How to Make Money for Charity Using Your Computer

I am involved with two different non-profit organizations and know how hard they continually struggle to raise money. I'm sure they are not the only charitable organizations being negatively impacted by today's economic hardships. Many people have stopped donating money to charity because they've lost their job, or a sizeable portion of their income, and simply don't have the extra cash to give. It's a vicious circle because the downturn in the economy has left more people in need of help of assistance, but fewer people are in a position of financial stability to offset the need.

I recently stumbled on some fundraising options that anyone can participate in if they have access to a computer. If you're looking for an easy fundraising idea for your church, school, or favorite charity, keep reading!

How to Raise Money for Charity Using Your Computer

Goodsearch.com and Goodshop.com are two websites specifically designed to give people a way to raise money for their favorite cause using nothing more than a computer. Both of them have been featured in the news by prominent groups and publications such as the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Oprah Magazine.

Here's how it works:

The first website, goodsearch.com, www.goodsearch.com is a search engine that works like any other search engine such as Yahoo or Google. Every time a person performs a search from the goodsearch portal, a penny is donated to the charity or school of their choice. The first time you go to the site, you'll need to type in the name of your charity or school and then click "verify". If the name doesn't come up, you'll have to add it. To have a group added, you'll need to know all of their identifying information, such as name / address / phone / EIN number / etc. Once your group has been verified by the Goodsearch team, it will be added to their database. You'll get an email notification when your group has been added and then you're all set to start raising money. Just remember to be sure you type in the name of the group you want your searches to count for, and then click "verify", and then start searching.

There is also a link on the main page of goodsearch.com where you can add the goodsearch toolbar to your browser toolbar, making it handy to use without having to log on to the main site itself every time you want to search. Or there is a link where you make goodsearch your homepage so that it's the first thing you see when you open your browser. The links for both of these features are located right under the space where you type in the name of the charity.

To monitor the progress and see how much money has been raised to date for your charity or school, just click on the yellow button "amount raised". It's right beneath the box where you type in the name of the charity.

The second website, goodshop.com, lets user raise money by shopping online using the goodshop.com portal. If you do any online shopping, then you will want to go to the goodshop.com website and repeat the same process as above ... typing in the name of the group you want to raise funds for, clicking verify, and then proceed to shop. Any time you spend money at the websites of stores who are partnered with Goodshop, a portion of the money goes to your specified cause (up to 30%). Goodshop has partnered with more than 1,000 store websites such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Bloomingdale's, Apple Store, Ebay, Container Store, Hotels.com, Expedia, Container Store, Macy's, Microsoft, Old Navy, Sephora, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart. Most stores offer special coupons and money saving deals for those who shop using goodshop.com.

To monitor the progress and see how much money has been raised to date for your charity or school, just click on the yellow button "amount raised". It's right beneath the box where you type in the name of the charity.

FYI - if you don't have a favorite charity you want to raise money for, please consider one (or both) of the non-profit groups I'm involved with. One is called Journey to Healing Foundation. They host healing retreats for cancer survivors and their caregivers and everything is provided free of charge for attendees. Learn more about them on their website at www.texoma-retreat.com. The other group is called Guardian Wings of Care and they provide a wide range of free services for senior citizens and cancer patients. Learn more about them on their website at www.guardianwingsofcare.org.

So the next time you need a fundraising idea for your church, school, or non-profit organization, point your browser to goodsearch.com and goodshop.com. A lack of money in your wallet no longer has to stand in the way of your desire to donate to charity.

Sources: goodsearch.com, goodshop.com, cnn.com, nbcnews.com, personal experience