Having made it successfully to middle-age, I have had my fair share of celebrations – my birthdays, family birthdays, my wedding, the birth of my daughter and countless other small and big festivals and occasions in between!
A huge part of celebrations, along with the joy and togetherness, are of course gifts. Gifts are a way to tell someone that you love them and you thought of them. That you care enough to go out and get them something. All gifts come from the heart. But unfortunately they don’t all get used or loved by the person who they’re given to. Some of them get re-gifted. Some of them just lie around because the recipient doesn’t know what to do with it. Children’s toys, a photo frame, a bottle of wine – most of them given with the best intentions but more often than not the user has many more of them tucked away somewhere.
Everytime I had to buy someone a gift, I deliberated for days and still came up empty. What could I give someone who has everything? What will show them that I love them and not end up getting them something they don’t really need?
This is why I started Scift.
Scift brings together Gifters (the gift givers) and Giftees (the gift recipients) to pioneer the concept of social gifting in India today. Giftees can, on their special occasion, choose to accept donations towards a charity they support instead of gifts. And Gifters can choose to donate towards an NGO in someone’s name instead of getting them a physical gift. Our goal is to encourage people to share their joyous occasions with those less fortunate and help their community in the best way possible while reducing wastage in the gifting industry too. What could be better than that?
We have made it as easy for you to do as we could – you go to www.scift.com, and click on Give a Gift. You will get an option to choose from a variety of charities in India supporting different causes – child education, woman empowerment, tree plantation, conservation, animal protection and many others. You pick something that you think your loved one will care about, and then you make a donation to the charity in their honour. They will get an email telling them about your gift. The money you spent will go to helping someone get a better future instead of on a cheese platter that would languish in some drawer somewhere for years. It’s a simple choice isn’t it? And a happier one?
Imagine a world where everyone celebrated this way. Imagine the number of futures we’d be changing. Imagine the pure joy we would get as a donor knowing we’ve given something invaluable instead of extremely valuable. Imagine being a recipient and opening your inbox and seeing an email that says “Thank you for helping make the world a better place”. What a world that would be.
Lets make it together.
Double the joy on your special day by spreading it.
