In no particular order, three really great ideas for Websites for Charities:
This might sound weird but give it a minute. In its own words, the goal of the site is twofold:
- Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free
- Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free
It’s the sister site of www.poverty.com and is basically a word game: you’re given a word and have to choose the right meaning, and for every word you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations World Food Programme to help fight hunger. How? Well, companies pay to advertise on the site and that money goes to help fight hunger. Clever, eh? Click here and play. Warning! It is addictive and I want to hear from anyone who can beat level 51! (That’s right! Email a screenshot of the website if you do (press the PrintScreen button when the website is showing and then go to your email program and right click on the message and choose Paste…))
World Vision Christmas Catalog
Everyone has at least one person on their list that doesn’t need a thing. My Father-in-Law for years has only wanted a Lee Valley Calendar. So last year (in addition to the Lee Valley Catologue) we used the World Vision Catalog to buy a pair of chickens for a family in the Congo in his honour. What a great idea! It makes a donation of $55 so much more tangible. We have since bought a number of animals for family members and the plan is to buy some more gifts out there again this year. Click on the links above and start shopping.
Kiva: Micro Loans That Change Lives
This is a brilliant way to affect change in parts of the world where people are starving. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; but… give a man (or a woman) a small loan and he or she can start a business that will employ four or five other people and all of them will eat and spend their income in their communities and create other jobs for people in the community and so on. Kiva lists profiles of entrepreneurs in developing countries who have business ideas but don’t have the capital to get the idea off the ground. You choose which idea you want to support and your money goes to that business idea. You can then keep track of your ‘investment portfolio’ and follow how your investments are panning out. For example:
Fale Toma, 30, is married with 6 children. She has many years of experience in the plantation business. She sells to the village people and public 4 days per week. She has 3 previous successful loans with South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBDF). She expects her weekly net cash flow to be 400 Tala ($166 USD).
SPBDF loans are Fale’s only access to capital because she was never able to qualify for a loan with the traditional banks. Her loan will be used to buy weed killer, pesticides, chemicals, gromozone, knives and sharpeners. Her husband is lending a great help in operating the business as well.
Fale Toma is looking to borrow $600. You can loan her $25, $100, $200 or the whole $600. After the season is complete she repays the loan and the money is paid back. Last year SPBDF loaned out $1.5 million dollars (US) and 96% of it was paid back successfully. Click on the linkabove and go shopping for a business partner.
Honorable Mention:
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation: Click here to find out how you can get involved. Click HERE to read about people who have participated in the run.
George Funk and Gospel Chariot Missions : Taking the gospel into 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. This guy is the real deal! I love the blog too! http://gospelchariot.blogspot.com
ephesians2eight 