Everyday Giving Blog

Everyday Giving Now On Facebook

Join in the conversation with other Everyday Giving fans on Facebook. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Everyday-Giving/9390834351 to sign up. I look forward to meeting you there.

Article Directory For People Changing The World

There is a new article directory about to be revealed to the world. It is not one of those generic article directories that appear like weeds popping up all over the Web. I created this directory for a special group of people.

GoodwillArticles.com is the article directory for authors and publishers who are changing the world.

Articles are Powerful

As an author, you can write and submit articles to promote:

• A charitable organization
• An important cause
• Ideas to change the world
• A charitable event
• Yourself (in the article resource box)

As a publisher, you can find quality articles on a variety of topics to use as content for your website, blog or ezine.

Start Writing and Submitting Your Articles Now

GoodwillArticles.com is ready for your articles. I want to have several articles in the directory before I promote it. As a Everyday Giving reader, you are learning about it before others.

Christopher Scott, a nonprofit leader who founded A Day of Hope, submitted the first articles last night. What is holding you back from doing the same?

I look forward to promoting your articles across the Web to help you change the world. Click here to get started. Thanks in advance for your article submission.

Who Else Wants To Surf The Web And Help Charities?

There is an easy way for you to support worthwhile charities. It doesn't require any additional time or money from you. All you need to do is use different search engines than you are currently using. You won't even be sacrificing the quality of your search results because these search engines still produce the results you currently receive.

Below is a list of several charitable search engines.  These search engines donate all or a portion of the revenue they generate from advertisements. How do you choose which charitable search engines to use? Ask the following questions:

• How are the charities selected by you or the company?
• Is the selection of charities limited? If so, does the selection include those charities or charitable areas you are most interested in supporting?
• Where are the search results generated from (Google, Yahoo!, etc.)?
• What percentage of the revenue is donated to the selected charities?
• Is an easy method provided to help you integrate the search engine into your web browsers?
• Is their search page and results clean or cluttered?
• What additional features are available with the charitable search engine that might be useful (blog, directory, etc.)?

Check out the charitable search engines in the list below. Ask yourself the list of questions above and make a selection of your favorites. Now all you have to do is start using them each time you are surfing the web. Feel great about adding one more way in your daily activities to make a difference.

I will be providing reviews of some of my favorite charitable search engines in future posts.

Click through to see the plexo

Podcasts For Nonprofit Organizations: Personal Development for Leaders, Board Members, Staff and Volunteers

There are some terrific podcasts available on the subject of nonprofit organizations. They cover topics including:

• Starting a nonprofit organization
• Fundraising
• Leading and managing
• Using technology effectively

Listening to informative podcasts is a great way to learn.

You can listen to podcasts on your computer or with a portable mp3 player when you are away from your home or office.

I have turned my car into a classroom! Rather than listening to the radio, I listen to podcasts I have downloaded to my mp3 player. There are special accessories that allow you to play your mp3 player through your car radio.

Consider listening to the podcasts described below. They are the best I have found. I continue to learn from them and I know you will as well.


501c3Cast for Nonprofits

The 501c3Cast is an independent podcast that is all about helping nonprofit professionals, not-for-profit volunteers, and other "do-gooders" in the philanthropic world.

This podcast is my personal favorite. Listen to it and you will learn a tremendous amount of information on a variety of topics pertinent to your role in the nonprofit world.

Go to http://www.501c3cast.com to discover more about 501c3Cast for Nonprofits.


BoardStar: On Being Board

Would you like to learn about what makes a nonprofit Board perform at it's best? BoardStar will provide you a multitude of ideas that can be implemented to strengthen a nonprofit Board.

Go to http://www.smallpackageproductions.com/boardstar to discover more about BoardStar: On Being Board.


NetSquared: Remixing the Web for Social Change

If you want to learn about the very latest use of technology to support your passion to change the world, the NetSquared podcast is your answer.

Go to http://netsquared.libsyn.com to discover more about NetSquared: Remixing the Web for Social Change.


BusinessWeek - Top Givers

This BusinessWeek podcast is full of interviews by several people on their Top Givers list. Learn why and how some of the most generous philanthropists give back.

Go to http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/podcasts/philanthropy/current.html to discover more about BusinessWeek - Top Givers.


Craigslist Foundation's Nonprofit Boot Camp

Do you want to know how to start and run a vibrant nonprofit organization? That is exactly the reason the Craigslist Foundation holds their annual Nonprofit Boot Camp. This podcast contains many of the keynote speeches, workshop sessions and interviews and is filled with useful information.

Go to http://www.craigslistfoundation.org/index.php?page=Nonprofit_Boot_Camp_Online to discover more about Craigslist Foundation's Nonprofit Boot Camp.

© 2007 Roger B. Carr

Roger Carr is the founder and owner of Everyday Giving. Sign up at http://www.EverydayGiving.com to receive our special report "9 Questions to Consider Before Volunteering" for free.

Cheerful Givers in the Virtual World of Second Life

Have you spent any time in the virtual world called Second Life? It is amazing what you can do today with a computer and an Internet connection!

I recently spent some time experimenting with Second Life. One of the organizations I discovered during my virtual travels is Cheerful Givers. Check out the picture of me (Rog Cleanslate) looking over their Second Life location.

Cheerful Givers is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing birthday gift bags to children that are living in poverty or without a home. It is a great concept. They discovered a critical need and they took action. They organized it so that anyone can participate in some way. Some of those ways include:

• Donating items
• Assembling gift bags
• Raising and/or donating funds

Check out the Cheerful Givers web site at http://www.cheerfulgivers.org.

They're currently planning a virtual walk in Second Life as a fundraising event. I plan on participating. You should also consider helping Cheerful Givers in some way as well. You'll be glad that you did.

Join Me on MySpace and Squidoo

The importance of social networking websites, bookmarking websites as well as online virtual worlds is continuing to grow. For example, I have read about several successful fundraising efforts that have taken place through the use of these types of sites.

I have been learning about and establishing a presence on some of these social sites on the Internet. A couple of those sites include:

• Myspace.com - This is one of the most popular of the social networking websites. If you are interested in networking on MySpace, go to http://www.myspace.com/rogercarr and request I add you as a friend.
• Squidoo.com - This site provides you with a way to potentially raise funds for your favorite charity while getting your message out to others. The terminology that is used can be a little difficult to understand at first. However, once you have built a "lens" it becomes easy. I have built a couple of lenses around the theme of some of my most popular articles. Go to http://www.squidoo.com/uniquesmile/ and http://www.squidoo.com/creativetips/ to see what I have done. Be sure and give each a good rating while you are there!

There are other sites I am "experimenting" with as well. I will report on those in future posts.

Go and set up your own accounts on myspace.com and squidoo.com and start networking. It is a great way to get your message out to others.

Use a Widget to Collect Contributions for Charity

I discovered a new method you can use for raising funds on your websites, blogs and emails.

Go to http://www.ChipIn.com and create a "widget." When you include this widget in your emails or on the  Web, it will:

• Inform readers what charity the contributions are going to
• Makes it very easy for the person to make a donation (credit card or PayPal)
• Indicates the progress made toward your goal

The widget can be created in a variety of sizes and colors. You may want to use a smaller size to include with your email signatures. The larger sizes can be used on websites and blogs.

I have included a widget in this post that I will be using to collect funds for the 2007 Fredericksburg Arthritis Walk.

The 60 Day Experiment

Do you have an online business or a desire to start an online business but don't know how to get started?

My friend, David Perdew, has taken the mystery out of making money on the Internet in his course The 60 Day Experiment. I have been a student in David's class and highly recommend it.

He is currently offering it for a great price and with an unconditional guarantee. You owe it to yourself to go to http://www.everydaygiving.com/60daysto100k and check out his course.