Qui Diaz is director of strategy at Livingston Communications and specializes in social media for social causes. She proclaims ‘the good’ on her blog, Evange.List.
As the economy goes, so goes giving to causes that need donor dollars to keep doors open. While we bemoan sacrifices of luxury goods, our global social sector is faced with shortening the line or thinning the soup – neither of which are acceptable options.
Because charities are rising to the challenge to engage us online, it’s a breeze for us – the cash-strapped consumers – to meet them halfway.
Why not buy gifts that give back when shopping online, or take a minute to sign and forward a Facebook petition? Those of us who have a penchant for technology and digital matters can go one further by integrating the “social” good into our “social” media discussions.
If you have a few dollars – or minutes – to spare in the next couple days, kick it to one of the digitally-adept causes listed below. Micro-giving trends prove that a little goes a long way, so you can rest assured that whatever you invest – time, talent or treasure – will yield a return. And of course, you get what you give: By changing the Web, you actually are helping to change the world.
Know of other “giving” opportunities with a social or digital play? Please add them to the comments!
Free! Give Without Spending a Dime
YouTube Project 4 Awesome - Today Only! - YouTube is dedicating its powerful platform to charity for a full day, and winning nonprofit videos can win $1,000. All you need is a video about your favorite cause.
Feed A Need with Reddit – Add your qualifications to Reddit’s “Database of Awesome” and be ready to give 2 hours of your time to one of the project’s partnering charities.
Crowdsource Ideas for Change in America - Submit, discuss and vote on ideas at Change.org. The top ten ideas will be presented to the Obama administration and developed into full-court press national campaigns.
Click for the Cure - Click daily at The Breast Cancer Site and sponsors pay for mammograms. After 300 mammograms are secured, the site will donate $20,000 to help fund the cure.
Be A Voice For Darfur - The Save Darfur Coalition’s Facebook petition application ushers in a new era of accessible advocacy. Most importantly, adding your name can help draw attention to - and end - the tragic six-year-old genocide in Darfur. (Disclosure - my agency is currently helping with this campaign.)
SocialVibe - Select your charity (e.g., One Laptop Per Child), your sponsor (e.g., Apple), grab and display your badge on your social profiles, and earn points for donations to your charity.
Search for Good - Pick your charity, use GoodSearch as your search engine, and Yahoo! gives for you.
Dress Up Your Reader - iGoogle themes for poverty, environmental and education groups (etc.) abound. Almost 1,800 readers are currently sporting the theme for Action Against Hunger.
Instant Message for Good - The more messages you send, the more ad revenue Microsoft Live Messenger kicks to the charity of your choice (American Red Cross, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and more).
Map Your Play - More than 15,330 playspaces are already mapped on KaBOOM!’s Playspace Finder mash up, and you can help by adding the good, bad and ugly play spots near you.
Teach Your Granny to Text - And one day she might be donating to her favorite charity through SMS (WeAreWhatWeDo.org).
Fundraising Templates - More nonprofits are offering DIY fundraising pages, making it easier for evangelists and supporters to become rainmakers (charity: water).
Free Giving Campaign Site - Use Givvy.com’s free campaign page for your workplace giving program. FirstGiving.com offers a free template that is useful for fundraising with friends and family.
Friend and Follow - More than merely setting up camp in social networks, nonprofits and individuals are running campaigns through Facebook Causes and Twitter (@nonprofitorgs). The Nature Conservancy, the Humane Society of the United States, and last month’s TweetsGiving are great examples of community engagement to raise dollars and awareness.
Spread Your WOM - Word of Mouth still prevails as the best form of communication, so use your causes’ “sharing tools” to get the word out (e.g., Girl Effect, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Power Shift ‘09).
Try a Niche Network - Join a “do good” socnet for a more tight-knit community of people and nonprofits collaborating on similar issues - Change.org, Idealist.org, Care2.c0m, Razoo.com, Nabuur.com and The Big Give to name a few.
Tell Your Story - Good stories help nonprofits raise money, so lend your tales. (American Cancer Society, Road to Freedom, and the1010project.org. And Every Baby Has a Story at March of Dimes)
Change the Web 2009 - Join a new initiative to “transform the web through social change,” complete with a contest which kicks off in January.
Meet the Changebloggers - You just might be one, too.
Just Be a Geek Who Gives - This Slideshare presentation from Beth Kanter - a leading voice for nonprofit tech/social media - will illuminate and steer your online influence in new ways.
Find more “free” ways to give at #GiveList, Social Actions, and We Are What We Do.
$35 or Less
One Dollar Nation - An online community focusing on education and poverty, built on your pocket change. Cost of entry: $1 per month.
#Tweetmasfuture - This Twitter-based fundraising campaign starts today. The goal: get North Americans to re-allocate a portion of our massive Christmas spend to help eradicate poverty.
The One Dollar Give - Each day in December this group blog is featuring a post from - and asking you to donate $1 dollar to - a different charity.
Help Feed 100 People for only $3.29 - Glenda Watson Hyatt (a.k.a. The Left Thumb Blogger) is leading a drive for the Union Gospel Mission’s Christmas dinner fundraiser. You can chip in by “buying Glenda a cup of coffee” via PayPal.
Text to Give - Causes are mobilizing through mobile, and mgive makes it easy to give $5 through SMS. Partners include Toys for Tots, Special Olympics, United Way, AmberWatch Foundation, ASPCA, Starlight Foundation and more.
StopPovertyNow.org – Buy a pixel for $10 to help the Grameen Foundation end global poverty. It’s the Million Dollar Homepage with a heart.
Social Actions - This site helps you wade through thousands of volunteer and giving opportunities on the Web (aggregated from more then 40 different sites). Donate $20.09 and to help them reach $20,009 by 2/9/09. And connect with their 33+ Twitter action channels.
Add a Place at Your Table - For the cost of another guest at your table ($35) you can help end childhood hunger in America. Donate and download your free place cards.
Triple Your $10 - Through December 31, all donations to PATH will be triple matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, McKinstry Company Charitable Foundation and an anonymous donor. Look for other matching gift “specials” - up to $1 million in online donations will be matched by a donor for the International Rescue Committee.
Get Something for Your Money
Ammado Video Contest - Win up to $2,500 for your video production of ammado.com’s Giving Circle (cash prizes for top three submissions).
Indebted Digital Challenge - Win $10,000 for best video game idea that addresses the fiscal crisis, and work with mtvU to produce your vision.
Wireless Innovation Challenge - Do you have brilliant ideas about how wireless technologies can address social issues? Vodafone Americas Foundation is awarding $600,000 to top ideas for U.S. nonprofits and universities.
Call for Human Rights - Join Amnesty Wireless, get a free Samsung M300 Camera phone ($199 value), and Amnesty International will buy out your current contract (up to $175). Plus, 10% of your monthly charges will go back to Amnesty.
Nothing But Nets –The UN Foundation’s bed nets are helping to prevent malaria – a leading killer of children in Africa. Buy your “Buzzkill” T-shirts and other swag from their Nets Store using the promo code “Holidays” and get 20% off your purchase. Or just buy a net.
Take the KnowH20 Water Quiz - And when you’re finished, you get a Think MTV/PlayPumps International badge.
. . . or Play an Online Game in Exhange for Water Donations - Warning: Not for the geographically challenged (World Wildlife Fund). See more Games for Change here.
Have a Green Holiday - The Pollutions Solutions enviro-tote comes filled with $25 in coupons for green living, 6 glass containers, a Klean Kanteen and other goodies . . . and cookies . . . all for $135 (Environmental Working Group).
Buy the Soundtrack - Call + Response is a nonprofit “rockumentary” exposing today’s slave trade - an industry that annually rakes in more than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined. The 17-track soundtrack is newly available on iTunes.
Subscribe to Good Magazine - 100% of your payment goes to the nonprofit of your choice.
Give Gifts That Count
Shop Like You Mean It - New online marketplaces make it possible to buy fair trade and eco-friendly gifts while supporting the people who make them (Nest, WorldofGood.com, iGive, Global Goods Partners), or give supplies, toys and loans directly to the people who need them (Oxfam America Unwrapped, Heifer International).
Bidding for Good - cMarket’s online auction site enables you to bid on or sell everything, from toys and tickets to electronics and jewelry. Proceeds go to schools and nonprofits nationwide. eBayGivingWorks.com is similar.
Coupons - We-Care.com is an online store of 700 merchants (e.g., retail). Click their coupons and a percent of your payment goes to your preferred cause.
Gift Cards for Good - Buy and send these e-gift certificates online. Recipients cash them in as online donations to any project featured by GlobalGiving. Network for Good and CharityNavigator provide similar gift cards, redeemable for donations to any nonprofit.
Kiva Gift Cards - For microfinance fans, give these gift cards to friends who will redeem them for microloans. Lend4Health offers gift certificates towards microloans for biomedical treatment of children and adults with autism spectrum disorders.
Changing the Present - Create a wishlist or gift registry out of charitable donations.
Two Books for the Price of One - Give one to a friend, one to a child in need (First Book).
Four Shoes for the Price of Two - Help TOMS Shoes give 30,000 pairs of shoes to kids in need (buy one pair and a second is donated).
Ornaments from A.R.T. - Make a donation in the name of a loved one to Art for Refugees in Transition and they’ll send your friend a holiday ornament, too.
Check out additional gifts targeting nonprofits and social change via the Case Foundation’s Guide to Good Giving and the Social Edge Holiday Gift Guide for Social Entrepreneurs.
In Person a.k.a. Off-Line
Do it Pro Bono - Join a network of professionals making a difference in your community through the Taproot Foundation or Idealist.org. Or volunteer directly through a nonprofit like HELP USA or AARP’s Create the Good community.
Host a Star Party - An off-line gathering to plug into the night sky, and get in the know about light pollution (International Dark-Sky Association).
Hit the Streets - To Write Love on Her Arms is seeking street team members (via Fancorps.com), and you can rock out to TWLOHA’s music player while you’re browsing.
When you contribute to one of the above causes - or any other cause - multiply the effect by telling others. Your blog, Twitter and social network real estate is the best gateway for advocacy, influence and word of mouth - the greatest gifts you can give.
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