Britt has posed another great Net2ThinkTank question: "How Can Nonprofits Use the Social Web During the 'Giving Season'?" I'll take a swing at answering, and I'm very interested in seeing what my colleagues say, as well!

For the past few years, I've given family members "alternative gifts" for the holidays -- everything from a donation of books to a school in Kenya to a donation of bricks to a house-building project. Now, I know that the organizations to which I donated don't have to use my money for those specific projects, but it's something special to be able to identify gifts in a specific way and in a way that's meaningful for the recipient (i.e. schoolbook donation for my mom, a teacher).

I just got done with a short promo/psa that I'll be sharing with some other podcasters during the holiday season:

 http://www.501c3cast.com/mp3s/501c3castHolidayPromo.mp3

In it I encourage people to consider making honor gifts instead of purchasing gifts for loved ones.  I'd love to see nonprofits reach out like this with short 1 minute blurbs about what they are doing or how the public can get involved.  It's easy to do and can be distributed quickly.  The file is just about 1 MB which can even be emailed if needed!