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my cousin did this at her wedding and I am doing it for ours! If you go to the website for the charity you are donating to, most often, they have a template where you add your name (and choose your color) and it gives you a print out for you to put at each guests seat. It's super easy! I think it's wonderful that you are doing this!
The couple usually places a note at each guest's seat explaining that the donation was made in their honor. I think it would be neat if you can still include some small gift that's a long the "theme" of the donation. Perhaps you can give them little pink bows to pin on their shirts? (Hopefully that doesn't sound tacky.) Otherwise something edible always goes over well!
We plan on doing this too. I think it's a really nice touch! If you google image search something like "charitable favor" "charitable favor card" "in lieu of favors" and things like that, you'll see a lot of different signage people have created for their weddings to explain the charitable contribution. I don't know about you, but I'm super visual so seeing what others have done really helps. :-)
I think a donation to a charity is a great option for you and your fiance' because of your personal losses and challenges your loved ones are facing. We decided to make a donation to Susan G. Komen because my MOH has battled Breast Cancer, as well as several other family members and a couple of friends. Additionally, we thought it was a great organization because just about everyone knows someone who is effected by this form of cancer.
Anyhoo...we decided to have a sign made which was placed at the entrance near our signature platter. (See below) The organization also mailed us a card that we could have used, but it wasn't as attractive as the sign I had previously made. 
Hope this helps! P.S. Sorry the pic is gigantic!
@March2011BrideLA: First, I'm sorry for your losses.
That said, I'm not a fan of the donation as favors. I think its lovely that you want to make a donation and think you definitely should - but, that's not something you're doing for your guests which is the purpose of a favor.
Take the money and make the donation and either don't do favors at all (no one will miss them!), or do your small edible favor if you have the remaining budget -but skip the "in lieu of favors we've donated to X."
@lisa105:i disagree. favors aren't a requirement, and it's perfectly okay to make a donation in your guests' names.
i would put a small sign on each table. it's wonderful that you're doing this!
I love donations in lieu of favors. If a couple has say $300 to spend on favors, I'd much rather them donate it to a charity instead of giving me a $1.50 candle I'd throw away or candy I'd probably forget. Go for it.
I made cards that say "A donation has been made in honor of the guests of the XXX and YYY wedding to Yellow Ribbon International in loving memory of the bride's sister, ZZZ." I made little pockets at the bottom of the cards to hold cards produced by Yellow Ribbon which are "cry for help" cards, and put a message that said "Please take this card to share with someone in their time of need."
Yellow Ribbon International is a teen suicide prevention organization.
I may be alone on this, but I think that the reception itself is favor enough for your guests. More often than not I see or hear of people not taking or throwing away their favors. We are also doing a donation to Seattle Children's Hospital because that is where FI had his liver transplant when he was little. I just don't see the point in spending X amount of money on some trinkets or candy that I'll end up having to find something to do with anyways.
That being said, we are going to have one sign on the guest book table or something that explains that we made a donation. However I have heard to not even have the note mention the absence of favors. So I'm not quite sure which is the best or most acceptable wording. I'm interested to see these answers too.
We are making a donation as a favor too. We decided to go with The Make-A-Wish Foundation because it is my sorority's national philanthropy. I am having cards at each place setting explaining the donation. I posted a pic below.
Donation_Card.jpg (71.9 KB, 45 downloads) 1 year old
@Amani, Kitzi - I agree completely!
@Button Toes - Sorry to hear about your loved one. Your charity is a great cause as well!
@Kati Did - Boy, you are right! I typically toss out the favor or eat the treat and forget about it within minutes. Several of our guests said that they appreciated the donation because they know X who was effected by Breast Cancer ...
@Mrs. Philosophy - Beautiful sign and a wonderful charity!
I think donations as favors are a great idea. Unless the favor is edible, I never take it anyway. I would much rather have the couples money go towards a good cause than something I'm going to leave behind or never use. There are a number of foundations that will give you cards to give to your guests after the donation is made (of course this would mean that the donation had to be made before the wedding, which I think is how it should be done anyways). If you don't want to go this route, you could put a sign on your gift table or if you are making programs or menus, include it on there. The wording that the PP's already provided is exactly what I was going to suggest.
And while we're on the topic, the OP didn't ask if donations as favors was a good idea or not, she just asked for suggestions as to how to go about it. I understand that some people dislike the idea but if that wasn't the question that was asked, whats the point in chiming in?
@kitzy: i disagree. favors aren't a requirement, and it's perfectly okay to make a donation in your guests' names.
Right, favors are not a requirement which is why I said the OP should just donate the money to charity and skip favors of any sort.
My point was, making a donation is not something you are doing for your guests which is the entire purpose of a favor. Its like saying, "we thought about getting you a gift but decided not too, oh and please admire us for giving to charity." Nothing really charming about that.
By all means donate the money to charity - just forgo favors at all. No one will miss them or care.
The OP was not asking if she SHOULD do donations as favors, she was asking how to go about it. You may not agree with donations as favors and that's fine but if the question asked was not "Should I do donations as favors?", I dont really see why you feel the need to chime in. Just because YOU don't like it, doesn't mean she's going to change her mind so why waste your time?
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I'm thinking of donating to a charity or non-profit in lieu of having favors for my guests, or in addition to a small edible favor. How do you let guests know that? Do you put something on the table at each guest's setting, or just 1 sign somewhere? And what's the proper language?
My specific situation is that my FH and I want to donate to an org that funds cancer research as we've had family members pass or currently suffering from various types of cancer. My own father has also passed a while back but not from cancer, and I'm trying to figure out a different way to honor him (but that's another story).
Thanks in advance!