Web Sites Allow People to Donate Without Giving Money
April 21, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Web sites that allow people to support charities by looking at advertising are becoming increasingly popular and effective, reports The Wall Street Journal.
SearchKindly.org is a site that features ads and a Google search engine. When users click on an ad or do a search, advertisers donate money to charity. The site has donated more than $10,000 since last year. Another searching site, GoodSearch.com, donates about one cent to charity for every search performed on the site.
These sites have been inspired by the success of TheHungerSite.com, which allows users to donate food by simply visiting and clicking a button. The site was created in 1999 and directs advertising revenue to hunger-relief groups such as America’s Second Harvest and Mercy Corps.
Gene Tempel, executive director of Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, says the number of sites is growing in part because of the bad economy. “When people are insecure about the future or have fewer resources,” he says, “they give less. You could see people trying to assist in more creative ways.”
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