Is there a nonprofit you’d like to support?  If it’s not registered under good search, you can submit the charity here.   You can add a GoodSearch toolbar to facilitate searches.  Most importantly, nonprofits can add GoodSearch banners, badges and buttons to encourage supporters to search.  Nonprofits can also encourage supporters to add the GoodSearch badge to their personal social networking sites.

If you online shop frequently, GoodShop will donate 30% of  every purchase from participating vendors to the charity of your choice.

Since its inception, GoodSearch has met with good reviews as a way to encourage support for many different charities.

The downside?  The GoodSearch engine will not yield as many results as stronger search engines.  However, as a way to start a search and a donor tool,  GoodSearch is a great resource.

What are other ways to utilize search engines and internet resources to donate?

 I whole-heartedly agree.  Applied to a donor/supporter base, I think social media can make a tremendous and easily-fascilitated impact.  A simple example is the use of twitter to acknowledge publicity and financial contributors.  For retweeting several Mercy Corps posts, I was tweeted a thank you for my support.

similarly, the crisis in Haiti spurred numerous efforts to use social media for fundraising and public information.  The American Red Cross uses its Facebook page to offer personal thanks to “fans” and contributors to aid in Haiti.  Such an effort also allows a community to congregate.

However, Beth Kanter, social media and nonprofit guru, cautions nonprofits against using social media as the be-all, end-all.  She notes that nonprofits should use social media with caution, realizing that the platforms are tools, not strategies. Most platforms follow Gartner’s hype cycle, ending in a plateau of performance. 

Regardless, responding to donors, contributors and “fans” on the platforms THEY use demonstrates a flexibility and fluidity not usually associated with nonprofits.  But as Dave Fleet mentions, sometimes the handwritten or personal touch is best.  For thanking  those large donations, perhaps in the words of Marshall Mcluhan, the medium is the message.

What other nonprofits use social media platforms to thank donors and contributors?  Do you think it’s a good tactic?

The International Red Cross  is a White House recommended organization. Donations are made here and fund medical aid and efforts to reunite families separated by this tragedy.  Donations of $10 can also be made and charged to your cell phone bill by texting “HAITI” to 90999.

UNICEF has issued a call for $120 million to support relief efforts through its post in Port-Au-Prince.  Donations support the children affected by this disaster and are made here.

CARE, mentioned in the Worldly Nonprofit here, is looking for donations to address the immediate needs of people affected by the earthquake, especially women and children.  Donations are made here.

The sustainable development nonprofit in Cap Haitien, Konbit Sante, mentioned in an earlier post has set up an earthquake response fund to address the immediate needs of the country.  Already contributing $25,000 from its reserves,  monies contributed will go to the now air-lifted  patients of Justinian hospital. Donations are made here.

Mercy Corps, a Portland, OR-based nonprofit mentioned here and here in the Worldly Nonprofit, is aggressively seeking donations to offer immediate humanitarian aid as well as offer psychological support and job infrastructure long-term.  Donations are made here and by starting a fundraising page.

Doctors Without Borders is currently hoping to expand their surgical capacity and seek donations for their Emergency Relief Fund.  Donations are made here.

Informationally,  The American Red Cross has a good update-style blog.  The White House blog contains timely informations about US efforts in Haiti.  Included in the blog is a link for the Center for International Disaster Information.  Mark Turner, former Financial Times journalist, writes from within Haiti in his Blog, Dispatches From a Fragile Island.  The Charity Water website has a great blog with information photos and links to their partner organizations, Partners in Health and Concern Worldwide.  Finally, the Facebook page, Global Disaster Relief is a tool for donation, connection and news updates.

Please add your input of other good nonprofit organizations and sites for information and donation.

Here is Obama’s statement yesterday after his call with President Preval of Haiti:

 Yesterday evening, I was watching Hancock, a mediocre Will Smith movie  about a down-and-out super hero who befriends a PR specialist.  The specialist’s one goal, besides restoring Hancock’s tarnished star, is to change the world through cause marketing.  He was making a hard sell to a few corporate big wigs, who likened his ideas to serving jail time.

Despite the gentle ribbing on both sides, it does look as though Cause Marketing may have its day (or year…or decade) in the sun.  For instance, Pepsi recently announced that it would not be buying Superbowl ad time this year, instead spending $20 million on marketing its green “Refresh Projects.”  Consumers will have the opportunity to vote to determine how much of the money is spent.

Perhaps Pepsi is taking a cue from Trip Advisor, whose More Than Footprints campaign won the Best Use of Social Media award from the Cause Marketing Forum.  Trip Advisor invited consumers to vote on how they would best like to see $1 million dollars spent between five nonprofit organizations.  Using a completely viral campaign, and 1,000,000 votes later, Trip advisor donated to five major international nonprofits including Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children.

What does this all mean?  According to Cone, a Boston-based communications agency renowned for its work in cause- related marketing, cause marketing is on the rise.  Specifically, cause marketing that is globally focused is on the rise.  Consumers, they note, are vastly more interactive and receptive to marketing, especially if they believe in what the company is selling/stands for.

Conclusion:  Nonprofits and corporations can benefit from cause marketing, delivered through interactive campaigns.  A simple google search for Pepsi generates hundreds of links to articles and posts about the Superbowl decision.  Free, positive publicity, and not a dime yet spent.  Despite a  still-rocky economy, could 2010 be the year to turn around donation numbers?   If Hancock can benefit, perhaps nonprofits have a standing chance.

What are your thoughts on cause marketing?   What nonprofits, especially development nonprofits have benefited?

I discussed Mercy Corps earlier regarding the organization’s poignant and strategic use of Twitter.  Today, I revisit the nonprofit for its tactic in  acquiring holiday donations.  Like some its competitors such as Heifer International , Mercy Corps packages donating as “gift-giving.”  Its differentiator, however, is  to ”give the gift that lasts a lifetime,” a Mercy Kit.    

Donors have a choice of kits ranging from $25 and up, and benefiting specific causes.  One such kit is the Play to Heal Kit.  For $75,  a donor gives a child who has experienced trauma a mentor, supplies, and a caregiver manual.  If the donation is made for someone else, the named person receives a card.  Each kit page contains a story of  a person helped, a donor testimonial and a donation widget.

One testimonial: “The way that the Mercy Kit is presented makes it feel tangible. You get a real sense of how your gift could help someone.”

Brian Powell, Cause Marketing expert and author of the blog,  Good Concepts, would say this testimonial is at the heart of effective donation garnering.  He recently noted that two important quotients of cause marketing are transparency and tangibility.  Without promoting the truth of where donation dollars go, it is hard for a  nonprofit to compete.  Powell states that donors need a 1-to-1 ratio,  ”This $75 dollar sum buys this, this and this.”  Overall, nonprofits need to package a donation in a manner that answers Powell’s big ‘D’ question, “Will this donation make a difference?”

According to Charity Navigator, human services nonprofits experienced the biggest drop in donations last year.  However, these are the organizations that need money the most during the holidays.  It seems crucial, then, that organizations like Mercy Corps ensure their messaging reflect the big ‘D.’

A personal “Thank You” displaying that 1 -to-1 ratio from Jeremy Barnicle,  Mercy Corps Marketing and Communications Vice President

What organizations also do this well?

As a graduate student, part-time public affairs intern and a graduate assistant, I  know too well the pangs of guilt associated with precious free time spent on frivolous computer games and applications.  

However, I was not so guilty when recently introduced to Games That Give, a company that matches advertising sponsors to hosted computer games.  A user can simply start an account and choose from one of several games to play.  As ad revenue trickles in from the corporate sponsor, Games That Give donates 70% of the proceeds to the charities they sponsor. 

There is no user cost involved, and a quick game of Tetris or Sudoku can benefit one of 14 charities including the Ronald McDonald House Charities, United Way, Mercy Corps and UNICEF.  Kind of neat.

Launched in July 2009 from San Francisco, Games that Give already has an associated blog and Twitter account  and  received positive reviews.  The Huffington Post  jokingly riffed on the “You Play. We Donate. No Catch.” motto, noting that the catch was the difficulty playing a game over a giant corporate sponsor logo.  Regardless, the company holds fast to their mission of making giving fun, easy, affordable, legitimate, and a part of extant behavior.  Check out Games That Give, and put a positive spin on procrastination.

In an article entitled Politweets: “Embrace the Twitter Side of Government 2.0,” Jack O’Connell, California’s superintendent of public instruction, lists three attributes for Twitter tactical success.  These are: transparency, passion and humanity.   The right blend of tweeted honesty, communicated need and likability make for a supportive online community.

Shel Israel, author of the touted Twitterville and Global Neighborhoods blogger, notes the powerful force of using social media to spread and garner good will.  Giving is subjective, he says.  Could the strategic use of Twitter could mean the difference between donation numbers?

The true reason I mention Mercy Corps, however, is for the nonprofit’s use of  Twitter.  While I sometimes debate the true effectiveness of microblogging when it comes to garnering donations, I think Mercy Corps developed the right blend of 140-character fueled public information and public solicitation, and encouraged retweeting.  Here is an example of the last few tweets:

“Writer @loudmind shares his most memorable meals from the field. (And how it all started w/ Indiana Jones.) http://bit.ly/5XIdcR about 9 hours ago from web

If you can spend $10 on cranberry sauce, can you spend $10 a help feed a family? Put the “giving” back in Thanksgiving: http://bit.ly/QKG4X about 13 hours ago from web

Take a look at what women in CAR and our team around the globe are thankful for. Then add your thanks: http://bit.ly/4oXciH #thanksgiving “

They connect followers to the Mercy Corps blog, encourage donation and foster interaction with the nonprofit. 

Interestingly, Beth Kanter, social media and nonprofit expert and author of “Beth’s Blog”, notes some interesting trends in Twitter solicitations that Mercy Corps appears to  adopt.  In particular, the fostering of “person to person asks.”

She advocates, and I agree, that the strategy behind the posts that can lead to the ultimate goal, donations.  What do you think?

I was recently chatting with a colleague  about “Worldly Nonprofit,” and she suggested I intersperse my posts with creative/new/different ways to donate.  Good  idea…

…Following her excellent advice, I took a slight risk and enabled Social Vibe on sidebar of this blog.  Social Vibe partners with select charities and corporate sponsors to make microdonations for blog visitors.

To donate,  the reader needs to click the Social Vibe widget, then watch and rate a video short.  However, the risks lie in potentially annoying readers and appearing to favor one particular nonprofit organization on a blog that somewhat evaluates nonprofit organizations.

Weighing the options, I opted to try Social Vibe and support Vitamin Angels.  Based in Santa Barbara,  Vitamin Angels mobilizes resources in the private sector to provide vitamin nutrients to children in developing nations.  Of the Social Vibe partnering nonprofits, Vitamin Angels was the most easily researched.

Utilizing 99% of funds on program expenses, Charity Angels is also pursuing sustainable methods of vitamin distribution, key in my eyes.  

So, we’ll give Social Vibe a try.  Check out Vitamin Angels, and click on the widget to donate, if you’d like.  

What do you think of Social Vibe?  Have you had successes or failures with this fundraiser?