The Story Exchange is an award-winning nonprofit media organization that provides inspiration and information to entrepreneurial women.

Sign up for our biweekly newsletter!

Our ‘Ripple Effects’ Gift Guide: 15 Gifts That Give Back

Our 2025 holiday gift guide is about more than “stuff.” We selected social enterprises that make impactful products and charities that need support this season.

By Candice Helfand-Rogers
This year’s holiday gift guide is about positive ripple effects inspired by women-led efforts. (Credit: Pixnio)

We all need a little joy, and a little help. That’s why our 2025 holiday gift guide features a mix of philanthropic gift ideas under $150, and organizations you can donate to on behalf of others.

This year, after hearing from dozens of women who run everything from world-conscious businesses and social enterprises to 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and pouring over organizations we’ve profiled in the past, we have put together a list of those who are doing much more than selling quality products. And for most of this year’s honorees, giving to their causes is the gift.

There are so many people – and yes, so many women – doing real good in this world. From those working locally in their communities to build mutual care programs, to those who are internationally renowned, sharing their wealth and spearheading efforts that can effect broad, lasting changes. From the organizations featured below, to the Dolly Partons and Jane Goodall Institutes of the world.

Yes, there is much in our chaotic world that is not in control. But there is still much we can do. We’re hoping you’ll feel inspired to solicit these businesses, or give to these organizations, all of which have been vetted and verified. We’re hoping you’ll feel motivated by their examples to do your own good works in your own communities.

We’re hoping to make positive ripple effects, as these women-led operations have.

Editor’s Note: These items were independently chosen by the staff of The Story Exchange, which does not earn any commission or otherwise benefit.

Sweetly Supporting Bees

Honey from Hive & Hanger: This delicious honey comes courtesy of a bee museum in Los Angeles. In addition to making the perfect addition to your cup of tea, this gift – in its chic, reusable glass bottle – contributes to a mission of educating children, grown-ups and even corporations on the importance of protecting Earth’s pollinators, which are dying out.

$25 - Available Here

Lifting Immigrant Artisans

Silk pouch from Studio Variously: This Michigan-based company works exclusively with groups of makers in India, Nepal and Peru to produce handcrafted accessories and home goods, such as this delicate, eye-grabbing pouch, providing them with steady work and needed pay. Each of their goods are sustainably made – even their journals are completely wood-free.

$89 - Available Here

Bags Celebrating Diversity

Bookbags from EPIC Everyday: These durable, eye-grabbing backpacks give children of color a way to see themselves represented in the world. Beyond that, EPIC Everyday reports donating over $150,000 in products and services to various children’s groups nationwide, and partnered with the likes of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to support over 5,000 children.

$45 - Available Here

Thoughtful and Comfy PJs

Pajama set from KickIt: This company makes clothing options, including these luxurious pajamas, for women undergoing cancer treatment. It also donates products to nonprofit organizations like the American Cancer Society and Turning Point Breast Cancer Rehabilitation. They awarded a scholarship to the Cervivor School for a cancer patient, too.

$110 - Available Here

A Memoir For Adults That Helps Kids

Book from Beyond Bedtime: Formerly the Pajama Program, this Oprah-approved nonprofit helps children facing adversity get the rest they need to thrive, by providing free pajamas and bedtime books, as well as programs that help parents create nighttime routines. Profits from founder Genevieve Piturro’s uplifting book, which won numerous awards, aid its efforts.

$20 - Available Here

Accessible Home Goods

Assistance grips from EaZyHold: There are many medical circumstances – from cerebral palsy to limb difference – that can make days difficult. This company sells adaptive tools for people of all ages that help them eat, brush their teeth and more. EaZyHold also says it donates $2,500 worth of product each month to therapists and hospitals that work with people with disabilities.

$34.99 - Available Here

Cheeky Duds, Embroidered With Care

T-shirt from Neococo Collective: All of the makers of these hand-crafted shirts, accessories and more are immigrant and refugee women who find dignified work and pay through this company. We enjoyed the subtle, winking designs of these shirts almost as much as the mission to empower a group of women in dire need of communal support.

$74 - Available Here

Helping Migrant Moms

Women and Children’s Center of the Sierra: This women-led nonprofit in northern Nevada helps local women, many of them migrant mothers, overcome poverty by offering ESL and GED courses, as well as a food pantry and diaper bank – among other services. In 2024, they report giving out over 500,000 diapers, feeding 7,000 households, and teaching English to hundreds.

Donate Here

Intergenerational Assistance

Any Step Community Services: An intergenerational nonprofit serving the Dallas area, the organization groups its work into three pillars: Healthy food, social connection and wellness education. In addition to providing meals for those in need, ASCS also runs a Young Ambassador Program that connects seniors to students – enriching all of their lives.

Donate Here
NY Sun Works founder Manuela Zamora. (Credit: NY Sun Works)

Teaching Sustainable Farming to Kids

NY Sun Works: At NY Sun Works, Manuela Zamora has pioneered a hands-on approach to training the next generation of climate scientists and farmers. Specifically, she’s created hydroponic farming classrooms in nearly 400 New York City schools (and some in Alabama), where students learn how to grow plants and crops in nutrient-rich water rather than soil.

Donate Here
Women-Candidates-Election-Voting-Running-for-Office

Getting Women Elected

She Should Run: The purpose of this organization is to galvanize more women into running for elected office, at all tiers of government. From providing resources that help a prospective politician know what to expect, to conducting research on women’s electoral candidacy in the U.S., they keep would-be women officials informed and supported.

Donate Here
Celeste Mergens Days for Girls

Fighting Period Poverty

Days for Girls: Around the world, girls miss school because of stigmas about menstruation, or because they don’t have supplies. Days for Girls works to change that by providing reusable sanitary pads and economic opportunities to women in poor communities. The international organization has partnered with the likes of Meghan Markle to spread its mission.

Donate Here

Getting Kids Civically Engaged

Climate Families NYC: Run mostly by volunteers, this grassroots nonprofit based in New York City brings together kids and their caregivers to fight against the use of fossil fuels, and in favor of relying upon greener, cleaner technology. It’s not subtle work – these activists of all ages take to the streets in big, loud protests to push for a better future for the earth.

Donate Here
Muttville

Protecting Older Pups

Muttville: This multimillion-dollar social enterprise specializes in rescuing senior dogs, and has saved thousands of them since its 2007 opening. The San Francisco-based company focuses on dogs that are pups at heart, if not in age, because studies show that dogs ages 7 and over are far less likely to be adopted.

Donate Here
CAMFED Schooling Education Girls Africa

Making Sure Girls Learn

CAMFED: For decades, CAMFED has ensured that impoverished girls get to learn through a multi-pronged approach that sees students through the process of finishing schooling, and into the starts of their professional lives. The organization’s staying power comes in large part from the students it guided into womanhood.

Donate Here