Liz Hulme, coordinator of Cafod’s World Gift range, which has sold more than 360,000 virtual presents since it was founded in 2004 and generated £9m in the process. “People favour these kinds of gifts because they counteract that image of consumerism which is associated by many with Christmas now,” said Ms Hulme. “They feel that they are making a difference to some- one’s life elsewhere. They know their gift has gone that little bit further.” Goats are also one of Cafod’s top-selling options, but perhaps the best-value gift offered by the charity this year is its popular “school starter pack”, which buys pens, books, a uni- form, school fees and even daily meals for a child in the developing world, all for just £7. Shoppers can also pay £60 to help train a village vet, or a farmer for £125, or even teach a community health worker how to give immunisations and treat illnesses such as malaria and HIV/Aids for £300.
12 | THE TABLET | 6 November 2010
Got your goat? Gifts of farm animals to the developing world feature in a number of charities’ Christmas catalogues. Photo: Cafod/Bridget Burrows
One of the more arresting gift ranges on the market is offered by Save the Children, which includes more than 20 options, from a £10 toy or pair of shoes for children in the developing world to a “hairy yak” for a farmer in Tibet for £160. Those with a bigger budget can buy a pair of water buffalo for £480 or even solar panels for a health clinic for £1,860. Domestic charities have begun going down the same route in the past five years. Children’s charity Barnardo’s gift range offers anything from a £10 kettle for a family living in tem- porary accommodation to £80 for a safe place for a homeless child to sleep for the night, while Great Ormond Street Hospital charity’s range includes a £10 teddy bear used to explain operations to children, to a “vital signs monitor” for £500. Most charities take care to demonstrate the
benefits bought by the money people spend by providing case studies of how their gifts are put to work. Cafod’s gift website, for exam- ple, features the story of Colombian cobbler Antonio Velez, who was forced to flee his home as a result of conflict, but has now been able to set up his own business thanks to the support of the charity and its donors. Nearly all charities provide at least a short blurb to explain how each gift would work in practice. And here we come to one of the key challenges faced by many charities selling vir- tual gifts – the divide between what people think they are buying, and how their money is actually spent. Oxfam and Cafod make no secret of the fact that when people buy indi- vidual items such as a chicken, their cash will
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