Last Minute Online Gifts For Good

It’s the night before Christmas,
and all through the house,
the screams from the office
have upset your spouse.

You made a gift list
and checked it your best.
How could you have forgotten
your brother out West?

It’s a last minute panic,
driven by fear.
Is there anything out there
that can save you this year?

On Google, on Yahoo, on GoodSearch, on Bing!
Visit the K.I.N.D site and you’ll find the right thing.
Now only will you deliver that gift that you should,
You’ll be doing young students a whole world of good.

Instead of calling your brother
to say that you’re sorry,
give a desk in his name
to a kid in Malawi.

A desk will be built,
creating local employment.
A child gets off the dirt floor,
creating school time enjoyment.

Right now you contribute,
in a process that’s swift.
Your brother gets an e-card,
acknowledging your gift.

This couldn’t be easier,
it sure fills a need.
Relax now at Christmas,
you’ve done a good deed

Making a donation to a good cause in someone’s name brightens the day of 3 people. You feel good doing it, the person whose name you are giving it in is both surprised and delighted, and the charity that you help improves the life of a person or animal, perhaps all year long.

This year, we’ve been especially intrigued by the K.I.N.D: Kids in Need of Desks project that is a cooperative project of Lawrence O’Donnell on his MSNBC show, “The Last Word,” and UNICEF. What makes this project so compelling is that for a mere $48, you can have an entire desk built in Malawi and delivered to a classroom in need. This desk will be used for years, perhaps decades, to improve the learning of kids who now sit on the floor and write in their notebooks the best they can. It’s amazing how such a small contribution on our part can make such a huge difference in the lives of youngsters and adults in the third world. Adults? Yes, the adults are hired to build those desks out of metal pipe and wood on-site in Malawi. When ready, they load the desks into a truck and deliver them to delighted students at one lucky classroom. The next load goes to a different classroom.

You can read more about this K.I.N.D project, see the happy faces of the school kids in Malawi and watch a video about the project. Then, go to the K.I.N.D. donation page and contribute what you wish in your own name or for anyone else you want to honor. Your donation will be processed instantly online and an e-card from K.I.N.D. will be sent to the recipient of your choice.

Did someone say it was too late to buy a last minute gift this year? Ho, ho, ho. There’s always time for giving on the Internet. For the animal lover on your gift list, have a look at "I Want a Baby Elephant for Christmas."

Happy Holidays!

Get Paid To Celebrate National Cell Phone Recycling Week

Did you know that we're right in the middle of National Cell Phone Recycling Week? Did you further know that there's a way you can get paid to join the celebration? You didn't? Well, then there's no time to waste. Pay close attention.

National Cell Phone Recycling Week is an initiative of the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, to raise awareness that cell phones are chock full of valuable materials that can be recycled and toxic substances that need to be kept out of the environment.

As a public service, the wireless carriers and a number of retailers are collecting your old decrepit cell phones so that they can be properly dismantled, separated by type of material, and recycled to make new cell phones and other things. Now if you have one or more of those old critters hiding in the bottom of a desk drawer or in a junk box in the garage, you know the right thing to do is your civic duty by dropping off that phone at a collection point. For very little effort on your part, you'll be preventing generations of environmental damage that occur when electronic products decompose in the environment.

What you probably don't know, but might suspect, is that many cell phones and other devices, such as GPS systems, digital cameras, MP3 players, satellite radios, laptop computers, camcorders and gaming consoles are still very much functional. Seems a shame to send them to the crusher just because you've traded up for a newer model. You'll really think that's inappropriate once you find out that you can get paid to send in your old electronics.

This is the little secret on how to get paid to celebrate the environment this month and every month. You don't have to worry about running ads or auctions or any of that. You simply look up what your cell phone or other electronic device is worth, request a free postage paid shipping box, and spend next to no time packing it up and sending it in. That's it. You'll get your check shortly thereafter.

Actually, selling your unwanted electronics for reuse is even more green than recycling the materials. By passing this device on to those who can still use it, you are avoiding the need to spend energy manufacturing yet another product to replace one that is being disposed. When that device is finally used up and no longer functional, then it's time to grind it up to make new ones.

I should mention that another good deed you can do is to donate your working product or the proceeds you get from your sale to a charitable organization. In these economic times, there's an almost overwhelming need for social support services of all kinds. You may find an organization nearby that you want to help. Otherwise, you can choose to take the cash or donate it to charity when you sell your cell phone or electronic device of value.

Widgets for Charity

The holiday season is traditionally the time for giving to family and friends and the causes we care about. This year technology and social networking get into the act in the form of a contest based on Internet "charity badges" to raise money for your favorite cause. It's got Web 2.0 technology, $500,000 in prize donations, Kevin Bacon, and perhaps yourself.

Kevin Bacon? Yes, Mr. six-degrees-of has created his own Web site, SixDegrees.org, to support the charities of celebrities and is promoting the Charity Badge concept to help non-celebs bring in the bucks for their causes.

The whole idea is that all of us have social connections that run farther than you'd ever think. That includes friends, family, co-workers and other people we associate with on a day to day basis. But today it also includes Web Sites, Blogs, MySpace and Facebook pages, email lists, and other online resources. In the days since the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game was a fad, we have all multiplied our connections and influence worldwide. Truth be told, many of us associate regularly with more people online than we do in person.

What "America's Giving Challenge" is doing is to acknowledge that we can be activists for our causes just as easily as donors. All that's needed is for someone to package the technology in an easy to use tool and give us an incentive to get going. The technology is the Charity Badge. The incentive is $500,000 in donations sponsored by Parade Magazine and The Case Foundation.

The contest aspect awards the prize money to charities based on how many people donate through the Charity Badge, not the highest monetary donations. As a small time champion, 50 friends donating $10 each counts just as much as 50 corporate big-wigs donating $100,000 each. You don't have to sponsor a formal ball for the elites in order to win this thing. Just get people to click the donate button on your widget and kick in $10 or more using their PayPal or credit card. The way the prize money breaks down is that the 8 charities receiving the highest number of unique donations during the contest period will be awarded $50,000 each. The next 100 charities receiving the most total donations get $1,000 each.

Oh, by the way. You have to get moving on this if you want to participate. The contest opened on December 13 and runs through 3 PM on January 31, 2008. You can get all the details and rules and sign-up by visiting America's Giving Challenge on the Parade.com site.

So how does this Charity Badge work? It's basically a Macromedia Shockwave Web object that you insert into your Web page or blog. Generically, these are often called widgets. You don't need any tools to generate the code. Once you sign-up as a champion for your cause you get the opportunity to build a Charity Badge like the one shown on this page. You supply a graphic of your choice and 250 characters of information about your charity. You can also link to a video if you have one, or use Kevin Bacon's. Make sure you pick the Parade Challenge as badge type. Then continue and find your charity in those listed in Network for Good or GlobalGiving. When you're all done, the system will give you the code and also email it to you as a backup. Paste this code into your Web page, social network page, or Blog. Network For Good also hosts your badge on their site and gives you a link to use in email or online in lieu of pasting the actual widget.

Notice some interesting things about the Widget. At the top is a running total of the amount of money donated and number of donors. This updates in real-time as people make donations. There are also three tabs. The Charity tab is the one usually displayed with graphic, text and big orange donate button. The About tab tells visitors about the contest. The Share tab is the most interesting. Why? because it gives visitors the opportunity to copy your badge code and put it on their site. Or to grab the link to your badge for their site or email.

This is extremely valuable if you have visitors who want to support your cause. It multiplies your efforts so that more donations can come in attributed to your badge, giving you a better chance of getting a high enough total to win one of the prizes. If everyone makes their own badge for the same cause, the donations will be spread among the champions.

By the way, if you don't already have a cause you are passionate about, please take a copy of our widget or a link to put on your site. Our cause is the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. They rescue old and ailing elephants no longer wanted by circuses and zoos and give them a wonderful home on 2,700 acres of natural habitat in Tennessee. Perhaps an elephant you knew as a child is there now... or should be. Donations are also warmly welcomed. We thank you on behalf of the current and future inhabitants of the sanctuary.