The air is chill, the days are short and the streets are decked with lights - it’s Christmastime. But if you’re anything like me, you struggle to come up with presents for people to get you, not wanting to accumulate yet more stuff. You may even have stopped getting presents from friends or family. Or perhaps you don’t like to ask for things for yourself, or don’t buy into the materialism and consumerism of it all.

If this description fits you then you may be interested in running one of Charity Science’s Christmas fundraisers. These provide a webpage through which your family and friends can easily donate to one of the world’s best charities, as a present to you. You simply tell them that this is what you’d like. You can find suggested messages here, and we provide default copy for your fundraiser page, so it’s very easy on your part. If people want to give you something physical, we provide illustrated tokens (pictured above) that they can print out or email. And there’s a way to have your donations be revealed on Christmas day. All donations get matched dollar-for-dollar too.

We’ve helped many people run similar fundraisers for their birthdays, and these have got great reactions from their friends and family, raising hundreds or thousands of dollars each - one raised $7,000! This was so even when people hadn’t received presents for years, so if you’re in that boat then there’s no need to let it put you off - instead, see it as the first present for some time that’s been worth asking for. When you can treat someone for worms for $1 or distribute a bednet for $6, it’s worth starting getting presents again - and you’ll also be sharing a great opportunity with the people you tell! This outreach effect is another reason to run a fundraiser.

Christmas is the classic time of year to talk about giving, and a time when people can fundraise for charity without appearing pushy. So why not take this opportunity and create a Christmas fundraiser now, or register your interest? Donations to the world’s best charities are a chance to save and improve lives - and a present worth asking for.