A spokesman for the charity Oxfam said more than 150,000 people had bought products from its Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue over the Christmas season. Send A Cow, which provides livestock for families in developing nations, said both catalogue and Web orders had doubled in 2005, reported the Daily Telegraph Saturday.

So-called "good gifts" that benefit the needy rather than the actual recipient have been on the rise in Britain, despite fears of "compassion fatigue."

Oxfam's most popular Christmas present this year was school dinners for children in West Africa at $10 for 100 dinners -- with 85,000 purchases providing 8.5 million dinners. Donors also bought 4,000 toilets and 70,000 assorted livestock, including goats, cows and donkeys.