Now, this is what I call Web 2.0!
There’s a trend I’ve noticed on web sites more and more that I really like, where your painless participation in their services results in socially responsible contributions. Two that I am currently using are GoodSearch and MSN Live Chat donations.
Charlie Calvert told me about the MSN Live program when I asked him about the special icon in a chat we were having. I was particularly interested because I’m on the board of a local non-profit organization called SPIN (Special Parents Information Network). Charlie has helped me get in touch with the right people at MSN to see if SPIN can be added as a charitable organization for MSN.
I learned about GoodSearch in one of my SPIN board meetings, when one of the staff told me SPIN was already registered with GoodSearch. If you use or decide to start using GoodSearch, please consider indicating SPIN as your charitable organization if you haven’t already picked one. You can select it by typing in "SPIN" or "Special Parents Information Network" in the "Who do you goodsearch for?" value.
Do you use other socially conscious sites? I’d love to hear about them via comments here if you do. Anything we can do to help spread the word is a good thing.
Update on Oct 18, 2007: I just got a bulk email from MSN about Search and Give, which is similar to GoodSearch. It doesn’t appear to be quite as easy to configure and as lightweight to use, but it still does charitable donations.
Update on Oct 19, 2007: Charlie just emailed me about another site that donates while you get to play word challenges. That’s something I enjoy doing, at least — Charlie knows my weaknesses. It’s Free Rice. For every word you get right from the multiple choice question, 10 grains of rice are donated.
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Posted by John Kaster on October 16th, 2007 under IT Industry |
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October 16th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
One great one that I use all the time is giveness.com.
The short version is anytime you shop at Amazon you can help out a non-profit of your choice. Same Amazon catalog, same Amazon deals, just a non-profit also gets a little help. Givness also gives *100%* of all money made this way to the charities, something not even GoodSearch does.
The long version is better explained here: http://www.giveness.com/company/howitworks
October 17th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Weird, I posted a comment here about giveness.com a few days ago and it’s not here anymore. Hmm, perhaps my comments just didn’t make it through?
October 31st, 2007 at 9:59 am
Shawn, thanks for your comments. Your comments didn’t come through until I reviewed them, and I’m still working on tweaking my blog profile to notify me of new comments that are NOT spam. I found your comments when I was clearing out my spam comments.
November 1st, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Speaking of socially responsible contributions, I’d encourage all readers to join Team Delphi during Movember, and grow some face fungus in support of a worthy cause.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Just an update: GoodSearch now has a similar site called GoodShop (http://www.goodshop.com) which donates a portion of what you spend to your chosen charity. SPIN has only made about $100 since it appeared on GoodSearch, so I’m hoping that GoodShop will help get more contributions rolling in.