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If you are the kind of person who buys gifts with a view of contributing something to charities, there are some shocking facts in store for you. Read on and find out whether the perfume or jewelry you bought is actually contributing anything of worth to a charity.

Cause related gift marketing cashes in on the humaneness of people who want to give a gift that benefits charities while bringing a smile on somebody's face. But, the bare truth of the fact is that even with the best products, less than 10% of the proceeds go to charities. The rest goes to fill the coffers of the company selling the product.

Let us take an example. Suppose you were to buy a bottle of Ethos water. The people at Starbucks immediately contribute 5 cents to programs that provide clean drinking water in third world nations. Imagine how many bottles of water you would have to purchase to make a difference! Companies are under no pressure to reveal how much they are actually contributing to charity. So, you really have no idea how much of your money is going to the charities. Often, it is too little to make any real difference.

Many companies market charitable gifts only because they want to establish a good reputation. Ultimately, they spend more on marketing their relationship than in contribution to the charity of your choice. Ironic, but true.

Ostentatious marketing campaigns that flash a logo prominently but only come up with vague promises are to be taken with a good amount of salt. Remember, just because you see a pink ribbon, it has nothing to do with the AIDS foundation or with breast cancer. Anyone can slap a logo and cough up teary words.

There are some people who shop with affinity cards, in the belief that these cards donate a percentage of your purchase amount to a charity organization. Although the thought is lofty, when translated to practice, it deteriorates sadly. First, affinity cards have very high interest rates (sometimes as high as 18%). What's worse is that charitable organizations may only get a paltry .5-1% of the amount. So, if you have swiped your card for $100, the charity might get only $1 or less.

So, what is a better way to give charitable gifts?

Why not contribute it as money to the organization of your choice directly? For instance, suppose you are to hold a dinner party and you do not want to be inundated with gifts that will ultimately find their way to the attic. But you understand that guests like to give gifts. So, you decide to ask them to donate what they can spare to a charity. Web services exist that allow you to send out electronic invites with a 'Donate Now' button. Interested guests may contribute whatever they can spare. There is no compulsion and the amount is kept confidential. The guest can have the pleasure of knowing that they have done their bit to make their host happy. And you would have added real meaning to charitable gifting when the web service turns over the money your guests contributed to the organization of their choice!

To be of any use, charitable gifting must contribute sufficiently to make change possible. Sadly, cause related product gifting is not a very bright idea because their attempts are often a case of giving too little, too late.

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