Being a Type-A personality, I pretty much planned and planned and planned some more for my son’s third birthday party this past weekend with a slew of family and friends. Due to the aforementioned planning (including waking up at 3 a.m. to write a notes such as “remember a lighter for the candle”), I can say the party went off without a hitch.

Once we arrived home, sweaty and tired, we let our son rip open the presents he was practically drooling over during the birthday festivities. His fervor while opening the packages was palpable, but I noticed a common theme. Rip open the package, yell the name of the toy/game/truck and promptly walk away. This really got my wheels turning. He we sat, in our modestly-sized living room, with a load of toys that were most likely going to gather dust. While I didn’t want to rule out presents entirely, I knew there must be a way to be more mindful of gift giving.

Enter ECHOage.** ECHOage was founded and created by two mothers who believed that a birthday is a terrible thing to waste. Like many parents, they were frustrated by the waste that traditional birthday parties generate and were determined to come up with an alternative. I must say, their alternative rocks.

Here’s how it works: Guests are invited to an ECHOage birthday party online. Instead of bringing a wrapped and packaged present, guests simply RSVP and give a secure online contribution.  ECHOage pools all of the contributions, and the birthday child chooses one meaningful birthday present from all their friends and makes a donation to the charity of their choice. ECHOage arranges everything, so no need for your guests to drive, shop, wrap or even pick up the phone to make a donation.

Additionally, an ECHOage birthday party is a unique opportunity for your child to learn about charities. The ECHOage philosophy is that knowledge can be turned into action, and enlightening your child about social and environmental issues is a good place to start.

One meaningful gift and one meaningful cause. I think just planned my son’s 2010 birthday party. To learn more about ECHOage, click here.**

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