Give to Charity Day

Is there one, a Give to Charity day? I had planned to write about some of the recent cause-based websites and web apps that are gaining popularity online these days and I thought that maybe I’d see if there was a day set aside for folks to give to charity. I couldn’t seem to find any mention of one on Google or through thorough web research and I’m a little surprised actually, since there seems to be a designated day set aside for literally everything… and I mean everything else. April 23rd was “Administrative Professionals Day” and August 3rd is “Friendship Day,” Hallmark lists numerous standard holidays and StayFree Magazine lists a large selection of some of the more rare and obscure holidays such as “National Laugh Week” and ” Procrastination Week” but no mention of a day set aside for people to give to their favorite charities. Perhaps Oprah can spearhead something, since her new reality tv / game show / charity show “Oprah’s Big Give” seems to be a hit since its launch on March 2nd. I’m surprised that she hasn’t launched National Give to Charity Day already!

So I’m going to make a bold move and declare April 25th, “Give to Charity Day”. (By the way, if anyone knows of another date commonly set aside for giving to charity just comment to this post and set me straight!) This might be the best day for such a holiday, since it falls just a few days after Earth Day on the 22nd. After a week spent thinking of ways to take care of the environment, Give to Charity Day can be a day to take action. It might also be a day to reflect on both the earth and the people living on that earth. Whatever your cause may be, Give to Charity Day is a day for thinking about someone other than your self and taking action to promote change.

Getting back to the purpose of providing some of the best and most recent resources and websites for charitable giving online, I’m offering up the following information and a challenge. While you’re sitting around the office killing time before the weekend, maybe you could go to your favorite charity’s website and make a donation or spend some time on the sites I’m recommending that make donations to charities when you take actions on their sites. It’s the least you can do, given it’s now Give to Charity Day.

“Search-for-a-Cause” Websites
These sites, which have been popping up all over the web lately, give money from their ad revenue to local schools, charities, or other organizations when users do web searches from their site.

• GoodSearch (Yahoo! powered search engine) - Donates 50% of all revenue (from PPC ads) to charities, schools, and other causes designated by users. View participating organizations. It’s estimated that every search is worth about one cent, which may not seem like much at first, but can quickly add up when multiplied by the volume of searchers and the number of times they search.
• GoodTree (blended search results, MSN, Yahoo!, Ask) - Allows you to choose your charities from a set list and gives 50% of revenues.
• SearchKindly (Google powered search) - Shows you proof of giving including scans of checks written! A nice feature that provides much needed validation for a search for a cause site. Also SearchKindly donates 100% to charities voted on by users. One charity chosen per month to receive the full donation.

Click to Give Websites
The click-to-give model, makes donations when users go to a site and click on an ad.

• The Hunger Site - Probably the most popular of these types of sites. The site started as place where people would click on sponsor ads and cups of rice would be would be bought and distributed through Mercy Corps and America’s Second Harvest. To date, more than 300 million visitors have given more than 500 million cups of staple food. The site has expanded to include breast cancer, child health, animal rescue, literacy, and the rainforest.

• EcologyFund.com - Uses a similar model to save land and clean air and is also part of the Hunger Site Network.
• Care2 - Allows you to click to give for a variety of causes ranging from the environment to breast cancer to wildlife. In addition the site, expands their features out into the social networking realm, and allows users to sign up for additional features such as email, photo storage, etc.

Shop for a Cause Websites
As the name suggests, shop for a cause sites give a percentage of each sale to charities chosen by shoppers. Sites like this work by signing on as affiliates with major retailers and then using part of their affiliate commission for the donation.

• iGive.com - With over 680 affiliates (participating stores) and up to 26% of each purchase being donated to an organization you select, iGive is one of the largest shop-to-give sites. I like the fact that you can choose a charity from the Red Cross to buying a new trumpet for Curtis Dufour, a young aspiring musician who wants to go to college in Chicago and study jazz. Also, that you can designate your own charity.
• Non Profit Shopping Mall - Works with a limited number of nonprofit partners, but these include major organizations such as NPR, America’s Second Harvest, etc.
• SchoolPop.com - A shop to give site designed to donate up to 20% of a purchase to schools - nearly every one in the US is represented so you can give to your old alma mater or your kids schools. To date the site has given $210,533,927.85.

Other Online Ways to Give

• IM Making A Difference (MSN Messenger) - I never heard about this program but apparently as of March 2007, for every IM sent using MSN Messenger, Microsoft will give a percentage of advertiser revenue with a minimum of $100,000 to their nonprofit partners including The American Red Cross, The Humane Society, and The Sierra Club. To date the program has donated $1,409,788.
• dNeero Social Surveys - Of the many paid survey sites out there - this is one of the few that offers the chance to give your survey taking earnings to a charity. They list top donors on their site as well as total donations to charities broken down by quarter. It’s a modest amount, but at least folks have the option.
• ExcessAccess.com - This modest looking but unique site matches individuals with nonprofits who are looking for equipment, services, facilities, and other items from their “wishlist.” It’s a bit like a free craig’s list for nonprofits.

Research/Resources for Finding a Charity
Unfortunately not all charities are created equal, and if you’re going to make a donation it’s a good idea to do some basic research to find out if the charitable organization you’re considering is legitimate and is actually using a good portion of your donation for the purpose stated rather than eating up those monies in large Executive salaries and program costs.

• Charity Navigator - This site provides a fairly thorough breakdown of a charity’s financial and organizational structure. They rate charities on a scale of 0 - 70 across 7 key areas from finances to sustainability. For instance ,one of my favorite charities, Doctors Without Borders, received a rating of 63.57/70. You can use this site when evaluating which charities will receive your donations.
• JustGive.org - Provides general information and resources on how to give to charity. The site also includes a unique Charity Wedding Registry, where a couple can set up a gift registry that allows donations to their favorite charities.

So, have I convinced you to make a donation on Give to Charity Day? I just made a $50 donation to Doctor’s Without Borders and recently my employer, Web Ad.vantage, conducted a survey about women online with the added incentive that if we reached a goal of 1500 respondents, we would donate $1500 to a worthy women’s cause that the respondents voted for. We reached our goal and made that donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation this month!

So now it’s your turn. Go ahead and celebrate Give to Charity Day - make a change.

Here’s my proof of donation from Doctors Without Borders.

2 Comments »

1. Dear Bonnie Jones,

   Thank you for including Charity Navigator in your post about giving to charity. More importantly, thank you for encouraging your readers to give generously and for reminding them to do their homework before they turn over their hard-earned money to charity.

   Have a nice day,
   Sandra

   Comment by Sandra Miniutti — April 28, 2008 @ 3:59 pm

2. Hi Sandra,

   Thanks so much for the comment and for the work you do with Charity Navigator. We recently used your site to find a breast cancer organization in which to give a donation and find it to be an invaluable resource.

   Folks definitely check out this organization. www.charitynavigator.org

   -Bonnie

   Comment by Bonnie Jones — April 30, 2008 @ 11:41 am

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