Ethical goat gifts for Christmas

[redwellybluewelly]

I've only been on MN a year or so therefore shall offer apologies in advance if this is a well worn topic

DH, DD, and I were given the gift of a herd of goats in africa this christmas by a relative. Part of me thinks this is a great idea, part of me thinks this is someone making the point that they think we are materialistic and have everything we need and the money should be given to the more deserving.

This is mostly driven by the fact the giver of the goats gave the rest of the extended family ethical gifts (as we do too when the recipient likes them) of soap, food and pretty things. We got goats.

The goat giver has in the past made it clear that they think we live a wasteful life. We live within our means but we do recycle and try hard to live a low impact life

If any of you who object to the charity gifts want a charity of your own choice to benefit from a donation then give them your own money. If someone else is making the donation, it is entirely their choice which cause to choose.

Giving a charity gift is about saying "I'm not giving you a gift, I'm giving something to someone who needs it instead." Of course, it is.

Receiving a gift, any gift, is a privilege, not a right. It is never the recipient's right to dictate what is given.

i wouldn't thank anyone who surprised me with a goat - much less with a goat in africa. a herd of flipping goats in africa, even.
if i want goats, i want angoras to keep on the lovely pennines, looking like sheep and covering the hillsides with goat dung. but even then, i'd need advance warning so i could make arrangements.
your friend/relative is silly. ask them if next year they could put towards your flights - you and your dc want to go out and check on your goats.

Is a gift not usually something the receiver would like though? Or what's the point?

I'll swap your ethical goats for the de-icer I got off my mother?

it's a silly idea to give them as a gift to others, instead they should say that they don't want a gift for them and can you give X to charity instead. I did that when I had a big birthday, but that annoyed some people who suggested that I was saying that I wouldn't appreciate their gift. Daft IMO as it was a charity that helped our family a lot.

I've got deicer from DH (I asked for some)but tthank you.

The goat giver has never NEVER asked for ethical charity gifts and I have always bought them gifts (including this year) which were thoughtful and used straightaway. I should add again everyone else was bought ethical food, chocolate, ns one person a spa visit day and we

got GOATS!

THREE decades they've known me. Goats.

YANBU. They have basically donated to a charity of their choice and told you about it - not really a gift. This would bug me no end. If they wanted to donate to charity in lieu of a gift they should have asked for your choice of charity.

I would've been pleased. I don't like getting presents.

My grandmother asks for these kinds of gifts. She's in her 80s and she usually ends up with endless boxes of shortbread and bunches of flowers at Christmas. As her and my grandpa were both teachers, I usually get school books, or something similar.

I don't think I'd give an unsolicited goat though

Brilliant glad I am still pissed from Christmas.

Goat stew??

Next year you get them goats, or make a donation to FOE or Greenpeace or Age Concern in their name or suggest dropping the present exchange idea. They have stopped buying you presents so you stop buying them them.
I don't think I'd be upset by the goat thing (unless my husband did it) and would just see it as a way of reducing my list of people I buy presents for, not a bad thing in itself and they started it.

A particularly lovely friend of mine comes from a farming background & asked for cows or parts of cows to be given if people felt they had to give her a 50th birthday present. They researched the charity etc and we were happy to support them.

I gave my MIL a year's sponsorship of a seagull one year after she told us she had given us some sponsored animal. Can you tell I'm not crazy about her?

MsHighwater Thu 27-Dec-12 19:16:32
If any of you who object to the charity gifts want a charity of your own choice to benefit from a donation then give them your own money. If someone else is making the donation, it is entirely their choice which cause to choose.

Giving a charity gift is about saying "I'm not giving you a gift, I'm giving something to someone who needs it instead." Of course, it is.

Receiving a gift, any gift, is a privilege, not a right. It is never the recipient's right to dictate what is given.

If you're giving a gift to someone you should be getting something they appreciate, whether it's a goat, a spa day or anything else. It is nothing to do with dictating what is given. Giving a charity gift in my name to a charity I don't support is thoughtless and shows you couldn't care less about me, the person you are giving for.

And I give plenty to charities of my choice.

I would hope anyone would appreciate it when someone with very little receives something that will make a difference to them.

Of course, now that the OP knows that the "goat giver" approves of this type of gift, it would, of course, be lovely if she were to reciprocate next time. She's bound to appreciate it, after all.

SoleSource : "Are they flat screen goats?"

Not enough LOL's in the world for that one! And I hate LOL.

Lol!!!

Are you in benefits?

I got a RSPCA gift a few years ago. I was massively offended, and it was a fucking nightmare getting my details off their system. Especially considering I hadn't volunteered them.

It is the only time I have EVER thrown my toys out the pram about about a present.

I would never buy anyone a gift that could compromise their ethics. Nor should anyone else.

What's an ethical goat?

It only organic grass.

if you want to give me something, give it to me, not to someone on another continent. if you don't want to give me anything, fine. but don't give something to someone else and say its for me. it isn't. and i like goats. i like elephants, too, but i don't have anywhere to keep one.

YANBU - if you'd asked for goats, it would be a splendid gift, but as it is it is really quite pants. Other than for the people who'll benefit from "your" goats & presumably the Giver Of Goats who can polish their halo over it

Charity gifts can be fab, but they're something that should be checked out with the intended recipient. Really, they should be left alone unless someone specifically asks for them OR they're done as an extra on top of all usual presentage. Even then it'd be better to ask people where they'd like donated to in their name. I've given & received this sort of thing in the past, but only when ASKED. Bar one random goat incident which I'd almost forgotten & wasn't awfully bothered by - not least because I have a distinct suspicion I may have retaliated with some chickens...

Nothing to do with you being selfish/greedy/materialistic (etc blah); everything to do with Goat Dispenser being a rather hypocritical show-off. Blegh.

Definitely think their forthcoming birthday merits some Special Attention. Could you adopt them an animal they can't stand?