Top 5 charity Christmas e-card sites

Ha ha ha. So you probably knew that Saturday 20th - tomorrow - is the last UK First Class posting date before Christmas.

Were you, like me, planning to do a rush job on your Christmas cards and fling them at a postbox sometime in the next 24 hours?

And did you, like me, not realise that today, 2,000 postal workers will close seven sorting offices as part of a postal strike?

Ha ha ha. Erm. Never mind! Our friends over at Dollymix have compiled a Top 5 charity ecard list!

So come with me over the jump and let's send our wishes of the season in a way that helps those less deserving than us, treats our planet with respect, and doesn't depend on the vagaries of the UK postal system....

5. Benevolus
Women's charities like Refuge and Women's Aid don't have the resources to provide Christmas ecards of their own. But if you go to Benevolus and choose one of them as your preferred charity, any Benevolus Christmas ecards you send (they have a massive selection) will give 60% of the proceeds to your charity of choice.

At the charities' sites themselves, you can also send a non-festive Refuge ecard to show your support, and donate to the Women's Aid Christmas Appeal online.

4. The WWF-UK (World Wildlife Fund)
The WWF has a kids' section called Go Wild where you can send ecards, play games, and download wallpapers, screensavers and activity sheets. The ecards are pretty basic - nothing flashy, animated or musical. But do you really need all that when there are beautiful animal photographs to use?

You can also give someone the gift of an adopted Svalbard polar bear (yes, like in the Northern Lights trilogy!) from £3 a month.

3. Cancer Research UK
At Cancer Research UK's Send and Give site you can choose from a variety of photographic, animated and illustrated Christmas cards. You can also create your own cards using your own photos, and uploading them onto a template (your face on Santa's body, etc.).

You can also buy gifts from their Christmas catalogue and donate to specific research projects via the new MyProjects website.

2. NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)
The NSPCC's ecard page is probably the most customisable of all - starting with a background colour you build your card, adding landscapes, skyscapes, snowmen, people and greetings.

You can also send corporate ecards and - until a few days ago - you could order a letter from Santa (aww!). Interesting but out-of-date I'm afraid - one to remember for next year!

1. Shelter
Shelter's ecards are all animated and very charming - Penelope the penguin can skate out your Christmas message, or you can build a Tetris-like Christmas tree out of coloured blocks. The ecards are all part of Shelter's Big Build-Up to Christmas campaign in England (the Scottish site is here).

So there we go. You'll probably notice I slipped a couple of charity gift pages in there, too.

Mainly because I'm an extremely lazy Christmas shopper (but is it my fault that I keep seeing items that I want when I'm out gift-shopping?), so I have a cut-off date of the 20th. If by then I've not bought all my gifts, then unlucky un-recipients get a charity donation in their name instead.

That or a lump of coal.

Happy carding!

Image courtesy of stoneflower's Flickr stream.

[via Dollymix]

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