This holiday season, instead of buying gifts for family and friends, some of which might end up returned or sitting forgotten in the corner of a cupboard, how about buying a gift of life?

Unlike the ubiquitous mission of ending world hunger and poverty set by many charity organizations, Heifer International goes further to gift resources that help the impoverished sustain themselves.

Instead of sending one-time money, food or water, prospective donors have the option of sending resources such as livestock, farming tools and irrigation pumps, which allow the impoverished to take the initiatives on fighting poverty. The gifted livestock provides continuous source of food and income as milk, wool or eggs could be consumed or sold for extra income. Gifts of goats, sheep, chickens and even water buffalos allow families to not only feed but provide proper care and education to the children. On top of gifting resources, Heifer provides training that ensures the project’s prosperity across communities as well as generations.

Doesn’t the gift of your choice of livestock for the impoverished family sound better than a poster, DVD or gift card you often receive from non-profit organizations? Heifer’s projects encompass Nepal, Romania, Cambodia, China, Rwanda, Guatemala and many more. They not only lift people out of poverty, but respond to natural disasters, empower women and conserve habitats.

According to Charity Navigator, Heifer boosts 70/70 accountability and transparency rating. As prospective donors want most of a nonprofit’s revenue to go toward its programs, Heifer’s administrative expenses (i.e., salaries) only make up 6.4% of expenses while program and fundraising expenses make up 93.4%.

Wait, that’s not all! Worldbuilders, a charity founded by author Pat Rothfuss in order to use the collective power of readers, fellow authors and book lovers to make the world a better place, teamed up with Heifer and provides awesome rewards for donations sent to Heifer through their group page by January 18th. Worldbuilders has a goal of $500,000 this year, and have raised $187,644 so far.

Worldbuilders has three options for donating to Heifer, first of which is lottery: for every $10 you donate, you are entered into a lottery filled with signed books, web comics and more. Option two is to purchase from The Tinker’s Packs, where all profits go straight to Heifer. Merchandises range from Hobbit jewelry to chocolate covered fortune cookies to a fantasy themed pin-up calendar (I’m sure none of your friends would mind a late Christmas gift!). The last option is Worldbuilders-sponsored auction. Past auction items included manuscript critiques, cameo appearances in books and web comics and even a Portal gun.

While Worldbuilders’ incentives are captivating enough for prospective donors, the idea of gifts of resource, which would forever change the lives of the impoverished, is enough reason to give. Gifts of any amount is appreciated and regarded as a step towards sustainable living for the families in need. After all, what could be a better holiday gift for yourself than knowing that you are saving lives, promoting healthy economy and providing education to children?