Like I did last year — and almost verbatim — let me remind you that Mother’s Day is this Sunday. Do something nice for your own mother, or the mother of your kids (even if that’s you), or pretty much any other mother you know. Being a parent is seriously hard work, and in much of the world, moms carry most of the parenting load.

Chocolate? Maybe. Flowers? Not a bad idea. Dinner? Better. But try this: there are a plethora of nonprofits who work with mothers around the world.  Consider donating to them in honor of a mom.  For example:

• Check out the Plant a Flower campaign from EngenderHealth: plant a virtual flower for a mom (for free), and someone else will donate $5 to EngenderHealth’s international maternal health work (and they give you a cool personalized video too — better than last year’s, in my opinion).  C’mon: a couple of minutes of your time could mean $20 for a good cause.
   
• Another great nonprofit is Women for Women International, which “supports women in war-torn regions with financial and emotional aid, job-skills training, rights education and small business assistance so they can rebuild their lives.” How cool is that? The chances of me doing that personally are pretty remote, but I’m happy to support someone else doing it.
   
• World Vision notes here that moms prefer receiving gifts that help other people. A donation to one of these nonprofits in mom’s honor is one way of doing that. Or check out World Vision’s catalog and buy some poor family a goat.
   
• There are plenty of other organizations worthy of your support. You may even have some who serve moms or women locally.

You don’t even have to leave your computer to get these things for a mom. Click over there and do some good! Seriously, what’s your excuse?