Despite our best efforts, sometimes we just run out of time to find that perfect gift for each and every person on our holiday gift list. Now that we're down to the wire and don't want anyone running around empty-handed on the short end of an uneven gift exchange, we thought we'd share the perfect eleventh-hour present.

Global Giving is a website that pulls together a donation funnel for more than 2,000 projects worldwide, all of which are intent on making the world a better place through humanitarian and environmental efforts.  Searchable by country, theme, popularity and more, Global Giving's database of positive projects lends itself perfectly to quick, simple donations in loved ones' names, with a series of thoughtfully-designed, easily-printable PDF donation cards you can download and print at home, then package up in a sweet holiday box, bag or envelope.  Poof!  Problem solved.

Put yourself in your recipient's shoes: would you rather receive yet another candle, box of sweets or bath products you're never going to use, or know you've played a role in preventing malaria, feeding an impoverished community, or funding an environmental project?  When they say "it's the thought that counts," this is exactly what they're talking about.  Taking a moment to do some good in the name of someone you adore -- that's a happy holiday indeed.