It might be the best gift they ever get!
Calculate Your DIMS SCORE® Now
What is it you want?
Gifting Sense 2.0 is coming soon!
Sign up to receive free workshop materials and be notified when it launches.
Gifting Sense helps children get ready for all the personal finance decisions that lie in their future – by helping them experience first-hand why thinking before buying is such a powerful and rewarding life skill.
We are a mission-driven organization, a passion project, not a revenue generator. There is no hidden fee structure.
Sure, kids participate in our workshops and work through the DIMS – DOES IT MAKE SENSE?® SCORE Calculator to “get what they want”. But in the process, they learn how easy it is to quickly research the true cost of a possible purchase, as well as how much they’ll really use or appreciate something, before, anyone spends a dime. They learn how easy it is to get and use basic financial information to make their lives better!
Parents and extended family members are able to stop wasting time and money buying under-appreciated gifts or clothes. Fewer items end up in landfills.
It’s a win-win-win.
But don’t just take our word for it: Visit the DIMS SCORE® Calculator. Answer 10-15 simple questions. And see for yourself how easy it is to give children the awesome power of spending with a plan, otherwise known as one of the best gifts ever!
We Teach Financial Literacy
We help kids understand the true value of their requests by asking them all the questions parents normally want answered before agreeing to spend money.
This lets them practice making thoughtful consumer decisions when the stakes are low, but also equips them to seek out the more sophisticated financial information they’ll need later in life, when they have to buy more than jeans and running shoes!
How much does it really cost?
How often will you really use it?
Do you know and understand the return policy?
Can someone else in your family use it when you are done?
We Are The Ultimate “Head Fake”!
Dr. Randy Pausch coined the phrase “head fake” to describe the indirect learning that took place when Middle School students took an animation class, where they really learned how to code.
We use shopping to teach money-smarts. When are kids truly interested in learning about money? When they want some! Which is why they happily calculate the DIMS SCORE® when asked.
Kids
Children often receive gifts they do not use or appreciate. Let’s replace that waste with a little more thought and a lot more happiness.
- Kids learn how much items really cost
- They learn about the power of planning and good manners
- And to think before they buy!
It’s a
Win-Win-Win!
Parents
Don’t waste time arguing, simply ask your kids to use the DIMS – Does It Make Sense?® Score calculator to see if a purchase is a good idea.
- Reduce waste of time and money
- Teach your children how to avoid purchases they might regret
- Help friends and family give gifts everyone will love!
Help Reduce Gifting Waste
The satisfaction you’ll get from knowing that your family no longer buys under appreciated gifts – the type that often end up in landfills – is the present you are giving the planet!
Press
Have a look at what others are saying!
Gifting Sense Comes Second Only to the University of Chicago’s finEDge Program at the 2022 Money Awareness & Inclusion Awards!
Best Non-profit School-aged Education was another important and hotly contested category with submissions from around the world, although the winner and runner-up were both strong entries from North America.
The runner-up, Gifting Sense, is focussed on building an ability in children to think before they buy…Equipped with a Does It Make Sense? (DIMS) Score Calculator that creates a pause before purchase, Gifting Sense hopes that when children learn how not to waste money, families will experience increased harmony, improved financial well-being, and the knowledge that they are protecting the planet.
PATRICK JENKINS, DEPUTY EDITOR, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, 2022 MONEY AWARENESS AND INCLUSION AWARD RESULTS
Best Non-profit for School-aged Runner-up: Gifting Sense
“Think before you buy.” What I love about this is how it targets one very specific moment in our lives… and uses it as a springboard to more understanding of money.
MICHAEL GILMORE, RESEARCH DIRECTOR, AUTHOR, FOUNDER of the MONEY AWARENESS AND INCLUSION AWARDS
“Oh Wow!” Was what one of the kids on today’s KiddieNomics webinar said when they found out what the real cost of “just” going to the movies would be. All thanks to the PHENOMENAL Gifting Sense.
STACY BROWN, FOUNDER, KIDDIENOMICS
“Awesome class! Every child should take it!”
“My son really liked the real-life examples he could understand.”
“The content of the class and positive interaction are top notch. It really made an impact on our daughter.”
OUTSCHOOL PARENTS
Our middle schoolers responded enthusiastically to how the DIMS SCORE® calculator helps them lay out the math and important stats to justify a purchase. The website was user friendly, self-explanatory, and an easy to use tool that students shared they will continue to utilize on their own going forward.
HEBREW PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS FOR GLOBAL CITIZENS
Gifting Sense presented to a group of freshmen here at Quest Forward Academy. The content was extremely relevant and our students were excited to be a part of it. Being able to answer questions about their purchases, or purchases they are asking a family member to make, really helped them learn the value of an item. Our students said they could see themselves using the worksheet regularly.
QUEST FORWARD ACADEMY OMAHA
How can we get our kids to thoughtfully consider what’s on their wish list for the holidays (or their birthday, graduation or other celebrations)? Ask them to calculate the Does It Make Sense?® Score for possible purchases. Calculating the DIMS SCORE® teaches kids to quickly research the true value of a possible purchase – how much they’ll really use and appreciate something before they ask for it.
ROBIN TAUB, CPA, CA, AUTHOR, THE WISEST INVESTMENT
Gifting Sense has a most interesting approach to helping young people learn how to avoid FOMO (fear of missing out), reduce waste (of time and money), and protect the planet, all through more thoughtful consumer decision making.
DR. MOIRA SOMERS, PH.D., C.PSYCH. AUTHOR, ADVICE THAT STICKS
I love how the real gift, the one that can last a lifetime, is learning how easy it is to think before you buy.
NICOLE DUBÉ, CTV MORNING LIVE
GiftingSense.org is genius. It walks your kid through a big purchase and gives them a DIMS (“Does It Make Sense?”) Score. How much is the item? How many times will you use it? And it generates a letter for the kids to give their parents to justify their purchase.
BRUCE SELLERY, CEO CREDIT CANADA AND HOST OF MOOLALA ON SIRIUSXM
One of the most difficult personal finance decisions is figuring out what is a need, versus a want. Teaching your kids how to evaluate the difference can be particularly tricky. The “Does It Make Sense? Score” takes the guesswork out of the equation. What a brilliant tool for setting the foundation for kids to become money-smart adults!”
KELLEY KEEHN, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF RICH GIRL, BROKE GIRL
Gifting Sense facilitated a free workshop for women attending programs at the Women’s Centre of York Region. They discussed the importance of talking to kids about money, as well as provided the strategies and tools to do so. Women who attended provided 5 star reviews stating that the program was incredibly engaging and helpful.
Allison Hermann, Program Manager, Women’s Centre of York Region
Childhood financial legacy doesn’t have to be destiny.
Kids who grow up “with money” don’t automatically become money-smart adults. This means childhood financial legacy isn’t necessarily destiny, which is excellent news!
The Ultimate Guide to Convincing Your Parents to Help You Buy Something
Talking to parents about money, particularly spending, can be easy. How? Consider entering the conversation having quickly researched answers to the four questions most adults ask themselves when shopping.
We’re in the “think more” versus the “feel bad” business!
As we head into our 10th year of making learning about money immediately helpful to youth, we want to be clear: Gifting Sense is NOT in the “feel bad” business, but rather in the “think more” business. Learn why careful spending doesn’t have to be “bad tasting medicine”.
7 Reasons Teachers Enjoy Using the DIMS SCORE® Calculator in the Classroom
We don’t start any other subject “in the middle” so let’s begin personal finance lessons where subject mastery always begins – at the beginning. Learn how our thoughtful spending tool helps educators do precisely that.