For the past two years, I’ve had the honor of introducing MicroPlace as one of our cherished partners for the holiday season. They’re an organization that enables everyday people to invest in microfinance, providing small loans to the working poor and allowing you to invest your money in a way that empowers and honors entrepreneurial members of the Global South.

This year, once more, they’re providing the means to open your circle of gift-giving, choosing a gift that touches not just your friend or loved one, but a family or entrepreneur on the other side of the world.

It’s a wonderful opportunity, and a wonderfully useful present. When you give the gift of a Microplace gift certificate, you’ll choose where to invest the money (be it a location like Africa, or to a particular cause, such as women entrepreneurs), and, when the investment matures, your loved one will get the money back to reinvest or remove to use in any way they wish.

So instead of a holiday cluttered with stuff, your gift will first help empower others to support themselves, and, when the investment matures, your loved one can use the money on whatever they choose. (And, until supplies run out, when you buy a gift of over $20, you’ll get another gift of $20 to give to someone else for free! )