Alternative Gifts International is a site where you can “Select an alternative gift from 35 life-sustaining, worldwide projects to honor family and friends.” It’s an interesting way to make a charitable contribution in a friend’s name, although it’s always possible the friend may not be enamored of the particular charity you choose. As the site says:
The global mission of AGI is to send authentic, life-giving gifts to a needy world — gifts that build a partnership with oppressed people in crisis and that protect and preserve the earth’s endangered environment — to nourish and sustain a more equitable and peaceful global community.
AGI is a non-profit, interfaith agency. In addition to providing global education for people of all ages, AGI raises funds each year in its Alternative Gift Markets and from individual donors. Designated grants then are sent to the established international projects of several reputable non-profit agencies for relief and development.