A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural forces. They often took the form of an animal or object sacred to the deity that they were being given to. The size and quality was believed to impact the speed of which prayers would be answered and that a spell might take effect. This was taken very seriously, and common offerings took the form of swords, axes and figurines. They were often cast from priceless materials, precious metals and ivory set with rare gems. These were tossed in rivers as armies marched home. It wasn't all displays of wealth, but it was always the best that the person could offer. In fact Votive Offerings are where Votive Candles get their name, and somewhere at some point in the middle-ages candles became the standard offering, no matter your wealth or ability, candles were lit to accompany prayers.
"A votive candle or prayer candle is a small candle, typically white or beeswax yellow, intended to be burnt as a votive offering in an act of Christian prayer, especially within the Anglican and Roman Catholic Christian denominations, among others. In Christianity, votive candles are commonplace in many churches, as well as home altars, and symbolize the "prayers the worshiper is offering for him or herself, or for other people." The size of a votive candle is often two inches tall by one and a half inches diameter, although other votive candles can be significantly taller and wider. In other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, similar offerings exist, which include diyas and butter lamps." [Wikipedia]
Today Ritual Offerings are, politely said, weak and generic, when compared to what ancients would have given. As re-constructionists we should be trying a little harder than we are, and our own greed is showing through what we give and don't give. A Roman General starting off on a campaign might make an offering of fifty bushels of grain, twenty horses, a herd of sheep, and six cows at the Temple of Mars. Where as a Legionnaire looking to simply return to his family might leave a dagger, a clay figure, or make a blood offering/sacrifice. The offering was proportionate to the objective.
Often I have seen people give the same dried flowers, seeds, or lock of hair as a ritual offering, maybe they burn a candle or add an extra pinch of incense. But I have rarely seen people put real thought into an offering. The exception being following a Samhain Hand-fasting the couple buried a crystal egg in the nearly frozen ground in front of the altar.
I would like to think that the small offerings left by modern Pagans are done more because we are not a wealthy community, than because they don't want to give to our Gods. I would like to think that the repetition in simple offerings is because they never learned better, or maybe they just aren't very creative (like my Dad, who routinely offered pocket change).
I'm going to give you all a gentle nudge in a different direction:
1) The Gods have no use for your paper money, and coins have very little precious metal in them anymore. Though my Dad often said 'Give money to get money' and Money Offerings are wonderful for churches and temples because they use them to honor the deity on your behalf. Leaving coins in the wild all you are doing is giving a shiny toy to raccoons, crows, and magpies. Instead: place a small jam jar (cleaned and unlabeled) on your altar and place cash offerings in the jar. When the jar is full then cash it out and use the money to buy your deity a statue, candle holder, (this too) or a set. Altar adornments are usually overpriced, and coveted, so I consider them the best way to handle Cash Offerings. (My Danu Statue.)
2) When statuary breaks (and it will) I don't throw it out. I will usually make an effort to repair it, and show respect to it as an offering of time to a deity. Though time happens and not everything can be saved, sometimes you cant recover all the pieces. This Particular statue the arm broke, and unfortunately I can't get them to line up to be mended. These altar pieces were acquired as evidence of your path and devotion, as your altar is an offering both of and for energy. These broken altar pieces should be treated with care, so instead try wrapping it in natural cloth and bury it as the offering it was meant to be, this is a pretty significant offering, it has spent time on your altar collecting energy and channeling divinity, it has been cleansed, consecrated, and charged. Yes you are right, it is not biodegradable. Think of it as a treasure for an archaeologist in a hundred years. (I am saving this Lady for Samhain. This was the third time she has been broken.. this time when my cat got on the altar and I have already purchased the statue again.)
3) Jewelry: Necklace chains break all the time, and in this age of convenience we just buy new ones, we don't have a ten dollar silver chain repaired. Lose an earring? The survivor can be an offering, I will usually say that missing jewelry is actually taken by your household Faeries that you may have neglected, and by giving the other half of a pair you are recognizing your neglect and making amends (do this if you need a missing item returned). That metal still has value to deities, and used jewelry takes with it the energy of the person who wore it. I have a small box I store old jewelry in for this purpose, and silver is the preferred offering when you collect graveyard dirt or do ancestor work. I also have a couple jars of jewelry making pendants on hand for quick charms or offerings.
4) Polished crystals aren't just for spells! If you buy them individually at a rock shop they cost about seventy cents, or you can buy them in bulk and have them on hand for spells or OFFERINGS. You can select the stone or crystal that best represents what you want to bring into your life and leave it as an offering. (The Citrine pictured would be a great stone to use in workings with employment or to improve communication.)
5) MAKE SOMETHING: I like to make Votive Offerings a little in advance and use them as needed. You can use Air Dry Clay, or Fimo if your adept. I use the McCormick Cinnamon Dough recipe and a silicone candy mold to shape them, though you can use cookie cutters to create a desired form, I have a Willendorf Goddess soap mold that I will sometimes use for a votive form. Cinnamon has a multitude of magick uses, is very aromatic, and strong scents are attractive to the spirit realm.
Also its biodegradable so you can leave them out in nature or at sites like Stonehenge. If your intent is best represented by a burnt offering prepare a small sachet and burn the sachet. Though it is easy to toss a Cinnamon Dough figure on the fires.
I hope that this advise has been helpful! Please let me know if you do something different!