2007 Holiday Giving Guide (for the rich!)

I'm loaded. It's official. I'm the 39,615,049 richest person on earth! How rich are you? >>

Lucky me! According to the Global Rich List, I am in the TOP 0.66% of the richest people in the world! That fact alone was enough to make me rethink my gift giving this year. Instead of sending your friends a bottle of wine or a scented candle, why not make a donation in their name to their favorite cause. The following organizations have all received four star ratings from Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator: Mentor and Inspire Children Have a friend that loves kids? Make a real difference in children's lives by supporting these programs that empower children with art, music, literature, and mentoring. First Book First Book is a national nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. First Book works with existing community-based tutoring, mentoring, and family literacy programs nationwide, offering them the opportunity to select their own free books. Read the Charity Navigator Review Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors children, ages 6-18, in communities across the country. Their mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that have a measurable impact on youth. Read the Charity Navigator Review Feed & Empower the Hungry These groups are perfect for friends and family that show you they love you by cooking for you. These organizations provide food for the hungry but also work to identify the root causes of hunger and ultimately eliminate it. Children's Hunger Fund The mission of CHF is to provide products that will assist in the care of needy children locally, nationally and internationally. They distribute food and other items in 36 states across America and in 60 different countries around the world. Read the Charity Navigator Review Bread for the World We seek justice for the hungry. We focus on policies that address root causes of hunger and poverty such as strengthening food stamps and raising the minimum wage. Read the Charity Navigator Review Protect Animals & Prevent Cruelty Instead of buying your pet a gift this year, make a donation to organizations such as these that provide a voice for the voiceless and offer them protection. The Humane Society of the United States With nearly ten million members and constituents, The HSUS works to reduce suffering and to create meaningful social change for animals by advocating for public policies to protect animals, investigating cruelty and working to enforce existing laws, educating the public about the issues, and conducting hands-on programs, such as assisting animals when disasters strike. Read the Charity Navigator Review Animal Place Animal Place is a nonprofit sanctuary for abused and discarded farmed animals founded in 1989. Rescued individuals and indigenous wildlife share 60 acres of forest, meadow, pasture, hills and small lake. Read the Charity Navigator Review Support Women of the World Show the strong women in your life that you love them by helping to advance opportunities for women, improve women's health, and support women's rights in the U.S. and all around the world. Global Fund for Women We are a grantmaking foundation supporting women's human rights organizations around the world working to address critical issues such as gaining economic independence, increasing girls' access to education, and stopping violence against women. Read the Charity Navigator Review Marian House The mission of Marian House, founded 1982, is to empower women at risk and their children by providing them safe, orderly, loving homes and by delivering the services they need to live healthy, stable and productive lives. The vision of Marian House is to assist homeless, abused and addicted women awaken to their potential - respecting and loving themselves, joining the workforce, building careers, caring consistently for their children, and making a difference in the community. Read the Charity Navigator Review Give Peace for All Dedicated to creating a peaceful world, where conflict is resolved without violence, these organizations work to support disarmament, ban landmines, and foster communication rather than combat. Ashoka Founded in 1980, Ashoka strives to shape a global, entrepreneurial, competitive citizen sector: one that allows social entrepreneurs to thrive and enables the world's citizens to think and act as changemakers. Ashoka envisions a world where everyone is a changemaker: a world that responds quickly and effectively to social challenges, and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem and drive change. Read the Charity Navigator Review Landmine Survivors Network Founded by two landmine survivors in 1997, Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) is the first international organization created by and for survivors. LSN links landmine survivors to healthcare and rehabilitation services, provides social and economic reintegration programs, and works to ban landmines around the world. A leader in the Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines, LSN has also emerged as a pioneer in peer support--building peer relationships that help transform victims into survivors, and ultimately, into fully participating citizens. Read the Charity Navigator Review Save the Earth Protect the earth and the earth lovers on your list by supporting these environment organizations dedicated to cleaning our air and water, protecting our forests and wildlife, and reversing global warming. Earth Island Institute Earth Island develops and supports projects that counteract threats to the biological and cultural diversity that sustains the environment, and promotes Global CPR -- conservation, preservation and restoration for planet Earth. Read the Charity Navigator Review Encourage Health & Wellness Have a friend that quit smoking this year...or that needs to quit smoking? Remind them how much you value their friendship by donating to the Action on Smoking and Health. Action on Smoking and Health ASH's mission is to: protect nonsmokers from the clearly-established dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke; reduce the deadly toll of smoking by banning the advertising and promotion of cigarettes, and by keeping them out of the hands of children; force those who use or profit from tobacco to pay the enormous costs of smoking which are now borne largely by nonsmokers; end all government support of the tobacco industry; and serve as a clearinghouse of information and ideas for all people concerned about smoking, both here and abroad. Read the Charity Navigator Review