Company: Alex and Ani
Products: Gifts, Jewelry
Causes: Empowerment, Health & Wellness, Environment, Children, animals

This is the third in a series of blog posts highlighting merchants that sell excellent gifts in time for Christmas gift-giving, while meaningfully supporting important causes. I previously highlighted Kiva.org and Uncommon Goods. In this post I look at bangle and necklace retailer Alex and Ani.

Alex and Ani make bracelets and necklaces in gold and silver, with a few rings and earrings thrown in. The Charity by Design collection benefits non-profit causes: specific charms for specific charities. In many cases they work with charities directly to design the charms.  For example, this “You Are My Sunshine” Charm Bangle supports the Children’s Glaucoma Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting programs for children with glaucoma. For every bangle sold. Alex and Ami will donate 20% of the purchase price.

This Music is Love supports VH1’s Save the Music Foundation – a cause that supports keeping music education in schools.

Other charities include Project Cat, ASPCA, Project Common Bond, Green Beetz, Ocean Unite, and many others. The complete list is on their web site or you can browse the collection for a description of each charm and what cause it supports.

You can browse and filter by cause, by jewelry type (necklace vs. bracelet) and finish (gold vs. silver.) The bangles are meant to be stackable so you can purchase more than one for a thoughtful gift that truly reflects the causes you or your recipient care about.