Anna gave a lot of virtual gifts for Christmas this year, and I was really impressed with how well she matched gifts to people. People received gifts that closely matched their personalities and interests, which made them seem much more personal than one might expect from a virtual gift.

For example, from the shopping list:
The fashion-mad sister got three pairs of sturdy leather shoes for african children
The sister who works with horses got post-natal care for a mare and foal in the developing world, through the Brooke
The sportsmad twins got footballs for african schools
Mum and stepdad, keen apiculturalists, got a hive of bees
The stepmother, mother to three teens, got 'a moment's peace' (conflict negotiations)
The psychologist brother sponsored a brain cell (research into degenerative brain diseases)

This kind of personalisation made virtual gifts appealing for giver and receiver. I know I wouldn't want to get the same virtual gift as someone else. With a virtual gift, it seems more true than ever that it's the thought that counts - going to the trouble to get a gift that is appropriate and relevant to the recipient, as opposed to ordering 12 goats for 12 family members.

I don't know if Anna had to go through five different catalogues to get appropriate gifts, or if she's just clever enough to see the connections between gifts and individuals, but the end result was that the recipients seemed genuinely happy, even moved, by their presents. Opening the envelopes gave everyone a minute to reflect on how very fortunate we all are, and how lucky we are to be in a position to give something, however small, to someone else - it was really a refreshing moment to slightly redress the balance of all 'stuff' acquired that day.

A 'physical' gift is never designed specifically to appeal to a particular personality. They aren't even designed to be gifts - they're just things that are treated like gifts. Virtual gifts are virtually always gifts

Brad Bell