Creative Ways to Give: GoodSearch

sarahkassel — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:48:37 +0000

Is it possible to donate to charity while not deviating from your typical workday routine? It could be, due to the innovate site, GoodSearch. Fueled by Yahoo search, GoodSearch donates 50% of its revenue to charity. To donate, a user simply has to indicate which registered charity s/he would like to support, and go about browsing the internet. GoodSearch advertisers generate the income at 1-1.3 cents per search.

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?

Creative Ways to Give:Tostan

sarahkassel — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:41:40 +0000

When it comes to creating easy online donation, Tostan offers smart features. The nonprofit’s name means “breakthrough” in the West African language of Wolof, and it strives to attain sustainable development through education. Spending 84.1% of funding on program expenses , Tostan works from its base in Senegal to empower communities without access to education to become holistically self-sufficient.

Not only can a donor contribute directly to Tostan through its donation tab, the nonprofit provides other creative methods to participate in its efforts. Tostan does well to offer site visitors a separate tab, “Free Ways to Give.” Easily identified, visitor can find other methods, especially during a tight holiday season, to donate.

Two of the methods, Good Search and Amazon take no effort at all. Good Search is a search engine that will make small donations to chosen charity when used. Amazon will make a free referral to Tostan every time the site is accessed through the Tostan site. Clearly marked and easily accessed, these donation platforms empower a youthful generation with high ideals and low cashflow to begin a relationship with an organization.

Interestingly, this post comes in the wake of a critical NY Times article regarding the abundance of questionable 501(c)(3) nonprofits offering similar services and damaging tax breaks. In a harsh economy and a competitive nonprofit sector, international development organizations with unique foundation and creative methods of donating stand out. It is important, as the Charity Navigator blog notes, to truly research your charity.

Write a comment and share other nonprofit sites that make donating a cinch or that have a standout model.

The Worldly Nonprofit, 2.0 » search engine

Creative Ways to Give: GoodSearch

Creative Ways to Give:Tostan