Gifts for the genealogists on your list

As a professional organizer, I see over and over again how difficult it is for people to let go of items they were given as a gift, even if those items no longer serve them. This observation has changed the way I give gifts. As I’ve written repeatedly on my organizing blog, I think it’s much kinder to give a gift that doesn’t have a chance to turn into clutter.

Luckily there are many non-tangible gifts that won’t turn into clutter. And if you have a genealogist on your holiday gift list especially easy, since there are so many fun, clutter-free gifts available, even at the last minute. I’ve updated the list I last published in 2016. I hope you find it helpful. Here are my ideas:

• A subscription to an online service, like Ancestry, Fold3 or MyHeritage
• A membership in a local society (even if it’s not local to your gift recipient) the Florida State Genealogical Society or the Southern California Genealogy Society, so they can have access to those groups’ amazing webinar archives.
• A gift certificate to work with a professional genealogist
• A photo consultation with Maureen Taylor, photo detective.
• My Orderly Roots Bundle (you could download it for them and email it, or contact me after you pay for it for a special code they can use to download it themselves)
• Your help with their genealogy (maybe offer to spend a couple of hours on one of their brick walls)
• Your help decluttering or organizing their research space
• A trip together to a cemetery or research library
• Registration for a genealogy conference
• A date to attend the (free) 2022 RootsTech virtual conference together

As much as I love clutter-free gifts, I do have a suggestion of a physical gift for the genealogist in your life who wears necklaces. It’s the family tree necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs, which you can have made with your own surnames. (Currently, there’s a limited-edition version with leather and turquoise that is especially tempting!) I adore the one I gave myself back in 2014.

Illustration by Traci Gardner via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.