Looking for good stocking stuffers? Don’t get desperate, give Charity Checks. Charity Checks is a giving program that lets you make contributions to any charity in the name of a family member or friend.

But what goes in the stocking? Charity Checks sends you a certificate and blank check that can be cashed by any nonprofit organization. You give it to your gift recipient, who decides which charity benefits.

Besides helping a worthwhile person or cause (the charity gets 100% of the amount on the certificate), your friend or family member gets an enormous infusion of holiday spirit, and you get a tax deduction for the year if you purchase your gift before December 31st (Charity Checks ship overnight).

Charity Check co-founders Victor Dorff and Lisa Sonne say they run the entire program on Mac computers. “Charity Checks would not exist without Macs,” says Dorff. “We use a Mac laptop and an iMac to print the Giving Certificates and to create all our promotional material, including videos, brochures, a website and DVDs. We also manage our donor database and do all our accounting on the laptop.”

Dorff and Sonne point out that “pre-paid giving” is a holiday win-win-win for you, for your gift recipient and for the benefiting charity. Which begs the question: Does your dad really need a reindeer tie?